The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) outlined its priorities for supervising superannuation as the industry shifts toward the retirement phase, calling for faster progress on Retirement Income Covenant obligations, stronger operational resilience and cyber controls, and greater transparency on retirement outcomes and product performance. APRA framed the agenda around a rising number of members moving into retirement and the system’s growing scale and interconnectedness, noting total superannuation assets of USD 4.3 trillion, with USD 3 trillion in APRA-regulated funds, and Treasury estimates that around 2.5 million Australians will move from accumulation to retirement during this decade. It highlighted persistent gaps in trustees’ implementation of retirement income strategies, including tracking and measuring effectiveness, and pointed to member outcomes issues such as USD 99 billion of MySuper assets held by members aged 65 or over remaining in accumulation products. On resilience, APRA reiterated expectations for robust information security controls, including multi-factor authentication, and stressed implementation of CPS 230 requirements, particularly oversight of material service providers, amid increased third-party reliance and technology risks. The update also flagged supervisory attention on liquidity and valuation challenges from higher allocations to unlisted assets and offshore investments, and noted APRA’s work to support retirement product innovation through proposed reductions in capital requirements for insurers offering annuity products. APRA expects to publish early findings from its inaugural system stress test later in 2025 and will release findings from a joint APRA-Australian Securities and Investments Commission pulse check survey in November 2025. A second consultation on the annuity capital reforms is due to begin shortly, with finalisation targeted for the first half of 2026. On transparency initiatives, APRA plans to integrate newly published fund-level retirement product data into its Comprehensive Product Performance Package from the second half of 2025-26, and is working with Treasury on a retirement outcomes reporting framework intended to commence in 2027, subject to government confirmation of scope.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority 2025-10-16
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority sets superannuation priorities on Retirement Income Covenant delivery, cyber resilience and retirement reporting
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) outlined its supervisory priorities for superannuation as the industry transitions to the retirement phase, emphasizing faster progress on Retirement Income Covenant obligations, enhanced operational resilience and cyber controls, and improved transparency on retirement outcomes. APRA highlighted gaps in trustees' retirement income strategies, stressed robust information security controls, and announced upcoming consultations and reports, including a system stress test and annuity capital reforms.