The regulatory and policy focus on the retirement phase of superannuation has accelerated in recent years, setting clear expectations for trustees to progress beyond minimal compliance to proactively designing and delivering quality retirement income solutions. Corrs Chambers Westgarth recently reviewed retirement income strategy summaries across the sector highlighting progress made, while also identifying opportunity for trustees to further enhance retirement income strategies and improve retirement outcomes. Emma Higgs, Special Counsel at Corrs Chambers Westgarth unpacks the review’s findings.
Steps towards best practice retirement income solutions
In February 2026 the Government released the Guidance on best practice principles for superannuation retirement income solutions (Principles) together with the Retirement Reporting Framework (Framework) as part of a package of reforms intended to raise standards in retirement-phase superannuation and lead to ‘more trusted information, better products, and greater transparency from funds’ (Treasury Factsheet 19 November 2024).
Corrs Chambers Westgarth’s independent review of 55 retirement income strategy summaries (Review) reveals that whilst the sector has made meaningful progress since the retirement income covenant commenced in 2022, the sector is at varying stages of maturity, with further work required before it achieves substantive alignment with ‘best practice’ as articulated in the Principles. The Principles are new, voluntary and carry no direct penalties, and it is emphasised that regulators ‘will continue to monitor compliance with existing trustee obligations’.
The Framework will introduce new transparency regarding retirement offerings, data collection, and performance monitoring. With data collection commencing in 2027, there are clear areas of strength established by many trustees and practical opportunities to further build strategic maturity in preparation.
Retirement income strategy assessment
The findings of the Review are presented in the report Retirement incomes: from strategy to solution (July 2026, Corrs Chambers Westgarth) (Report) designed to assist trustees, executives, and accountable persons in assessing their fund’s strategic positioning relative to the Principles and identifying opportunities to align retirement income strategies with the regulatory and member-centric imperatives shaping the future of retirement income solutions.
Key findings reveal progress and strategic opportunities
The Review revealed significant progress on the pre-covenant baseline, reflecting a general commitment to improving retirement outcomes. Many trustees have made substantial investment in understanding member needs, strengthening data capabilities, and expanding the information, tools, and assistance available to beneficiaries in or approaching retirement.
Most trustees now provide access to retirement calculators and educational resources, and approximately half of the summaries reviewed show that trustees offer interactive engagement through seminars, webinars, or workplace visits. Some trustees have introduced more substantive retirement income measures, including recommended drawdown rates for different member cohorts, launching digital tools and advice platforms, or investing in new retirement income product development.
The Report identifies clear strategic opportunities to build on this progress, including:
- developing meaningful member cohorts that genuinely reflect the composition of the fund’s membership base;
- providing access to lifetime income products to address members’ longevity risk;
- constructing trustee-designed retirement income solutions that are purposefully calibrated to the financial characteristics of each identified cohort; and
- establishing measurable performance frameworks to assess whether retirement income strategies are achieving their intended outcomes.
These areas represent the core expectations articulated in the Principles and the areas against which the Framework will generate publicly comparable data (and potential reputational risk). Underpinning each of these opportunities is the governance required to coordinate strategy development, oversee implementation, and assess outcomes to ensure that trustees can demonstrate that they are meeting their obligations.
Recommendations and priorities
To assist in enhancing funds’ retirement income solutions, the Report sets out six practical recommendations for trustees:
- Refresh the published strategy summary to reflect the fund’s current strategic direction and demonstrate how the trustee has considered each of the five themes of the Principles.
- Develop at least three meaningful cohorts using existing member data and articulate how these cohorts inform the design of retirement income solutions, communications, and guidance services.
- Assess the feasibility of providing members with access to a lifetime income product, whether through direct provision, a white-label arrangement, or a facilitated third-party referral.
- Define specific metrics to assess whether the retirement income strategy is improving outcomes for members. Drawdown rates, product take-up, and member engagement indicators can support evidence-based strategy refinement and Framework readiness.
- Develop cohort-targeted retirement communications evaluated using outcome-based metrics. The specific needs of culturally and linguistically diverse members, First Nations members, and members experiencing vulnerability present an important opportunity to demonstrate leadership on financial inclusion.
- Review governance structures to embed coordination and implementation of the retirement income strategy across the business, with executive accountability and clear reporting lines to the Board.
The Framework will make fund-level performance visible and comparable across the sector from 2028. Trustees that invest now in building strategic maturity will be well placed to demonstrate alignment with the Principles, report meaningfully against the Framework and, most importantly, deliver quality retirement outcomes.
A copy of the Report can be downloaded here.