FAAA backs APRA data collection super advice

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

15 June 2026

The Financial Advice Association of Australia (FAAA) has backed proposals by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to improve the collection of data with respect to the provision of retirement-related financial advice by superannuation funds.

The FAAA has told APRA it is important to clarify the type of advice the reporting framework around the Government’s Retirement Reporting regime is actually measuring.

“We support the focus on measuring the provision of personal financial advice excluding other forms of financial advice, such as general advice,” the FAAA said.

It said measuring trustee personal financial advice offerings will provide helpful insights into the assistance funds provide to members at a what amounts to a critical stage in their retirement journey.

However, the FAAA also makes clear in its submission to APRA that as well as imposing an obligation on funds to report whether members have access to financial advice, they should also “report if members have access to personal advice via in-house advisers or through a referral arrangement to a third-party provider.

It said the FAA also support APRA’s view that “simply providing information about personal financial advice service providers on the fund’s web site will not be sufficient for a ‘yes response’.

“We welcome the proposed clear and distinct member cohorts based on ‘intra-fund advice’ and ‘member deducted personal advice’,” the FAAA said. “It is important to differentiate between the provision of financial advice by the fund about the member’s interest in the fund, and the provision of financial advice from a financial adviser the member has selected.”

“Differentiating these member cohorts based on the mechanisms used to pay for the advice provides a clear approach that can be applied consistently by industry to deliver comparable data,” the submission said.

APRA released a consultation paper on the Retirement Reporting Framework final design in February and said the framework will collect data on the following member attributes:

• Age range (60 yrs and each year above), gender and account balance bands.
• Retirement status indicators, such as not retired, recently retired, and previously retired.
• Product holdings, with consideration for combinations of different product types. Indicators and metrics.

It said the Retirement Reporting Framework will leverage member data to report on:

• Indicators of a superannuation fund’s product offerings and services. Indicators will generate high level insights into the building blocks funds are providing their members for constructing retirement income solutions.
• Metrics that demonstrate member outcomes. Metrics will quantify how effectively superannuation funds are supporting members into solutions by examining member behaviour in relation to up-take of various retirement products and services, drawdown rates, and superannuation balance utilisation.