APRA levy cost to super up 147% in a decade

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

6 May 2025

The cost of the so-called “APRA levy” to superannuation funds has increased by 147% over the past decade, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).

And the superannuation industry body has told Treasury that the level of industry funding being provided to APRA and other regulators is such that it should be incumbent on them on them to provide transparency and accountability on how the money is then spent.

It said this is particularly the case in circumstances where superannuation funds themselves are facing greater scrutiny including the performance test.

ASFA has told Treasury that for superannuation funds levies are ultimately funded through administration fees charged to members’ accounts and calculated that for each MySuper member the cost of the levy for 2025-26 would be around $6.

However, it also noted that the cost would be higher other funds, depending on size.

“The estimated impact on members of superannuation funds varies significantly according to the size of their fund. If it is assumed that the average balances of fund members are similar regardless of the size of their fund, and equivalent to the system-wide average, then the levy amounts per member for 2025-26 are: around $4 for a large fund ($100 billion), around $8 for a medium fund ($20 billion), and around $11 for a small fund ($1 billion),” ASFA said.

The ASFA submission to Treasury pointed to a recent Product Commission paper highlighting “the potentially distortive impact of industry levies on efficiency and productivity, and thus the need for the careful, considered design of regltor5 funding mechanisms”.

“The Commission finds that there is a role for industry levies to recover the cost of regulation where the benefits of that regulation involve limiting negative externalities (for example, financial sector instability), or addressing a specific market failure (for example, poor-performing providers remaining in a market).”

“On the other hand, the Commission also highlights the potential negative impacts of an over-reliance on levies (to recover the cost of regulation). In particular, where cost-recovery is not linked to regulation that relates to a specific externality or market failure, the cost (to industry) is more likely to outweigh any broader economic/social benefits. If sufficiently high, industry levies can act as a barrier to market entry – which may limit competitive dynamics and future productivity improvements.”