In May, Treasury secretary Ken Henry handed down his review, which encompassed 138 recommendations, including the resource rent tax on super profits and business taxation reform.
Under the government's response to the Henry review, Australians aged 50 and over would benefit from a revamp of concessional caps, with the superannuation guarantee (SG) to be boosted from 9 per cent to 12 per cent by 2020. The SG age limit would also be raised to 75 from July 2013, with 33,000 employees expected to benefit from the initiative.
The government also delivered a no-frills budget that focused on a raft of conservative offerings, including expanded tax savings for Australians and a continued push to position Australia as a leading financial services hub with the establishment of a new government taskforce.
It was announced former FPA head Jo-Anne Bloch and AMP chief executive Craig Dunn would be part of the new government working party to promote Australia as a financial services hub, along with Lazard's Paul Binsted, Ernst & Young's Alf Capito, ANZ's Phil Chronican, Vanguard's Jeremy Duffield, AustralianSuper's Paul Schroder and former UBS executive Shane Finemore.
In June, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was ousted, with Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard stepping up as prime minister with an early federal election scheduled for late August.
The Cooper review released its reform packages in July, which included the MySuper solution, a ban on insurance commissions in superannuation and the requirement for self-managed superannuation participants to complete additional study.
In August, the government said it would introduce a number of standards that the MySuper product must comply with, including no entry fees with exit fees limited to cost recovery, a ban on commissions in relation to retail distribution and advice, a single and simple investment option and standardised reporting requirements.
In September, following weeks of uncertainty with a hung parliament, Gillard's government returned to office following the decision by independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott to support the Labor Party.
Following a cabinet reshuffle, former parliamentary secretary for disabilities and children's services Bill Shorten was sworn in as Chris Bowen's replacement as Assistant Treasurer and Superannuation and Financial Services Minister.
By October, Shorten confirmed financial advice reforms proposed by former financial services minister Bowen would continue as planned, with the government deciding to move ahead with the implementation of FOFA.
A month later, Shorten unveiled the government's new advisory panel as part of its proposed FOFA reforms. It was announced ASIC commissioner Greg Medcraft would act as panel chair, with Colonial First State chief executive Brian Bissaker, FPA chief Mark Rantall, Association of Financial Advisers chief Richard Klipin and Self-Managed Super Fund Professionals' Association of Australia chief Andrea Slattery among its 17 members.
