• Peter Mares
• The National Interest, ABC Radio National

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25 July 2011The Federal Government is planning big changes to compulsory superannuation. It wants to lift the contribution rate from 9% to 12% and it's introducing MySuper, a simplified, low-cost investment option which is meant to meet the needs of most Australian workers who choose the default option in their current superannuation fund.

But all this assumes that compulsory superannuation is a good thing in the first place. It is seen as one of the big picture reforms implemented by Paul Keating who, back in 1992, promised that compulsory super would provide benefits beyond a comfortable retirement. It would also ease pressure on the public purse by providing an alternative to the aged pension, and super would provide a pool of domestic funds for productive investment in the Australian economy, reducing our historic dependence on overseas borrowing.

But not everyone thinks super has delivered.

Guests

Brian Toohey
Journalist and economic commentator who writes regularly for the Australian Financial Review

Matthew Linden
Chief Policy Adviser, Industry Super Network

Jeremy Cooper
Chairman, Retirement Income at Challenger Limited and chair of the Federal Government's superannuation system review