The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has published a progress review of 45 superannuation trustees’ handling of death benefit claims, finding that while many trustees have improved since its earlier review, others still have not implemented basic process changes. The review points to a 53% reduction in internal complaints about death benefit delays from early 2024 to late 2025, but says rising claim volumes, up 10% in the 12 months to October 2025, mean some trustees remain poorly positioned to meet future service pressures. ASIC said trustees still need to strengthen several core practices. These include measuring end-to-end claim times and setting performance targets tied to claimant outcomes, taking responsibility for risk appetite and customer impact in low-value and low-risk claims including claims staking, improving proactive communications to members and claimants including where language barriers exist, and enhancing support for First Nations members and claimants by updating identification and other practices that lead to poor outcomes. ASIC said it will continue to monitor trustee progress and will consider the full range of regulatory tools, including enforcement action, where trustees fail to meet their legal obligations to handle claims efficiently, honestly and fairly. The next phase of ASIC’s multi-year member services review is underway and is testing how well superannuation trustees use complaints data to identify systemic issues and improve service delivery. Early findings indicate that five of the 10 trustees under review have not identified a single systemic issue from complaints analysis over the review period, and at least one trustee did not analyse its complaints data at all. ASIC said findings from that work will be published later this year.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission2026-06-10
Australian Securities and Investments Commission finds some superannuation trustees still failing to fix death benefit claims handling and warns of enforcement
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has reported mixed progress by 45 superannuation trustees in improving death benefit claims handling, noting a 53% fall in internal complaints about delays but a 10% rise in claim volumes that leaves some trustees poorly positioned for future service pressures. ASIC highlighted ongoing weaknesses in measuring end-to-end claim times, managing low-value and low-risk claims, communications with members and claimants, and support for First Nations members. It warned it may use enforcement where trustees fail to meet legal obligations. In the next phase of its member services review, ASIC is assessing trustees’ use of complaints data, with early findings showing that half of the 10 trustees reviewed have not identified any systemic issues and one has not analysed complaints data at all.