After a Lifetime of Hard Work: Retirement Should Be Simple & Meet Members’ Needs

Submission by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to the Treasury Consultation on a Retirement Reporting Framework

The Australian trade union movement led the campaign to establish superannuation to provide workers with dignity in retirement. Through industrial action, bargaining and advocacy at both the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and the High Court, the union movement won the introduction of superannuation for many workers. The ACTU and affiliates were instrumental to the creation of the Accord which introduced universal and compulsory superannuation through the legislation of the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) by the Keating Labor Government.

In the over 30 years since the establishment of universal, compulsory, fully vested and portable superannuation, the ACTU and affiliates remain dedicated to ensuring that all workers live and retire in dignity and out of poverty. To do so, unions remain active contributors to the superannuation system. Member-representative trustee directors, nominated by the ACTU and affiliates, ensure that members’ interests are the priority of superannuation funds and that these funds continually demonstrate industry-leading, best-practice governance, investment performance, administration and service.

Australia’s superannuation system will soon enter a new phase as the first whole-of-career superannuants enter retirement. As such, the union movement commends the Government’s work to develop and advance the regulatory and legislative settings that guide the retirement experience of members. Transparency for members, and encouragement of fund best practice, are key components of a successful retirement income system and therefore, a Retirement Reporting Framework that encourages both is welcome. However, any Framework must acknowledge that members’ experiences and preferences are diverse and therefore, must not unintentionally establish standardised benchmarks of ‘ideal’ member outcomes. Instead, it must encourage funds to continually improve their ability to meet their members’ unique needs. Similarly, it must prioritise simplicity for members in acknowledging that costly financial advice, and complex regulatory and legislative hurdles, are barriers to members achieving positive retirement outcomes and contrary to the design of a universal retirement income system.

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