THE Federal Government’s signature ‘Your Future, Your Super’ reforms that were passed by the Senate on Thursday, and are expected to be passed into law by the House of Representatives shortly, represent a significant win for superannuation consumers.

The reforms include the Royal Commission’s ‘stapling’ recommendation which will ensure consumers have a single, high-quality fund that they are able to take with them from job to job, like a bank account or a tax file number.

Financial Services Council (FSC) CEO Sally Loane said, "The FSC has been a vocal and long-term advocate for stapling and our analysis shows that having a single superannuation account will save Australian workers up to $1.8 billion in fees over the first three years.

“This is an important milestone in our $3 trillion mandatory system, ending the scourge of unintended multiple superannuation accounts which have cost Australians billions of dollars in duplicate fees,” Ms Loane said.

The ‘Your Super’ reforms will also introduce new performance benchmarks for superannuation products, an ATO comparison tool to help consumers choose a better performing fund, and strengthen the requirements for trustees to act in the best financial interests of superannuation consumers.

“The new performance assessment will work alongside stapling to give Australians confidence that their superannuation is generating ‘best in show’ investment returns throughout their working lives. If a consumer is concerned their fund’s returns are substandard the ATO comparison tool will be available as an impartial source of information to help consumers choose a better fund.

“The challenge now for the regulators and Government is to ensure performance assessments use rigorous and comparable data for all products so that comparisons are undertaken on a ‘like-for-like' basis.”

The FSC also welcomed the Senate’s passage of the ‘More Flexible Super’ reforms.

“The changes to contribution arrangements for older Australians will make it easier for them to manage their superannuation and retirement planning,” Ms Loane said.

“We were also pleased to see the government support amendments tabled by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation to allow individuals who withdrew superannuation during the COVID-19 crisis to recontribute those amounts without being penalised. This is consistent with FSC advocacy as part of a holistic response to the COVID-19 early release scheme."

About the Financial Services Council
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has more than 100 members representing Australia's retail and wholesale funds management businesses, superannuation funds, life insurers, financial advisory networks and licensed trustee companies. The industry is responsible for investing almost $3 trillion on behalf of more than 15.6 million Australians. The pool of funds under management is larger than Australia’s GDP and the capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange and is the fourth largest pool of managed funds in the world. www.fsc.org.au

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THE Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will appear at the opening public hearing today for an Australian parliamentary inquiry looking at the merits of expanding the membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The CPTPP agreement signed in 2018 is a trade bloc of 11 countries that includes Australia and is an export market of 500 million consumers worth nearly $14 trillion.

The parliamentary inquiry will examine the scope for expanding the CPTPP beyond the existing membership of Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia and Peru to include new members.

Chair of the Trade Sub-Committee of the Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, Ted O’Brien, welcomed the opportunity to investigate the process of how the current members of the CPTPP can agree on expanding the trade pact to include other economies, and understanding what the benefits of new members joining will be.

"On the back of this week’s historical agreement to progress a FTA with the United Kingdom, between Prime Ministers Morrison and Johnson, it is timely to consider expanding the most comprehensive plurilateral trade agreement in existence, the CPTPP," Mr O’Brien said.

"Before we can assess the merits of aspiring economies that could accede to the CPTPP, it is important to baseline everyone’s understanding of the agreement, and that starts today when hearing from DFAT."

Representatives of DFAT will appear at the public hearing at 9:50am, Thursday June 17 in Committee Room 1R4, Parliament House.

Further details about the about the inquiry, including terms of reference, details on how to contribute a submission and, when available, details of public hearings and roundtable discussions, can be obtained from the Committee’s website.

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THE Federal Government has announced the expansion of housing programs that, according to Master Builders Australia, are helping more people to own their first home provides and strengthening economic recovery. 

"The release of 30,0000 new places in the highly successful First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, New Home Loan Guarantee and the Family Home Guarantee will boost the economic security of thousands more people, including single parents, and continue to accelerate the recovery,” Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said.

"We know that the deposit gap is the greatest barrier to people owning their first home. Right around the country we are witnessing the success of the government’s housing policy measures to help people to bridge this gap.

“The Family Home Guarantee will mean that thousands of single custodial parents, the vast majority of whom are women, can access the life-changing benefits of homeownership. We want to this measure passed by the Parliament without delay,” Ms Wawn said.

“Providing more people with the support to make the step up to owning a home is also fundamental to a stronger economy which benefits the whole community.

“Lifting the price caps for these schemes will also make them more accessible to more people and that’s a very good outcome,”  she said.

“With every dollar spent in building new housing resulting in $3 benefit for the wider economy, it is clear why the Federal Government’s measures are having such a strongly positive effect,” Ms Wawn said.

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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THE Northern Australia Committee will hear from a range of stakeholders to listen to their perspectives on finding the right balance between protecting cultural heritage and allowing industry to operate in Northern Australia.

Representatives of the North Queensland Land Council, Queensland Resources Council, Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation, Jack Green, Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining and Queensland University will be appearing.

The public hearing is part of the inquiry into the destruction of Indigenous heritage sites at Juukan Gorge and will be held by video/teleconference to continue the committee’s investigation of cultural heritage issues in Queensland and in the Northern Territory.

A key issue for Quandamooka Yoolooburrabee Aboriginal Corporation is the interaction between the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 (Qld) and the Native Title Act 1993, particularly the rights that should be granted once a Native Title claim is determined.

The Queensland Resources Council is determined to strike the right balance between protecting cultural heritage and providing certainty to industry.  

Committee Chair Warren Entsch is eager to engage with a broad range of stakeholders in order to ascertain how to protect cultural heritage while also giving certainty to industry.

"Bringing different stakeholders together to understand their perspectives is the only way to prevent the destruction of heritage," Mr Entsch said.

A program for the public hearing is available on the Committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 18 June 2021
Time: 9am to 4pm AEST
Location: by video/teleconference

The hearings will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Further details of the inquiry, including terms of reference, can be found on the Committee’s website.

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