Australia. Super and pension budget measures in firing line of retirement review
The next increase in compulsory superannuation and a string of budget savings measures that have crimped retirees’ incomes will be investigated in the first comprehensive review of the nation’s retirement income system in 30 years.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Friday released the terms of reference for the inquiry, which will cover the age pension, voluntary savings including the family home, aged-care funding, franking credits and the role of the powerful $2.9 trillion superannuation industry.
The wide-ranging review would examine “the current state of the system and how it will perform in the future as Australians live longer and the population ages”, Mr Frydenberg said. Noting that retirement incomes were based on three pillars – a means-tested aged pension, compulsory super and voluntary savings – the terms of reference require the review to establish a “fact base” of the current system.
It will then identify how the retirement system helps supports people in retirement, the role each pillar plays in that support, distributional impacts across the population and over time as well as the impact of current policy settings on public finances.
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