The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has formally halted its selection of MySuper funds as default funds under modern awards in the wake of last week's full Federal Court decision declaring the make-up of its expert superannuation panel to be invalid.
The president of the FWC, Justice Iain Ross formally declared the default fund selection process to be on hold in a statement issued late yesterday in which he acknowledged that the because of the full Federal Court decision "the expert panel as purportedly reconstituted will not deal further with the matter".
The full Federal Court ruled on the matter following a challenge mounted by the Financial Services Council (FSC).
The FWC president's statement makes clear that the future of the current default fund selection process now resides in the hands of the Minister for Employment, Senator Eric Abetz, who has responsibility for appointing replacement member of the expert panel.
Given that the Government does not believe the current processes around the selection of default funds is appropriate, the minister has it within his power to delay making new appointments until the Government has had time to implement its only policy process.
The Government has signalled that it believes all MySuper funds approved by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) should be eligible for selection as default funds under modern awards.
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