Shadow minister for retirement incomes and savings, Senator Nick Sherry, has pointed to figures released last week by theAustralian Prudential Regulation Authority(APRA) on superannuation membership and contributions as evidence of the impact of “poor returns, high taxes and corporate collapses” on superannuation funds in Australia.
The statistics, from APRA’s Superannuation Trends report, show that total superannuation assets fell by 1.7 per cent to $507.7 billion for the year to 31 March 2003, while member contributions were down 17.4 per cent compared with the prior year.
“The decline in member contributions, which are largely voluntary, reflects the negative returns, corporate collapses and ongoing concerns about taxes and excessive fees, charges and commissions,” he says.
However statistics from the report also showed that employer contributions for the year to March 2003 increased by 12.4 per cent, largely driven by the increase in the compulsory superannuation guarantee, which moved from 8 per cent to 9 per cent on 1 July 2002.
Small fund assets grew by 2.4 per cent during the March 2003 quarter, and retirement savings accounts and industry funds also experienced growth.
To repair public confidence in superannuation, Sherry has called on the Government to act urgently to lower the tax on contributions, improve the regulation of fees, charges and commissions, and provide full compensation in the event of theft, fraud and corporate bankruptcy.
Sherry also highlighted the quarter’s 1.2 per cent increase in member accounts, now standing at 25.5 million accounts for 9 million fund members, to support Labor’s call for automatic consolidation of accounts to reduce the number of accounts, save administration costs and allow members to find lost superannuation assets.
