Inventory of superannuation trustee transparency and disclosure obligations

1. Transitional: Remuneration (new)

Superannuation trustees must continue to make the following remuneration information for the 2021–22 financial year publicly available:

• remuneration, payments, benefits and compensation details of each executive officer or individual trustee, including any changes to compensation arrangements
• details of the appointment, retirement, termination, or other change to the position of executive officers or individual trustees, including appointment payment and termination benefits, and
• details of any contract for services between the superannuation trustee and an executive officer or individual trustee.

The remuneration information was formerly prescribed under SIS Act, s29QB(1)(a) of the SIS Act and regulation 2.37 of the SIS Regulations.

Superannuation trustees must make the following remuneration information for the 2022–23 financial year publicly available:

• remuneration, payments, benefits and compensation details of each member of the key management personnel of the fund, including any changes to compensation arrangements
• details of the appointment, retirement, termination, or other change to the position of key management personnel, including appointment payment and termination benefits, and
• details of any contract for services between the superannuation trustee and key management personnel.

The remuneration information is prescribed in regulation 2M.3.04 of the Corporations Regulations.

2. Annual RSE reports (financial, directors’ and auditor’s reports) (new)

Superannuation trustees must for each financial year:

• publish annual RSE reports consisting of the financial report, directors’ report and auditors’ report, and
• provide a copy of these reports to members and beneficiaries on request (see also obligations 32 and 34 for information provided to concerned persons and any other persons).

The directors’ report for each financial year must include the following remuneration information, under the heading ‘Remuneration report’:

• remuneration, payments, benefits and compensation details of each member of the key management personnel, including any change to compensation arrangements
• details of the appointment, retirement, termination, or other change to the position of key management personnel, including appointment payment and termination benefits, and
• details of any contract for services between the superannuation trustee and key management personnel.

The remuneration information is prescribed in regulation 2M.3.04 of the Corporations Regulations.

Superannuation trustees must publish the first RSE financial report, directors’ report and auditors’ report within 3 months after the end of the RSE’s 2023–24 financial year.

3. Remuneration policy and outcomes (new)

Superannuation trustees who are SFIs must publish information about:

• the remuneration framework, including information about governance of the framework and an overview of the key features and objectives
• remuneration outcomes, including information about fixed and variable remuneration for the CEO, senior managers, highly paid material risk-takers and other material risk-takers
• special payments made in the financial year, including guaranteed bonuses, sign-on awards and severance payments, and
• deferred and adjusted variable remuneration, including total deferred variable remuneration, total paid and vested variable remuneration net of downward-adjustments paid as at the end of the financial year and total downward adjustments to variable remuneration in relation to deferred variable remuneration and total variable remuneration.

Superannuation trustees who are non-SFIs must publish information about:

• governance, design and structure of the remuneration framework, including information on the main bodies that oversee remuneration and how the board exercises its discretion in determining remuneration outcomes and oversees remuneration policies and input provided by board risk committees and the CRO and a description of the design and structure of the framework, and
• the remuneration policy, including information on how the superannuation trustee aligns variable outcomes with performance where relevant, the different forms of variable remuneration offered to employees in specified roles and the rationale for offering these different forms, and how the licensee ensures risk management outcomes are assessed and consequence management applied in circumstances where variable remuneration is not offered.

Superannuation trustees must first publish this information within 6 months after the end of their first full financial year commencing on or after 1 January 2024 (and each year thereafter).

4. Fund and product documentation (updated)

Superannuation trustees must make the following information publicly available:

• trust deed and incorporated materials (see note)
• governing rules (see note)
• rules for nomination, appointment and removal of trustees or directors
• most recent actuarial report of each defined benefit fund (see note)
• most recent PDS for each product (see note)
• annual performance test determination information (where APRA has notified a trustee they failed the
• performance test)
• most recent financial services guide
• summary of each significant event or material change notice made in the last 2 years (see note)
• register of relevant interests and relevant duties
• summary of conflicts management policy
• proxy voting policies
• voting records for RSEs with more than six members
• company constitution, and
• annual financial statements of the superannuation trustee for the previous financial year.

Note: If this information:

• contains personal information (within the meaning of the Privacy Act 1988) relating to a beneficiary or former beneficiary of the RSE – superannuation trustees can provide redacted versions that exclude personal information
• relates fully to a standard employer-sponsored sub-plan – superannuation trustees must make this information available in full (from 1 July 2024), or
• contains information relating to a standard employer-sponsored sub-plan – superannuation trustees can provide redacted versions that exclude information relating to the standard employer-sponsored sub-plan (until 1 July 2024).

5. Transitional: Annual report (new)

Superannuation trustees must make the annual report for the previous financial year publicly available.

6. Fund information (annual report) (updated)

Superannuation trustees must publish the fund information on their websites and give a copy of the fund information to a member, on request. The fund information must include:

• information about the management, financial condition and investment performance of the fund and any sub-plan
• the name and Australian Business Number of each material outsourced service provider
• the name, qualifications and summary of experience of each executive officer or each individual trustee
• a record of attendance at board meetings for each director for the last 7 years, and
• other details reasonably necessary for the members to understand the management, financial condition and investment performance.

Fund information can be provided in more than one document. Trustees may satisfy this obligation by including the fund information in the annual report.

7. Resignation or removal of an RSE auditor (new)

If ASIC consents to the resignation or removal of an RSE auditor, our consent will only take effect when the superannuation trustee provides information to members of the RSE:

• by a public notice displayed prominently on the website
• by email, or
• in writing.

8. Annual member outcomes determination and summary (updated)

Superannuation trustees of regulated superannuation funds with more than six members must assess annually whether they are promoting the financial interests of members and publish the determination together with a summary of the assessments and comparisons on which the determination is based. The annual outcomes assessment must be undertaken within 12 months of the previous assessment. 

9. Summary of retirement income strategy (updated)

The retirement income strategy is a strategy to assist members to achieve and balance the three objectives of:

• maximising expected retirement income
• managing expected risks to the sustainability and stability of retirement income, and
• having flexible access to expected funds during retirement.

Superannuation trustees must formulate a retirement income strategy and publish a summary of that strategy on the website. They must also regularly review their retirement income strategy.

10. Annual members’ meeting notice and information included with the notice (updated)

The annual members’ meeting is a meeting of fund members that must be held each financial year. The superannuation trustee may determine the platform through which the meeting is to be held (i.e. in person, electronically or a combination of both).

Superannuation trustees must give notice of the annual members’ meeting that includes information such as the time and location of the meeting, how it can be attended, the meeting agenda and copies of annual RSE reports (financial, directors’ and auditor’s reports). Superannuation trustees must also include the information prescribed in the SIS Regulations with the notice of annual members’ meeting.

11. Annual members’ meeting minutes

Superannuation trustees must make available minutes of the annual members’ meeting that include answers to any questions the superannuation trustee is obliged to answer either at or after the meeting.

12. Product dashboards (updated)

Superannuation trustees of regulated superannuation funds that have at least seven members must publish a product dashboard for each MySuper product. A product dashboard gives members key information about the superannuation product by referencing five separate measures:

• the return target
• the returns for previous financial years
• a comparison between the return target and returns for previous financial years
• the level of investment risk, and
• a statement of fees and other costs.

Choice dashboard obligations have been deferred until 1 October 2027.

13. Portfolio holdings disclosure

Superannuation trustees must disclose information about the portfolio composition (underlying assets and derivatives) of each of the investment options offered by their funds as at the end of the reporting day of each reporting period.

14. Target market determinations

A target market determination (TMD) must be made publicly available before a financial product that is subject to the design and distribution obligations is distributed. The design and distribution obligations do not apply to MySuper products.

A TMD is a mandatory public document that sets out the class of consumers a financial product is likely to be appropriate for (the target market), and matters relevant to the product’s distribution, monitoring and review. Superannuation trustees must ensure their TMDs remain appropriate over time.

15. Complaints policy (updated)

A complaints policy should explain:

• how members or beneficiaries may lodge a complaint with their fund
• the options available to assist complainants who might need additional assistance to lodge a complaint
• key steps for dealing with complaints, including acknowledgement, assessment and investigation, and an internal dispute resolution response
• response timeframes, and
• details about how to contact AFCA if a complaint is not resolved.

Superannuation trustees must make their complaints policy publicly available and readily accessible, free of charge. Trustees should regularly review the adequacy of their complaints policy.

16. Former temporary resident disclosures

ASIC Corporations Unclaimed Superannuation—Former Temporary Residents Instrument 2019/873 provides relief for superannuation trustees from the requirement to notify and give exit statements to former temporary residents who have departed Australia when their superannuation benefits are paid to the Australian Taxation Office under Part 3A of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999. The relief is conditional on:

• specified information for temporary residents being included in the PDS for the relevant product and on the fund’s website, and
• the trustee providing reasonable assistance if the former temporary resident asks the trustee about their interest in the fund.

17. Whistleblower policy (updated)

A whistleblower policy covers information about:

• the protections available to whistleblowers, including protections under the Corporations Act
• to whom disclosures that qualify for protection under the Corporations Act may be made
• how disclosures will be investigated
• support, protection and fair treatment of whistleblowers
• how the policy will be made available to officers and employees, and
• any other matters prescribed by regulations.

Superannuation trustees that are public or proprietary companies must have a whistleblower policy and as a matter of best practice, should publish the policy on their website. The policy published on the website may exclude information that is not useful or relevant to external individuals who disclose wrongdoing or that would not be suitable for external publication (e.g. the names and contact phone numbers of internal individuals who can receive disclosures from employees). It is good practice for trustees to periodically review their whistleblower policies (e.g. every 2 years).

18. Product Disclosure Statement (updated)

A PDS is a document that includes information about the product’s key features, fees, benefits, risks and the complaints handling procedure.

Superannuation trustees, as issuers of superannuation products, must give a PDS to each member issued with a superannuation product, except in specific circumstances – for example, if the member has already received a PDS that contains all the required information or if the member ceases to be a member before the PDS is required to be given to them.

Superannuation trustees must also give a PDS to a standard employer-sponsor, to a non-member spouse who acquires a superannuation product (if the governing rules of the fund provide for a non-member spouse to become a member of the fund), and to a person who requests a copy of a PDS prepared in the shorter PDS format. 

A superannuation product PDS must be prepared in the shorter PDS format unless an exemption applies.

19. Financial services guide

Unless an exemption applies, superannuation trustees must give a financial services guide (FSG) to a person receiving a financial service (e.g. a member or potential member) before a financial service is provided. An FSG must explain the financial service offered, the fees charged and how complaints are dealt with.

Generally, a trustee does not need to provide an FSG if the financial service they provide merely consists of:

• issuing its own financial product (the superannuation product)
• dealing in financial products in the ordinary course of operation of the fund (e.g. investing fund assets), or
• providing a superannuation trustee service.

20. Notice of failure of annual performance test assessment (updated)

If APRA notifies a superannuation trustee that its product has failed the annual performance test, the superannuation trustee must:

• give notice about the test failure to the beneficiaries of the product, and
• make information about the test failure publicly available on the fund’s website.

21. Information for members about insurance (new)

Superannuation trustees should provide beneficiaries with clear and timely information about their insured benefits and must inform beneficiaries how they can opt out of insurance cover. Superannuation trustees’ insurance management framework must set out how the opt-out process will be communicated to beneficiaries. This may include publishing information about the process on the website.

22. Annual member statements (updated)

Annual member statements provide members with information about their account for the relevant reporting period. Superannuation trustees must give annual statements to members who acquire superannuation products. Each reporting period is up to one year.

23. Exit statements

Exit statements are periodic statements that set out a member’s account information from the start of the reporting period until a member ceases to hold the superannuation product.

Superannuation trustees must give exit statements to members or, if the member has died, to their beneficiaries. The reporting period is from the end of the reporting period for the most recent annual member statement until the date the member ceases to hold the product (on exit or death).

24. Appointment of acting trustee

If a person is appointed to act as a superannuation trustee, the person must give each beneficiary a notice about the appointment. The notice must be in the approved form.

25. Material change or significant event notice

Superannuation trustees, as issuers of financial products, must give members notice of material changes or significant events including those that have to be specified (or incorporated by reference) in a PDS (if the PDS was prepared on the day of or the day before the change or event occurred) and any other change or event prescribed in the Corporations Regulations.

26. Variation of repayment

Where superannuation trustees seek to make a determination varying the period within which amounts are to be paid to beneficiaries in approved deposit funds (under section 53 of the SIS Act), they must convene a meeting by sending a notice to the beneficiaries that includes the date, time and place of the meeting, and reason for convening the meeting.

27. Internal dispute resolution responses (updated)

Superannuation trustees must:

• respond to complaints, informing the complainant of the final outcome of their complaint, their right to take the complaint to AFCA and AFCA’s contact details, and
• provide notice of any delay in responding to a complaint (if the response cannot be provided within required timeframes).

28. Confirmation statements 

Superannuation trustees must provide members with confirmation of certain transactions between the trustee and the member in relation to their superannuation interest. Notifiable transactions include:

• acquiring a financial product (e.g. creating a new interest), and
• those that occur while a person holds a financial product (e.g. moving a member’s interest to a new account).

Certain transactions do not require a confirmation statement (e.g. regular member contributions).

29. Inactive insurance notices

Superannuation trustees must provide affected members with:

• an insurance inactivity notice where a member’s account has been continually inactive for the relevant period, and
• a right to cease cover notice, where a member’s account is considered inactive but the member has elected to take out or maintain insurance cover.

30. Dangerous occupation exception notice

Superannuation trustees must give notice to affected members where trustees have elected to treat the members’ occupation as a dangerous occupation. The notice must include details of the annual cost to the member of the benefit and how the member may elect to cease the benefit.

31. Notifying an affected client of a reportable situation

Superannuation trustees, as AFS licensees, must take reasonable steps to notify affected clients who received personal advice from the trustee (or a representative of the trustee) in relation to superannuation (or another relevant financial product) when there are reasonable grounds to believe that:

• a reportable situation has arisen
• affected clients have suffered or will suffer loss or damage, and
• affected clients will be able to recover the loss or damage from the licensee.

An affected client includes (but is not limited to) a member, former member or potential member of the superannuation product who has suffered or will suffer loss or damage as a result of the personal advice they were given.

Where the obligation applies, trustees must also notify affected clients of the outcome of an investigation into the reportable situation.

32. Information for concerned persons (updated)

Superannuation trustees, as issuers of superannuation products, must on request provide concerned persons with information reasonably required for the concerned person to understand or make an informed judgement about:

• their benefit entitlements
• the main features of their plan or sub-plan
• the management and financial condition of their plan or sub-plan
• the investment performance of their plan or sub-plan, or
• particular investments.

Concerned persons are also entitled to copies of annual RSE reports, on request. These reports can also be requested by any other person: see obligations 2 and 34.

33. Information for employer-sponsors

Superannuation trustees, as issuers of superannuation products, must on request provide information reasonably required for employer-sponsors to understand or make an informed judgement about:

• their employees’ benefit entitlements (or prospective entitlements if they become members)
• the main features of their plan or sub-plan
• the management and financial condition of their plan or sub-plan
• the investment performance of their plan or sub-plan, or
• any matter related to the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992.

34. Information for any other person (updated)

Superannuation trustees must give to any person on request: 

• RSE financial statements and audit reports
• most recent fund information (annual report), and
• further information about the superannuation product, if the information might reasonably influence a person’s decision to acquire the product, unless the information is confidential.

Note that the superannuation legislation refers to ‘persons (other than concerned persons)’. Concerned persons are also entitled to this information under the Corporations Act: see obligation 32.

35. Information for RSE auditors

Superannuation trustees must give the RSE auditor documents requested by the RSE auditor in writing. An RSE auditor may only request documents that are relevant to the preparation of a report about the operations of the RSE or the superannuation trustee.