In short:
Australia's corporate regulator warns that super funds are failing to deal with complaints properly.
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funds → warn → complaints
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission says the ombudsman is better at detecting industry-wide issues than the funds.
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ombudsman → say → funds
It is threatening legal action against super funds that don't step up.
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that → threaten → funds
Australia's corporate regulator says superannuation funds are failing their members in managing their retirement savings, warning that those who do not step up could be staring down future legal action.
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who → say → action
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC's) latest review looked at 45 superannuation trustees, covering $1.6 trillion in benefits for more than 12.8 million members.
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review → look → members
It found that superannuation members were more likely to get resolutions to their complaints if they went to the financial ombudsman rather than raise it directly with their super fund.
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they → find → fund
It has prompted ASIC commissioner Simone Constant to hand down a blunt warning to the funds that "blaming customers is not a complaint strategy".
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blaming → prompt → customers
ASIC has long been critical of how super funds handle member complaints over death benefits and disability insurance claims payouts and alleged fraud and misconduct.
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funds → handle → benefits
In March last year, it called on funds to overhaul the way they dealt with death benefit claims, noting excessive delays, poor customer service and ineffective claims handling were leaving Australians worse off at some of the most vulnerable times of their lives.
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delays → call → lives
In October last year, it criticised superannuation funds over the way they communicated with retirees.
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they → criticise → retirees
Payouts impact people's lives
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Payouts → impact → lives
: commissioner
Ms Constant said superannuation trustees managed $3.4 trillion in Australians' retirement savings.
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trustees → say → savings
She said they were dealing with payouts that affect people's lives and the retirement savings they had worked hard to build.
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they → say → lives
"Super funds must listen to what complaints are telling them," she said.
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she → listen → them
"When trustees fail to learn from their complaints, small problems left unidentified, unattended or unresolved can snowball into widespread failures.
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problems → fail → failures
"That expose[s] members to harm and erode[s] trust in the superannuation system.
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That → expose[ → system
Super funds that don't step up could face legal action.
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that → step → action
"We're willing and able to bring these actions against funds for not meeting these legal responsibilities,"Ms Constant said.
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Constant → bring → funds
Funds not analysing their complaints data
ASIC's inquiries across the industry found close to one quarter of trustees were not analysing complaints data to identify systemic issues on a regular basis.
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quarter → analyse → basis
More than half of trustees reviewed (24 out of 45) identified fewer than five systemic issues from complaints over a two-year period.
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half → review → period
Of these, 14 trustees failed to identify a single issue.
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trustees → fail → issue
"We see low levels of systemic issue identification as a potential red flag, not evidence of better performance," Ms Constant said.
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Constant → see → performance
"Alarmingly, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority [AFCA] appears better at picking up issues than industry.
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Authority → appear → industry
According to AFCA, superannuation complaints rose sharply in 2025–26, with the financial ombudsman receiving 8,755 complaints, up 42 per cent on the previous financial year.
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ombudsman → accord → year
AFCA said complaints about super funds refusing to pay claims rose by 80 per cent.
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funds → say → cent
ASIC said during July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2026, more than 19,400 complaints were made to AFCA about superannuation concerning the 45 funds that were part of its whole-of-industry review.
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that → say → review
"When comparing the two years of data we collected, AFCA identified systemic issues from superannuation complaints it received at almost twice the rate all trustees identified from the complaints they received," Ms Constant said.
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Constant → compare → complaints
Stop blaming members for faults
ASIC also found several trustees blamed members when they made complaints.
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they → stop → complaints
Several of them attributed more than 60 per cent of recorded complaint causes to members.
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Several → attribute → members
"Blaming the customer is not a complaints strategy,"Ms Constant said.
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Constant → blame → customer
The review noted in one case, a tax-related system problem was raised through complaints for years before the trustee investigated whether other members were affected, with early estimates suggesting about 1,200 members could be impacted.
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members → note → years
Another case involved more than 250,000 members being unable to access documents online at different times.
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members → involve → times
"Trustees need to look behind the complaint and ask whether poor communication, unclear processes, delays or system failures are driving member dissatisfaction," Ms Constant said.
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Constant → need → dissatisfaction
"If a member cannot access their benefit payment, cannot get a timely response, or doesn't receive the support they are entitled to or the services they are paying for, the consequences can be serious.
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consequences → access → support
But the industry said it was working hard to resolve issues.
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it → say → issues
Financial Services Council chief executive Blake Briggs agreed superannuation trustees had a responsibility to deliver high-quality services to members.
"In recent years, superannuation trustees have undertaken significant work to strengthen their complaints-handling frameworks, including improving processes for identifying and responding to systemic issues," he said.
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he → agree → issues
He said the government, almost two years ago, announced its intention to introduce mandatory service standards across the industry in response to unacceptable failures in how major funds had handled Australians' death benefit and group life claims.
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funds → say → claims
"We support ongoing industry efforts to promptly identify and address systemic issues, learn from complaints and improve processes to deliver better outcomes for members,"Mr Briggs said.
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Briggs → support → outcomes
The Aporia
