Treasurer Scott Morrision and Revenue and Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer have jointly announced the commencement of the third and final stage of the Productivity Commission’s review into Australia’s superannuation system.

The final stage requires the Productivity Commission to:

  • assess the efficiency and competitiveness of Australia’s superannuation system
  • make recommendations to improve outcomes for members and system stability
  • consider the appropriateness of the insurance arrangements inside superannuation, including:
  • the impact of insurance premiums on retirement incomes of both default cover and individually underwritten cover funded inside of superannuation;
  • the extent to which current policy settings offset costs to government in the form of reduced social security payments;
  • whether policy changes could improve default cover through superannuation, so that default cover:
    • provides value-for-money;
    • does not inappropriately erode the retirement savings of members of all ages; and
    • delivers consistent outcomes across the system; and
  • whether policy changes are needed to ensure that insurance is not a barrier to account consolidation.

An issues paper will be released for public comment in January 2018, with initial submissions sought by 21 August 2017.

Further information from the Productivity Commission

For a full summary of the issues, email us a request at [email protected]

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