Members would be well aware, by now, of the disturbing hearings during the Banking Royal Commission where it was revealed AMP, the fund manager of Australia Post’s default superannuation fund since 2013 (APSP), had misled the regulator on 20 occasions, interfered in the drafting of an independent expert report and charged customers fees for services they did not receive.
Following these revelations, your Union wrote to Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate urging her to review the default super fund arrangements for employees who were ineligible to join the APSS fund and had not nominated another fund. A copy of that letter can be viewed by clicking here.
A number of meetings between your Union and Post occurred in the lead up to a thorough review of Post’s default super arrangements. While the review was undertaken, National Secretary Greg Rayner met with the CEO of AMP which resulted in them lowering fees for members while the process was undertaken. The review concluded mid-2019 and AustralianSuper was selected as the new default Superannuation fund provider.
Existing members of the AMP default fund (those who commenced employment with Australia Post since 2013, ineligible to join the APSS and have not elected an alternative fund under ‘choice’ legislation) have continued to receive contributions paid into that fund while processes were undertaken in the background to allow the transition over to AustralianSuper. This transition is now estimated to take place in February this year and members will receive a welcome letter from AustralianSuper, in addition to a closing statement with a roll over benefit statement from AMP showing the transferred account details.
Members do not need to take any action to allow the transition to occur. However, whilst we welcome the selection of AustralianSuper as the new default fund, members should be aware that under ‘choice’ legislation, you may nominate any eligible superannuation fund of your choosing. As always, your Union recommends that you seek independent financial advice about maximising your Superannuation benefits when making decisions about your retirement savings.
Although your Union, including your Officials and local AURs are not qualified to, and cannot, provide financial advice to members, if you require any further information about the transition process please do not hesitate to contact Branch Assistant Secretary Peter Chaloner or Branch Officials Cade Anderson, Gil Enzon, Elly Huttly, Phil Kessey, TK Ly, Peter O’Connell, Dharmpal Singh or Dennis Williams on (02) 9893 7822.
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