SCT urges end to ASIC oversight

The Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT) has made a strong call to be freed from the budgetary oversight of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), arguing that it needs better control of its own resourcing.

The SCT has gone so far as to urge Government changes to its underlying legislation to ensure its separation from ASIC.

In a submission to the Government's inquiry into financial services external dispute resolution services, the SCT has added to a growing body of complaint about the involvement of ASIC in the funding and resourcing process.

Faced with concerns around the length of time it takes for the SCT to deal with complaints, the submission said that where operational challenges currently exist they relate "improved efficiency of the governance operations of the tribunal, the need for greater transparency in relation to the allocation of funding to the tribunal and increased funding".

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"These governance issues can be dealt with by Government consideration of reviewing and improving the Superannuation (Resolution of Complaints) Act 1993," it said.

"This would provide the mechanism for improved delegations to the tribunal itself in terms of management of its resourcing both financial and people and transparency of tribunal funding."

"This would enable the tribunal Chairperson to align resourcing and outcomes with business decisions," the submission said.

"Currently this does not occur (with ASIC responsible for tribunal resourcing) and as a result there is significant disconnect between the resource requirements of the tribunal and the provision of resources from ASIC."