ALP snubs Greens, unions on teen super

Original article by Thomas Henry, Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 4 : 1-Jul-26

The Greens have moved to block a provision in payday superannuation laws that exempt businesses from making super contributions to employees under the age of 18 who work for less than 30 hours per week. However, the Senate has agreed to delay parliamentary debate on the disallowance motion, which has the support of unions and super funds. The ACTU’s assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell says it is unfair that young workers are not paid super on their wages, contending that doing so could boost their super balance by thousands of dollars when they retire. Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black opposes the motion, arguing the need for measures that make it easier rather than harder to employ people.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ACTU, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Labor-Greens deal clips the wings of SMSFs

Original article by Anthony Keane, Noah Yim, Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 4 : 24-Jun-26

Treasurer Jim Chalmers estimates that changes to the rules governing the purchase of residential properties via self-managed superannuation funds will boost government revenue by about $50m over four years. Labor has agreed to scrap the limited recourse borrowing arrangements for SMSFs in return for the Greens’ support for its budget tax reform legislation in the Senate; Chalmers contends that this will only affect "a very small part" of the housing market. However, economists and financial advisers contend that the changes will make SMSFs less attractive and result in fewer new ones being established, while boosting demand for industry super funds.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Labor predicts budget backlash will fade

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 24-Jun-26

The federal government has secured the Greens’ support for its capital gains tax and negative gearing reforms in the Senate, in return for several concessions. Self-managed superannuation funds will be banned from borrowing to buy residential properties, while the government has agreed to extend a Senate inquiry into its National Disability Insurance Scheme reform bill for eight weeks; delaying the passage of the NDIS legislation until mid-August is expected to cost the budget hundreds of millions of dollars, given that the reforms were intended to start on 1 July. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher believes that the general public’s concerns about the tax reforms will quickly abate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE

Super fund satisfaction rises to new record highs driven by record highs for Retail Funds and Industry Funds

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Feb-26

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction with financial performance rating of 78.8% in December 2025. This is an increase of 10.4% points from a year ago and up 13.8% points from the post-pandemic low of 65.0% in July 2023. Superannuation satisfaction is now 19.2% points above the long-term average of 59.6% since 2007. There has been significant improvement across all four categories of super funds over the last year; the largest increase is for Retail Funds, with customer satisfaction up 10.5% points to a new record high of 75.6%. Customer satisfaction for Industry Funds has risen by 9.6% points to 78.9% in the last year, which is also a record high. Customer satisfaction with Public Sector Funds is up 9.8% points to 83.6%, and now clearly the highest of any of the four categories, while customer satisfaction with Self-Managed Funds is up 3.1% points to 80.4%. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Super funds manage 9 per cent lift over 2025

Original article by James Kirby
The Australian – Page: 13 & 14 : 21-Jan-26

Data from Chant West suggests that the average superannuation fund posted a return of about 9.3 per cent in calendar 2025; SuperRatings in turn estimates that the average return was about 8.8 per cent. This follows double-digit returns in 2024, although super funds have achieved an average return of less than seven per cent over the long-term. Mano Mohankumar from Chant West emphasises the need for super fund members to focus on long-term returns rather than the calendar year performance.

CORPORATES
CHANT WEST FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, SUPERRATINGS PTY LTD

Super funds told to help bailout plan

Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 19 : 10-Dec-25

The federal government will require the superannuation sector to contribute to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort for the first time. The government intends to impose a ‘special levy’ on the super industry to help cover the scheme’s expected funding shortfall of $47.3m for the current financial year. Banks, financial advisers and stockbrokers are amongst the financial services providers that usually fund the CSLR via a levy. There has been ongoing concern about the viability of the CSLR since it was established to compensate refund victims of financial misconduct in cases where the provider is insolvent or otherwise lacks the capacity to pay.

CORPORATES

Super fund satisfaction improves to highest since May 2022 with Retail Fund satisfaction at a new all time high

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Jul-25

New data from Roy Morgan’s Superannuation Satisfaction Report shows an overall super fund satisfaction with financial performance rating of 69.9% in May 2025, an increase of 3.1% points from a year ago and up 4.9% points from the post-pandemic low of 65.0% in July 2023. Despite hitting a low point in July 2023 superannuation satisfaction with financial performance has remained significantly higher than the long-term average of 59.0% post-pandemic, and is now approaching the all-time high of 72.0% reached in January 2022. There has been improvement across all four different categories of super funds over the last year; the largest increase has been for Retail Funds, with customer satisfaction up 6.4% points to 69.3%. Customer satisfaction for Industry Funds is up 2% points to 69.5%, while satisfaction with Public Sector Funds is up 0.8% points to 75% and satisfaction with Self-Managed Funds is up 0.8% points to 77.7%. The report’s findings are from Roy Morgan Single Source, Australia’s most trusted consumer survey, compiled by in-depth interviews with over 60,000 Australians each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Stokes slams ALP’s super tax hit

Original article by Perry Williams, Jared Lynch, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 13 & 15 : 7-May-25

SGH Limited’s CEO Ryan Stokes has criticised the federal government’s proposal to tax the unrealised capital gains of superannuation funds. Stoke contends that while taxing profits is "entirely reasonable", taxing unrealised capital gains is dangerous and sets a far-reaching and concerning precedent, while it could also distort markets. The tax would initially apply to super accounts with a balance of more than $3m, but Stokes warns that it could potentially be extended to other asset classes. The Greens have advocated lowering the threshold to $2m, while the fact that the tax will not be indexed to inflations means that it will progressively apply to more people.

CORPORATES
SGH LIMITED – ASX SGH, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Tax warning for 130,000: Labor out to get you

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 6 : 29-Apr-25

The federal government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its plans to tax the unrealised capital gains of superannuation funds. Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor says Labor is "coming after superannuation", despite stating prior to the 2022 election that it did not plan to do so; he adds that the policy will particularly affect people such as farmers and small business owners. However, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it is only a "modest change" that will affect a small number of people with more than $3m in their superannuation fund. Meanwhile, Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson has expressed concern about the policy in a letter to the firm’s 130,000 investors.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT

Investors urge ALP not to extend tax on unrealised gains

Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Apr-25

The federal government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its plans to tax the unrealised gains of superannuation funds. The controversial proposal is part of Labor’s push to double the tax rate of super funds with balances exceeding $3m. A coalition of groups representing self-funded retirees, small businesses and farmers has issued a joint statement urging Labor to rule out any move to expand the unrealised gains tax beyond superannuation. The industry coalition contends that taxing unrealised gains is confiscation rather than reform.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY