The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has welcomed news that superannuation contributions have jumped in the last three months.

New figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) show that personal contributions to super funds totalled $16.62 billion in the last quarter, compared to $7.19 billion in the previous quarter.

The results also show that industry super funds outperformed bank-owned retail funds by 2.9 per cent over the last 12 months.

Quotes attributable to ACTU President Ged Kearney

“Australian Unions have long advocated the merits of member superannuation, and today’s data bears testament to the importance of putting your super in an industry fund.”

“Big banks have been campaigning hard to get their hands on people’s superannuation savings, but clearly, workers’ savings are better off when they are invested in an industry super fund.”

“Superannuation was created by Australian Unions to ensure working Australians can have a decent standing of living in retirement — industry super is delivering on this.”

“Industry super funds are governed by unions and employers to ensure that members’ interests and retirement savings are the most important issues, not maximising profits for banks or shareholder returns.”

“It’s quite clear now that Banks aren’t Super.”