Federal Govt’s super liability now stands at $322 billion

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor and Publisher

21 December 2022

The Federal Government has a $322 billion superannuation liability based on some of the generous, now-closed superannuation regimes covering public servants.

But the good news for taxpayers is that this is well down from 30 June, 2021, when the superannuation liability stood at $407.5 billion, with the decrease attributable to the Government’s use of an increase in the so-called discount rate.

According to the latest analysis compiled by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO), the $322 billion liability is made up as follows:

Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme ($71.2 billion);

Public Sector Superannuation Scheme ($107.4 billion);

Military Superannuation Benefits Scheme ($101.6 billion); and

Defence Force Retirement and Death Benefits Scheme ($36.1 billion).

At the same time, the ANAO analysis picked up on the fact that the Future Fund, which was established with the intention of covering off the Commonwealth’s unfunded superannuation liabilities, had a less than stellar year posting a deficit of $2,466.8 million.

The deficit for 2021–22 was primarily due to $43.5 billion in fair value losses on public and private market investments, compared to strong gains in 2020–21 due to the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The current year deficit was partially offset by an increase of $4.9 billion in dividends, imputation credits and distributions.

The increase of $1.8 billion in total assets was primarily due to more investment asset purchases compared to sales during the year. Increase in total liabilities was primarily due to an increase of $4.3 billion in derivative financial liabilities due to the weakening of the AUD against the USD and an average fall in the underlying equity markets.