The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) has launched consultation on its approach to superannuation death benefits.
AFCA is inviting feedback from stakeholders, up until 25 October, on its revised approach document that includes “minor clarifications” to AFCA’s existing guidance on handling complaints about the distribution of superannuation death benefits.
“AFCA values the insights of all stakeholders and encourages parties to review the documents and submit their feedback by the closing date. Once the consultation period has closed, AFCA will consider and respond to feedback received in the submissions,” the authority said.
“These changes ensure that its methods remain clear and effective without altering the fundamental principles.”
According to AFCA, the draft document also includes greater detail on how it applies definitions on terms such as “dependent” and “spouse”, in addition to the circumstances in which AFCA might consider it appropriate to include adult children and legal personal representatives in distributions and trusts for minor children.
Notably, it also provides greater detail on how AFCA approaches cases where there has been violence or abuse in a relationship or a claimant has been involved in the death of the fund member.
This comes shortly after the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Women in Super, and the Super Members Council (SMC) urged the Australian government in August to reform superannuation death benefit laws to stop family violence perpetrators from being able to claim their victim’s super.
Under existing laws, an abuser can receive a victim’s super death benefit unless they are the direct cause of that person’s death.
The industry bodies said this currently applies even if the perpetrator has been convicted of family violence offences or in cases when there was systemic abuse that indirectly contributed to the cause of the victim’s death.
“By clarifying certain aspects of the existing Approach, AFCA aims to make its processes more predictable for all parties involved, reducing the potential for disputes and misunderstandings,” the complaints authority said.
“AFCA approach documents provide greater clarity around what to expect from AFCA’s processes, greater transparency about the way we investigate complaints and make decisions and help to ensure consistent outcomes for complaints.”
Last month ASIC confirmed its intention to announce the results of its surveillance into how superannuation funds are handling death benefits claims in the coming months.
In September, the regulator released its enforcement and regulatory update (1 January to 30 June 2024), which sets out recent outcomes in enforcement and regulation.
“Superannuation is one of the most important, if not the most important, investment held by most Australians,” the report said.
Namely, ASIC will be publishing a report that summarises the findings from its review of how superannuation fund member services handle death benefits claims as well as its findings from its review of the scam prevention, detection and response activities of selected superannuation trustees.
