The Your Future, Your Super bill is giving workers mixed messages about occupational exclusions for insurance within super funds, according to the Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Stephen Jones.
Prior to the Bill passing last week, there were concerns that being stapled to a super fund while in one occupation, could leave employees at risk if they moved to a riskier occupation at a later date.
This included occupations such as healthcare, emergency services and construction workers who required life insurance within their super.
Jones said Jane Hume, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy, was giving workers inaccurate messaging about their potential life insurance premiums.
Jones said: “Funds set up for workers in low-risk jobs (for example, café workers) legitimately exclude high risk jobs from insurance cover to keep premiums down.
“Part of the reason high-risk jobs have their own super funds is so they can offer high-risk life insurance. Is the Minister suggesting all funds now need to include cover for high-risk jobs?”
He said several major super funds such as AMP, MLC, CFS and REST excluded high risk occupations from their super funds.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
With private asset valuations emerging as a key concern for both regulators and the broader market, Apollo Global Management has called on the corporate regulator to issue clear principles on valuation practices, including guidance on the disclosures it expects from market participants.
Institutional asset owners are largely rethinking their exposure to the US, with private markets increasingly being viewed as a strategic investment allocation, new research has shown.
Australia’s corporate regulator has been told it must quickly modernise its oversight of private markets, after being caught off guard by the complexity, size, and opacity of the asset class now dominating institutional portfolios.