ASFA gives up on Govt review of super

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has given up on its call for the Government to conduct a wholesale review of superannuation and will instead concentrate on achieving bite-sized reform on superannuation in both the short and medium term.

The announcement, by ASFA chief executive officer Philippa Smith, marks a departure from the association’s stance throughout last year, where its key strategy was to convince the Government to conduct a wide-ranging review of the entire system of superannuation.

“Over the 18 months prior to the last election ASFA changed its strategy to up the ante of political pressure - and to place the issues of adequacy and retirement income on the political agenda,” she says.

In the lead up to the last election, ASFA launched a bold campaign to capture the electorate’s attention and convince the Government to conduct a review of the superannuation system.

The campaign involved the assistance of professional lobbyists in Canberra, research in marginal electorates and the memorable Super Tax Slug television advertisements.

However, while the association has had some wins on many policy fronts such as the details of divorce and superannuation, GST and the Financial Services Reform Act, it has not been so successful on some of the more substantial superannuation issues.

“We were failing to win on some of the bigger picture fronts, for example the tax structure of super and likely adequacy or inadequacy of super payouts,” Smith says.

The result is a change in strategy for the association and a refocus on issues such as improving the adequacy of retirement incomes, extending and improving super coverage to the self-employed and casual workers, creating more flexible retirement options and maintaining confidence in the superannuation system.

“We will focus on some bite-sized goals that are achievable in the short to medium term. We are building on the awareness created by our campaign last year, and now want to develop some options,” Smith says.

“The next few months will see us focusing on the practicality and nitty gritty of a number of proposals. But our task will also be to maintain the agenda, profile and momentum of some of the bigger issues.”