Superannuation funds themselves will be the ones who decide which members will be covered by the Government’s so-called “dangerous occupations carve-out” to its new insurance inside superannuation rules.
Treasury Retirement Income Policy Division head, Robert Jeremenko has told the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) national conference in Adelaide that the Government expects superannuation funds will know which of its members are employed in dangerous occupations.
He defined dangerous occupations as being those which have a higher statistical likelihood of injury.
The “dangerous occupations carve-out” was announced by the Assistant Treasurer, Stuart Robert in an address to the opening session of the ASFA conference on Wednesday.
The carve-out will assist some funds who have large numbers of members employed in dangerous jobs with other funds now having to adjust to having members aged under 25 or with balances under $6,000 having to ‘opt-in’ to insurance inside superannuation.
ASFA has urged greater transparency and fairness in the way superannuation levies are set and spent.
Labor’s re-election has reignited calls to strengthen Australia’s $4.2 trillion super system, with industry bodies urging swift reform amid economic and demographic shifts.
A major super fund has defended its use of private markets in a submission to ASIC, asserting that appropriate governance and information-sharing practices are present in both public and private markets.
A member body representing some prominent wealth managers is concerned super funds’ dominance is sidelining small companies in capital markets.