In the ‘Let’s build a community consensus on super’ paper, ASFA says the association wants to start a debate about retirement incomes.
“We think there is the possibility of starting a conversation around the system,” ASFA chief executive Pauline Vamos said at an ASFA event yesterday. “We need to ensure that the system can continue to deliver dignity in retirement.”
ASFA said it doesn’t want to talk with just the industry and politicians, but also to find out what younger people expect in retirement.
“The Australian compulsory superannuation system is still relatively immature,” the paper stated. It “will be another 30 years before most individuals will have the full benefit of a mature SG [Superannuation Guarantee] system.”
Submissions will be accepted over a four-month period, after which the results will be delivered to the current government.
With changing retirement rates and employment patterns, the advocacy body sees this not so much as rebuilding superannuation but rather reconstructing it to fit the changes of the future.
“We recognise that it is one of the best systems in the world; it is about evolving the system as other changes occur,” Ms Vamos said.
“We need a system that encourages long-term streams, income products and longevity products so it is sustainable and delivers that dignity.”
ASFA wants to make sure that the system has adequacy, is sustainable, is equitable, is flexible and protects its members.
The research body has already received praise from some quarters for the mature way it is approaching reformulating pension policies.
“I would like to congratulate ASFA on this white paper because it does look like a genuine, long-lasting… what would be a better system, rather than what would be politically saleable,” finance and economics commentator Michael Pascoe said at the ASFA event yesterday.
