Super Alert – 25 July 2025: ATO personal transfer balance caps, ASIC proceedings in relation to cybersecurity failures
Welcome to the weekly KHQ Super Alert. There’s a variety of new items covered this week including the ATO releasing updated personal transfer balance caps, ASIC issuing proceedings against a financial service licensee for alleged cybersecurity failures, and Treasury commencing consultations in relation to labelling for sustainable investment products.
ATO – Updated personal transfer balance caps available
On 23 July 2025, the ATO issued a media released announcing that ‘[n]ew proportionally indexed personal transfer balance caps can now be viewed in ATO online’. These personal caps are relevant to members ‘who started a pension before 1 July 2025 and haven’t previously reached or exceeded their personal cap’. These cap amounts will be between $1.6 million and $2 million.
The general transfer balance cap of $2 million will apply to any members who start a pension on or after 1 July 2025.
Click here for details.
Parliament – Proposed Bill to increase SG for firefighters and paramedics reintroduced
On 23 July 2025, the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Amendment (Frontline Emergency Service Workers) Bill 2025 (Cth) was reintroduced to the Senate after lapsing at the end of the previous Parliament. As referred to in our Super Alert of 7 February 2025, the Bill is a private member’s Bill and proposes to increase ‘the superannuation guarantee rate for firefighters and paramedics by 4.4 per cent to match the base rate of superannuation contributions provided to Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel’ (ie, the SG rate would be 16.4% on and from 1 July 2025).
The Bill would not have application in every State and Territory. For example in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, firefighters and paramedics are generally covered by defined benefit schemes by virtue of State legislation, and the relevant contribution rate is already higher than 16.4%.
Click here for details.
ASIC – Court action in relation to cybersecurity risks
On 22 July 2025, ASIC issued a media release announcing that it has commenced proceedings in the NSW Supreme Court against a financial services licensee ‘alleging it failed to properly manage and mitigate cybersecurity risks’. This is alleged on the basis that the licensee ‘failed to have adequate policies, frameworks, systems and controls in place to deal with cybersecurity risks’ and therefore ‘exposed the company, its authorised representatives (ARs) and clients of its ARs to an unacceptable level of risk of a cyber-attack or a cybersecurity incident’.
Click here for details.
Treasury – Sustainable investment product labels
On 18 July 2025, Treasury published a consultation paper seeking feedback in relation to the ‘policy options for a possible sustainable financial product labelling framework’. The government is concerned that the variety of sustainable investment strategies used by product issuers ‘can make it difficult for investors to understand whether or how different products meet their investment objectives’ and compare products. The ‘sustainable investment product labelling framework is intended to support investors to make informed decisions’ and ‘prioritise disclosure that is informative, accessible, and meaningful to support consumer decisions’.
In an associated media release, the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP explained that the Government hopes the ‘labels will help investors and consumers identify, compare, and make informed decisions about sustainable investment products to understand what ‘sustainable’, ‘green’ or similar words mean when they’re applied to financial products’.
The consultation period closes on 29 August 2025.
Click here and here for details.
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