Superannuation complaints rose last year, despite the number of telephone enquiries experiencing a fall, according to a report from the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal (SCT).
In the SCT's 2011/2012 Annual Report, the number of complaints made to the tribunal increased by 6.5 per cent to 2,619.
"A number of complaints received by the Tribunal appear to start because of a delay or perceived lack of attention by a fund to a concern or issue, and then escalate if the fund's response does not address the member's real complaint," SCT chair Jocelyn Furlan said in a statement.
Despite the increase, quarterly statistics show telephone enquiries to the SCT decreased by 10 per cent for the three months to December 2012, with 2,711 telephone calls - down from 3,015 in the September quarter.
One fifth of telephone enquiries were complaints while almost half were queries about the SCT itself.
Written complaints saw an increase of 3.2 per cent compared to the previous quarter, with 611 complaints recorded.
Of the complaints found to be within the SCT's jurisdiction, administration complaints comprised the largest category - 48.8 per cent of all complaints, up from 42 per cent in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, 27.9 per cent of related complaints were regarding death benefit distributions while 18.8 per cent of complaints within SCT jurisdiction concerned disability.
