Funds to be named and shamed on super payment times

In a statement released on Tuesday, APRA said it would begin collecting data to assess the progress of funds in responding to the government’s early access scheme from next week, with super entities asked to complete data forms around the scheme weekly.

“The reporting form will gather a range of information from [super] licensees, including the number and value of early release benefits paid to superannuation members and the processing times of those payments,” the regulator said.

“It will help the government, APRA and other stakeholders monitor the take-up of the new scheme among super members, and ensure licensees are processing eligible applications in a timely manner.”

The form includes data around how many applications a fund has pending during a given reporting period, the number of business days taken to pay out applications, how many new applications have been received and how many have been fully or partially paid.

The regulator said it would publish the data on an industry and individual fund level, but the obligation to report was currently not binding on super entities.

“Reporting this data using the form is expected on a best endeavours basis, and APRA will implement reporting through a legally binding reporting standard if the response from industry does not meet the objectives of the data collection,” APRA said.

The first report was due on 29 April for information as at 26 April, the regulator said.