ASFA hits back at super guarantee delay

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) will continue to lobby for the superannuation guarantee (SG) increase to continue as planned - despite Opposition leader Tony Abbott's plan to delay it if the Coalition wins the September election. 

Abbott said the SG hike to 12 per cent would be delayed under a Coalition Government until 2021-22 rather than being reached by 2019-20. 

ASFA chief executive Pauline Vamos said the SG increase was important in ensuring all Australians had a comfortable retirement. 

"We have long been strong supporters of the increase to 12 per cent and will continue to advocate for the guarantee to proceed as legislated," she said. 

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"However discussions and debate about the future of Australia's retirement incomes policy need to be had in a much broader context and with input from industry, stakeholders and the broader community." 

ASFA launched a white paper earlier this week to engage the broader community on retirement incomes policy. 

"Superannuation is just one part of this puzzle," she said.  

"The role of other factors such as aged care, health care and access to the Age Pension must also be considered when contemplating the system's design." 

A holistic approach was necessary to ensure adequate retirement income across the board. 

"What the community doesn't want to see is more and more short-term tweaks to the system, which ultimately undermine their confidence and make it difficult for people to plan for their post-work years with some certainty," Vamos said. 

"The policy decisions made today will have an impact on the lifestyle of all Australians in retirement, so this is not a conversation industry and government can have just with themselves." 

Feedback from the community was necessary to build a national consensus on the future of the superannuation system.