FSC urges priority on lapsed super bills

On the eve of this week's Financial Services Council (FSC) Leader's Forum in Melbourne, the group has called on the Government to make clearing the legislative backlog around superannuation one of its priorities in the new Parliament.

A number of legislative changes to superannuation lapsed when the Parliament was prorogued almost immediately after the May Federal Budget and the FSC has made clear it wanted that legislation reintroduced as a matter of priority.

The superannuation-related legislation being referred to by the FSC is as follows:

• Superannuation governance reforms, requiring all trustees to appoint one-third independent directors;
• Superannuation choice of fund reforms that would prevent enterprise agreements from removing a consumer's right to choose their own fund;
• Superannuation transparency measures, including enhanced dashboards for both MySuper and Choice products; and
• Amendments to the portfolio holdings disclosure regime to allow its effective implementation for superannuation investments.

While the Government retained the numbers necessary to pursue passage of the legislation through the House of Representatives, it could expect a tough time in pursuing all but a few changes through the Senate.

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The Australian Labor Party opposition is expected to oppose elements of the governance reforms along with any moves perceived as likely to significantly alter the default funds under the modern awards regime.