Australians want more superannuation and less tinkering with the settings

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) today released consumer research which found Australians believe more money should be saved for their retirement, not less.

Research conducted by CT Group (on behalf of ASFA) examined community attitudes to superannuation, the industry, compulsory superannuation and the scheduled increase of the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) to 12 per cent.¹

Key findings of the research included:

• An overwhelming majority of respondents (81%) agreed with the statement “people need to save more superannuation, not less”.
• Three quarters of respondents (75%) agree with the statement that “postponing the super guarantee increases may mean that many people will have to work longer in order to retire”.
• A clear majority of Australians (58%) agree that giving people early access to their super will undermine the fairness of the system.
• When a full list of national issues were prompted to respondents, government intervention in the superannuation industry was considered one of the least important priorities. Just 2% of Australians said that they would rank further regulation of the industry as a top priority.

“The views of the community were unequivocal. Australians value superannuation and consider that it is crucial to ensure they have dignity in retirement,” said ASFA CEO, Dr Martin Fahy.

“It is clear that the average Australian believes more money should be saved for retirement and not less. However, many Australians are concerned that while they personally may have saved enough to live well in retirement, others who don’t save might become a burden on taxpayers.

“In this context, there is overwhelming support for maintaining the legislated increase of the SG to 12 per cent and for the compulsory nature of the system,” concluded Dr Fahy.

¹ Qualitative Research:
6 focus groups with Australians aged 25-69 were conducted in electorates across the country; including from Sydney (Lindsay and Macquarie), Brisbane (Brisbane and Ryan) and Melbourne (Higgins and Chisholm). Focus groups were conducted in October 2021.

Quantitative Research:
A survey of sample size n=2,043 was conducted in November 2021.

For further information, please contact:
ASFA Media team, 0451 949 300.

About ASFA
ASFA is the peak policy, research and advocacy body for Australia’s superannuation industry. It is a not-for-profit, sector-neutral, and non-party political, national organisation. ASFA’s mission is to continuously improve the superannuation system, so all Australians can enjoy a comfortable and dignified retirement.