Super Alert – 22 August 2025: ASIC enforcement update; APRA FY26 corporate plan; Treasury consultation re climate-related transition planning guidance

Welcome to the weekly KHQ Super Alert. This week ASIC released its latest enforcement and regulatory update, along with further data relating to the reports of misconduct that it receives from the public. APRA published its corporate plan for the year which outlines its strategic priorities, while Treasury commenced consultations for climate-related transition planning guidance.

ASIC – Latest enforcement update released

On 21 August 2025, ASIC released its enforcement and regulatory update report for the period January to June 2025. In the report, ASIC summarises the various actions it commenced against superannuation trustees for that period, including actions relating to delayed processing of death benefit claims and failures to merge multiple member accounts.

The report notes that for the remainder of the year, ASIC will continue its ‘increased scrutiny across misconduct exploiting superannuation savings’. In particular, ASIC will ‘continue [its] multi-year review of member services, including by assessing the progress trustees have made in improving their death benefit claims handling and by examining how trustees respond to complaints’.

Click here for details.

ASIC – Data in relation to misconduct reports

On 21 August 2025, ASIC released its latest data in relation to reports of misconduct that it receives from the public. According to ASIC, it ‘received 7,561 reports of misconduct from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2025, raising 11,060 issues. Of this, 5,909 reported issues fell into the financial services and retail investor category’.

ASIC notes that while it ‘is not a complaints resolution body, [it uses] reports of misconduct to inform…surveillance activities and investigations’. A standalone webpage breaking down the data and each of the misconduct reports has also been released.

Click here and here for details.

APRA – Corporate plan for financial year released

On 21 August 2025, APRA published its corporate plan which outlines its ‘strategic priorities over the next four years as well as its policy, supervision and data priorities for the coming 12 to 18 months’.

APRA has called out the following as its key priorities:

• ‘strengthening cyber resilience across APRA’s regulated industries’;
• ‘assessing the degree to which regulated entities are complying with APRA’s new prudential standard on operational risk management, CPS 230’;
  ‘updating APRA’s prudential standards for governance’;
• ‘publishing the results of APRA’s inaugural System Stress Test, designed to evaluate risks arising from interconnectedness between the banking and superannuation sectors’; and
• ‘intensifying scrutiny of superannuation fund expenditure and reviewing the investment governance and member outcomes of major platform providers’.

Click here for details.

ATO – Guidance in relation to SuperStream payments from 1 July 2026

On 20 August 2025, the ATO released guidance material for super funds ‘to ensure they can receive and allocate New Payment Platform (NPP) payments’ (ie, near real-time payments) via SuperStream from 1 July 2026. If funds would like to opt-in to receive these payments before 1 July 2026, they can do so using the information provided by the ATO.

Click here for details.

Treasury – Consultation paper released for climate-related transition planning

On 15 August 2025, Treasury released a consultation paper seeking feedback from industry in relation to ‘developing guidance on best practices for climate-related transition planning’. The aim of the voluntary guidance is to support ‘organisations to plan for climate risks and seize opportunities while meeting expectations of transition plans from investors, lenders and other stakeholders’, and also ‘to provide an introductory overview of transition planning best practices and endorse a recommended transition plan disclosure framework for organisations operating in Australia’.

The consultation period closes on 24 September 2025.

Click here for details.

APRA – New FAQs for superannuation data reporting

On 15 August 2025, APRA announced that it has added 32 new frequently asked questions to its webpage for Superannuation Data Reporting. The questions are on various topics and relate to reporting standards 550 (Asset Allocation), 551 (Liquidity), 552 (Securities Subject to Repurchase and Resale and Securities Lending and Borrowing), 553 (Investment Exposure Concentrations and Valuations) and 605 (RSE Structure).

Click here and here for details.

Workplace relations – NSW superannuation case

On 15 August 2025, the decision known as Superannuation Case 2025 (No 3) [2025] NSWIRComm 1064 was published by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. The decision is linked to proceedings where the Commission has been asked to consider whether a model superannuation clause should be set for inclusion in industrial awards. See our here for further background information in relation to these proceedings.

In this latest decision, the Commission determined ‘to make an award applying to all State public sector and local government employees and employers within the jurisdiction of the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW…The award will make the obligation to make superannuation contributions an award requirement’.

Click here for details.

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