Labor welcomes today’s release of MySuper heatmaps by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority. It’s a good start which puts the performance of Australia’s $2.9 trillion superannuation funds under the microscope.

Regulators and consumers need to be able to identify those funds which are charging too much and delivering too little.

Superannuation sits alongside Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and the NDIS as national achievements which haves made Australia fairer and stronger.

The super system helps Australians retire with dignity.

But getting stuck in underperforming super funds remains a real risk for Australians. An underperforming super fund can cost an Australian worker the equivalent of 13 years’ worth of lost wages.

The release of these APRA heatmaps is an important step towards providing Australians with the information they need to get out of underperforming super funds and into good funds.

There is more to be done, including the extension of heatmaps to the choice sector, and ensuring that the data is presented in a way that is more easily understood by consumers but Labor welcomes the action taken by APRA today.

Labor will continue to push for the further development of strong benchmarks for super funds.

QUOTES ATTRIBUTABLE TO STEPHEN JONES MP

“We want to see Australians out of bad super funds. These APRA heatmaps represent an important first step towards giving Australians the information they need to get into the right fund for them.”

"Regulators and consumers need to be able to identify those funds which are charging too much and delivering too little. Transparent benchmarks are the only way to achieve this.”

“It’s time the Liberals stopped their ideological attacks on the super system, and get on with the difficult work of fixing underperformance.”

TUESDAY 10 DECEMBER 2019