In this guide
Deeming rates to rise
From 20 September 2025, the Government will lift the deeming rates used in Centrelink’s income test. 0.75% (previously 0.25%) will apply to the first $64,200 of financial assets for Singles (and $106,200 for Couples combined), with 2.75% (previously 2.25%) on amounts above those thresholds.
This ends the COVID-era freeze and is the first change to deeming rates since 1 May 2020. The change will increase the assessed income for people with financial assets, which may reduce their Age Pension.
The Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek said that deeming rates were frozen at artificially low levels as an emergency COVID-19 measure and the government extended the freeze to “help shield age pensioners and other income support recipients while the economy recovered. As Australians begin to feel the positive impacts of inflation easing, the Government will now gradually return deeming rates to pre-pandemic settings – that is, to reflect rates of return that pensioners and other payment recipients can reasonably access on their investments.”
More increases may be on the way since the government media release mentions that “changes to deeming rates will happen at the same time as the indexation of payments, and increases will be staged.”
At the same time the full Single rate for the Age Pension rises $29.70, and $22.40 each for a Couple. There will also be increases to the income limits and assets limits for a part Age Pension.
Government releases consultation papers on retirement
The Federal Government has released two consultation papers on key planks of its retirement phase reforms and is asking for feedback.
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The industry has until 18 September to make submissions on the Guidance on best practice principles for superannuation retirement income solutions paper and until 5 September to make submissions on the Retirement Reporting Framework: Increasing transparency for members paper.
“These reforms are all about ensuring there is as much of a policy and product focus on the retirement phase as there is on the accumulation phase,” treasurer Jim Chalmers and assistant treasurer and minister for financial services Daniel Mulino said in a joint statement.
The Financial Services Council (FSC) said the two papers were important steps but urged the government to ensure that individual outcomes remain the focus of national retirement policy.
“No two people’s retirements are the same and should not be treated as such by the government or superannuation funds. Retirement policy should focus on ensuring that people are given the tools to make decisions that steer them towards the kind of retirement that they want. This includes access to guidance, financial advice and a range of products to help shape their futures,” FSC chief executive officer Blake Briggs said.
In the consultation papers, the government says that the Retirement Reporting Framework will require trustees to report annually on a “series of indicators on their products, services and offerings, as well as metrics on their members’ behaviour, to understand how trustees are driving improved retirement outcomes.”
“Performance testing of retirement products would lead to adverse outcomes, given that retirement is personal and should not be treated uniformly,” Briggs said.
ASIC addresses misconduct in financial services
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is calling on the financial services industry to work with it to fight against bad actors that could hurt the entire superannuation sector.
“There is a significant pot of money in our super system that bad actors are trying to exploit, on an industrial scale,” ASIC chair Joe Longo told the FSC symposium on Shaping Advice in a Time of Change.
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A key area of concern for the regulator is the actions of people encouraging Australians to rollover their super into other products that are potentially against their best interests.
“We’ve all seen the numbers on Shield and First Guardian playing out. More than $1 billion invested by over 11,000 people. Our priority has been to preserve assets so that they can be realised for investors, but even with this action, it is unlikely every investor will be made whole,” Longo said.
To combat this issue, ASIC has doubled the number of new financial advice-related investigations this year and almost doubled the number of new investment management investigations.
“We need to ask ourselves whether some of the entities involved in this suspected misconduct are adequately captured by existing laws,” Longo said.
TelstraSuper and Aware Super explore merger
TelstraSuper and Aware Super have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore a potential merger, which would create a $228 billion fund with over 1.3 million members.
The funds will now start their due diligence process with the expectation that the merger will be executed in the fourth quarter of the 2025–26 financial year.
The two funds say the merger has the potential to deliver enhanced retirement solutions, market-leading financial guidance and advice, along with an unwavering focus on member services that can make a real difference to members’ lives.
“It is expected that the proposed merger will deliver lower fees, an expanded investment menu and a national servicing footprint to help TelstraSuper members further enhance their planning and transition into retirement,” TelstraSuper chair Anne-Marie O’Loghlin AM said.
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“This proposed merger presents a compelling opportunity to unite two funds that share a deep commitment to member-first values,” McLoughlin AM added.
She said they also look forward to welcoming TelstraSuper’s strong corporate employer relationships and specialised capabilities that have the potential to accelerate the combined funds’ corporate super offering.
Young and tradies more likely to miss out on super
Tradespeople and labourers are more than twice as likely to have unpaid or underpaid super than white-collar professionals, with workers aged 20 to 24 around 70% more likely to miss out on their super entitlements than those aged 60 to 64, according to research by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
Anybody not receiving their super entitlements should benefit from the government’s proposed Payday Super reforms, which require employers to pay super at the same time as wages.
“We’re calling on the parliament to get Payday Super signed into law as soon as possible, and before the proposed start on 1 July 2026. Any delays will come at the cost of Australians’ retirement savings, with young people and blue-collar workers being hit hardest,” ASFA chief executive officer Mary Delahunty said.
Unpaid super can make a significant difference to somebody’s super balance at retirement. ASFA calculates that a 30-year-old worker on average wages who misses out on one year of contributions would retire with $25,000 less in their super.
Super associations call for performance test review
Superannuation funds and associations are calling for a review of the performance test at the Treasury’s Economic Roundtable on 19 to 21 August.
In its call for submissions, the government sought views on priority reforms to improve productivity, build economic resilience in the face of global uncertainty, and strengthen budget sustainability.
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Find out moreThe Superannuation Members Council of Australia (SMC) called for simplification of the performance test in its submission. It says this would promote stronger long-term net returns as the primary benchmark for success.
“This approach would encourage value-added outperformance,” its submission said.
The SMC also recommends replacing multiple sources of fee and cost disclosure rules with a single fee disclosure regime.
“This would reduce overlap, duplication, complexity, distortions in the way capital is deployed and create a single source of truth for members to compare funds,” it says.
ASFA recommendations address how the superannuation performance test can best support forward-looking sectors such as clean energy, digital infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. “The application of the performance test risks the unintended consequence of limiting investment allocations to ‘greenfield’ investments such as infrastructure, energy-transition assets, private equity, and property,” its submission said.
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