The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a range of previously untested major policy responses from governments, including allowing people to make early withdrawals from their superannuation accounts. This paper evaluates the impacts on people's retirement savings.

This report coincided with the 15-year review of KiwiSaver by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (NZ). The intent of the report is to assist policy-makers by deliberately exploring and providing opportunities to get more equitable settings in place.

The proposal announced by the federal Coalition to bust open super for first home buyers housing deposits would add tens of thousands of dollars to housing prices and would undermine the retirement savings of all Australians, asserts Industry Super Australia.

This paper suggests a number of issues that must be addressed, through policy reform, to close the gap in superannuation balances between men and women

The focus of this report is on highlighting the economic impact of unpaid care - specifically, lost income during working life and the longer-term reduction in accruing superannuation, which affects retirement savings. In economic terms this is called the ‘opportunity cost of caring’.

This report examines the effects of ‘super-for-housing’ policies on house prices, finding the proposal would significantly increase house prices in all major capital city markets in Australia, but do so without changing the composition of first home buyers.

Unpaid super affects more than a quarter of employees, costing each affected worker an average of $1,700 per year. This report points to four policy reforms and the need for a visible, proactive regulator to ensure Australian workers are not deprived of their employer super...

The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) and the ANU's Tax and Transfer Policy Institute (TTPI) hosted a roundtable in March 2021 to examine the 2020 Retirement Income Review report and to consider its implications for further reform of the system. This paper...

A combination of greater levels of part-time work, employment in lower-paid industries, lower hourly rates of pay for women compared to men, and less time in the paid workforce during their working years results in pronounced gender pay, income and superannuation gaps. This paper looks...

This report shows the compelling body of evidence that it is in the best financial interests of all current and future workers in Australia, and the broader Australian economy, that the scheduled Superannuation Guarantee increases to 12 per cent, as planned.

The recent Retirement Income Review (RIR) implies policies that would reduce after-tax returns to super saving, encourage faster spending of life savings and of equity in the family home, and minimise bequests. This paper argues that the RIR relies on contested Treasury ‘tax expenditure’ estimates...

There have been several comprehensive reviews that have rigorously assessed the superannuation system in Australia over the last decade or so. None of these has recommended the early release of superannuation for housing deposits, while several have made recommendations to the contrary.

This review report covers the current state of the superannuation system and how it will perform in the future as Australians live longer and the population ages. The review considered the incentives for people to self-fund their retirement, the fiscal sustainability of the system, the...

This report informed the work of the 2020 Retirement Income Review, by presenting results from an online survey about retirement planning, saving and attitudes.

Australia’s $3 trillion superannuation system is the fourth largest in the world and is responsible for managing the retirement savings of 16 million Australians. This document outlines some reform options to make the superannuation system better for members.

The Transition to Retirement Income Streams (TRIS) program is a novel approach to incentivise the labour supply of older workers. This paper considers the effect of the program in the context of a life cycle model and empirically examines the effects on labour supply and...

Industry Super Australia (ISA), in the context of the federal government’s Retirement Income Review, commissioned this research from Rice Warner to assess the impacts of various policy options utilising their comprehensive econometric model of the Australian superannuation system.

This report shows industry super funds’ investment performance has added billions of dollars to members’ retirement savings and deepened Australia's national savings pool, helping protect the economy during downturns. The report includes forecasts based on the present legislated scenario of small, incremental increases in the...

This briefing note examines the long-term impact of the COVID early superannuation release scheme on retirement incomes and age pension entitlements.

This report looks at the history of superannuation for Australian women, marks its progress towards equity, and identifies what more could to be done to improve the system in order to mitigate women’s vulnerability to poverty in retirement.

The Financial Capability Barometer 2018-2019 was a survey of 15,519 adult New Zealanders on their financial behaviours, attitudes and experiences. The data has provided valuable insights into the state of New Zealanders’ personal finances. Importantly, the survey is also a snapshot of New Zealand’s personal...

Many changes have occurred in Australia since the establishment of the Australian Institute of Family Studies in 1980. This snapshot report outlines some of the significant changes in household incomes, household wealth and also the amount of household debt over the last forty years.

Some of the impacts of COVID-19 will mostly affect today’s retirees, such as the safety of elderly institutions, while low interest rates will impact both today’s retirees and those who have yet to leave the labor market. This paper discusses the ways these social and...

This report offers some important insights to improve understanding of the financial security that the current retirement system offers to Indigenous Australians and their families.

The research outlined in this report shows that the vast majority of Australians expect their savings and superannuation to be invested responsibly and ethically, and half the population would be motivated to invest and save more money if they knew their savings or investments made...