APRA considering its position in face of BUSSQ legal challenge

Queensland-based construction industry superannuation fund, BUSSQ has moved further to challenge the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority of its imposition of license conditions on fund the fund.

APRA said it was considering next steps after BUSSQ decided to appeal a recent Federal Court decision.

APRA said it had imposed additional licence conditions on BUSS (Queensland) Pty Ltd as the trustee for The Building Unions Superannuation Scheme (Queensland) (BUSSQ) in August 2024 to safeguard the interests of members, to ensure prudential concerns could be addressed effectively and expeditiously and to ensure transparency in BUSSQ’s response to such concerns.

It said the Board of BUSSQ decided to seek judicial review of APRA’s decision in circumstances where it was on notice that an alternative and more cost effective avenue of review, internal review, was available. In a judgment handed down on 31 January 2025, his Honour Justice Derrington found that BUSSQ should have availed itself of the internal review process, instead of applying to the Federal Court for relief.

“The BUSSQ Board has now taken the further step of challenging Justice Derrington’s decision. APRA is considering the notice of appeal,” the regulator said.

“Trustees of superannuation funds are required to act in the best financial interests of their members and to have appropriate processes in place for the assessment of the fitness and propriety of their directors. APRA’s decision to impose additional licence conditions in August 2024 was in response to prudential concerns that APRA had identified with BUSSQ’s compliance with these requirements.”