The objective of superannuation will operate at a level that is unlikely to impact the provision of financial advice related to retirement income savings and the changes that will happen under the next phase of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes (DBFO) package, a technical specialist has noted.
BT head of financial literacy and advocacy Bryan Ashenden pointed out the bill that introduced the objective into law did not contain any explicit references to laws related to financial advice or superannuation.
“We do finally have a legislated objective for super and the law behind it is a stand-alone bill in its own right. It is not an amendment to the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act in any sense,” Ashenden said during a recent adviser briefing.
“The objective states its purpose is to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way, and any future changes to superannuation have to be measured against this.
“If we start off looking at tranche two of the DBFO as an example of the quality of advice reforms where they to make changes to super, then it has to be measured against the objective.
“What does that mean from a tranche two perspective? We will see many changes in that tranche and while they may impact what we say to a client in relation to super, such as strategies, the types of advice we can provide and who can provide it, they’re not changes to the super law.
“They are changes to the Corporations Act, so therefore do not have to be measured against the objective of super.
“It important to bear in mind that it doesn’t mean, while we’ve got this legislated, that we aren’t going to see changes that come through that have an impact. It’s about what bit of legislation itself is actually changing and what does that looks like for advisers.”
The impact of the objective of superannuation becoming law in terms of other key issues in the sector has also been downplayed by the Institute of Financial Professionals Australia, which recently stated it was also unlikely to alter the operation of the proposed Division 296 tax.
