POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Retirement income review could scrutinise other policies
The treatment of the family home for tax and benefit purposes is one of the most fiscally unsustainable policies in Australia and the government can use the retirement income system review to scrutinise policies such as this, Heffron SMSF Solutions believes.
The self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) service provider’s director, Martin Heffron, said the restriction of the terms of reference to establishing facts rather than making recommendations offered an unusual opportunity to avoid political pressure.
He said the independent panel could more freely investigate the impact of retirement income policies such as the generous treatment of the family home on inter-generational equity, fiscal sustainability and efficiency.
“The generous treatment of the Australian family home for tax and benefit purposes is one of the most fiscally unsustainable policies in Australia. It has many negative consequences and contributes to the sharp increase in homelessness we see in our city streets every day,” he said.
“Thankfully, there is nothing to stop the panel from reporting on the factual impact of this treatment on the sustainability of our current retirement income policy framework. I wish them well in their important work.”
Heffron also called for the review to clarify terms such as ‘retirement income adequacy’ as the range of opinions of what was adequate for individuals could open the review up to criticism and confusion.
Recommended for you
Private market assets in super have surged, while private debt recorded the fastest growth among all investment types.
The equities investor has launched a new long-short fund seeded by UniSuper, targeting alpha from ASX 300 equities using AI insights.
The fund has strengthened efforts to boost gender diversity, targeting 40:40:20 balance across its investment teams by 2030.
The lower outlook for inflation has set the stage for another two rate cuts over the first half of 2026, according to Westpac.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
92.15 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
53.24 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
43.15 3 y p.a(%)
4
DomaCom Shoreline North Coogee
36.26 3 y p.a(%)
5
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
35.87 3 y p.a(%)
