Super funds are being cast as the sector best placed to close Australia’s widening retirement advice gap, but new Financial Services Council (FSC) research suggests many are still moving too cautiously as trustee hesitation slows the rollout of digital advice despite rising member need.
The FSC’s report, The Role and Value of Digital Advice in Australia, argued the advice system is facing a “capacity and confidence problem” rather than a lack of demand, with super funds holding a uniquely powerful position because they operate at scale, maintain ongoing member relationships and sit at the centre of key decisions across accumulation, transition to retirement and retirement.
While digital advice is already operating across super funds, digital providers and advice businesses, the paper argued many institutions remain stuck in incremental rollout mode.
It said legislation is broadly technology neutral and does not explicitly block scaled digital advice, but internal governance settings and conservative interpretations of regulatory expectations are still holding many funds back.
Because traditional adviser capacity cannot meet demand at scale, particularly as retirement decisions grow more frequent and more complex, the FSC argued digital advice should now be treated as “core system infrastructure” rather than a peripheral capability.
It said funds that fail to build structured digital pathways risk pushing members towards delayed decisions or less protected alternatives, including AI-enabled tools operating outside the licensed system.
Consumer research in the report, based on a survey of 1,209 Australian adults conducted between December 2025 and January 2026, found digital engagement is strongly linked to earlier advice-seeking behaviour.
Among consumers worried about retirement adequacy, 28 per cent of digital tool users intended to seek advice within 12 months, compared with 11 per cent of non-digital users, while pre-retirees aged 55 to 59 who used digital tools were more than three times as likely to seek advice within a year about whether they had enough for retirement, at 44 per cent versus 13 per cent.
That is a critical signal for super funds, given the report said the strongest uptake is already being seen among pre-retirement cohorts, alongside repeat use and improved contribution, investment and drawdown behaviour where digital capability is deployed effectively.
However, the FSC is not arguing for a fully-automated model as its research found only one in four digital tool users felt confident acting on a recommendation from a digital tool, reinforcing the case for hybrid models that combine digital capability with access to human support.
Among consumers with an ongoing adviser relationship who use digital tools, 56 per cent preferred a mix of human and digital advice, compared with 18 per cent of non-digital users.
The report also challenged the idea that willingness to pay is the best measure of value inside super, arguing engagement, repeat usage and confidence are more meaningful because members generally expect foundational tools such as retirement calculators to be provided at no cost.
Consumer research found 68 per cent of respondents were willing to pay for personalised financial planning and 78 per cent for automated investing platforms, but only 23 per cent would pay for retirement calculators.
