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The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released the results of the 2026 superannuation performance test.

The annual test, which has been administered by APRA since 2021, assesses the long-term performance of superannuation products to improve member outcomes and enhance transparency.

The performance test continues to identify underperforming products and drive accountability within the sector.

This year 547 superannuation products were assessed, representing 61 per cent of APRA-regulated superannuation member benefits. Of these,12 products did not pass the test:

• 1 of 50 MySuper products failed the performance test. The product is offered by BUSS (Queensland) Pty Ltd. This is the first time a MySuper product has failed the test since 2023; and
• 11 of 141 platform trustee-directed products (TDPs) failed the performance test. These include five products that have failed the test for at least two consecutive years.

This year, six trustees were responsible for the 12 failed products, with the five consecutive failed products offered by two trustees. Failure of the performance test was largely driven by poorer investment performance rather than higher administration fees and costs, which are also taken into account as part of the test assessment. All 356 non-platform TDPs assessed this year passed the test.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said: “The annual performance test has been effective at reducing the number of members in underperforming products over the past five years. However, this year’s results show that pockets of underperformance remain and reinforce the need for trustees to take timely and effective action.”

APRA has also released the 2026 Comprehensive Product Performance Package, which combines the performance test results with additional measures of investment returns and fees to provide a broader view of how superannuation products are performing.

The CPPP shows that administration fees have continued to decline across all product types, however platform TDPs remain materially more expensive, even before taking into account the costs of any personal advice. The CPPP also shows that platform TDPs have higher rates of underperformance over 10 years when compared against other product types. Platform TDPs represent less than five per cent of the broader platform sector.

“Lower administration fees can make a meaningful difference to members’ retirement balances by supporting higher net returns.” Mr Lonsdale said. “APRA expects trustees to maintain a close focus on administration fees and fund performance in the best financial interests of their fund members.”

APRA administers the performance test in accordance with legislation set by Parliament. APRA notes the Government is giving consideration to options to strengthen the performance test, with regard to promoting productivity and protecting member interests.

View the results of the Annual superannuation performance test and Superannuation product performance on APRA’s website.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are urging financial market entities to move from gaining awareness of risks linked to frontier AI to taking decisive action.

Both APRA and ASIC have warned publicly in recent months that frontier AI is increasing the speed, scale and sophistication of cyber threats to the financial system while also accelerating technology and operational risks.

Building on those messages, the regulators hosted nine roundtables in June and July involving more than 600 attendees from across the financial system.

The roundtables were aimed at supporting industry to navigate a dynamic and rapidly evolving risk environment.

They were supported by the Australian Signals Directorate and included participation from the Reserve Bank of Australia, Treasury and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, signalling a whole-of-government response to this urgent threat.

Key themes to emerge included:

• the importance of getting the cyber fundamentals right, including identifying and managing critical assets and systems, timely patching, strong identity and access controls, attack surface reduction, backup integrity, tested response and recovery arrangements, and third-party risk management;
• the need to consider key decisions such as risk appetite, escalation authority, recovery priorities and communication strategies at board level before a crisis hits, given that frontier AI compresses incident response timeframes;
• a growing interest in defensive AI, including for threat intelligence, vulnerability detection, code review and incident response, however it was also acknowledged that capability remains limited;
• common dependency and concentration risk associated with third-party service providers can turn isolated individual incidents into much broader sector-wide disruption; and
• the importance of actively contributing to industry-led collaboration, including sector-wide threat intelligence sharing, dependency mapping, supplier assurance and sector incident coordination.

ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant said: “The urgency of this challenge cannot be overstated. Threat actors are exploiting frontier AI models to identify and exploit vulnerabilities that previously may have taken a team of professionals months to find.

“Now is the time to ensure you have a strong, tested plan to respond when the worst happens. Australia’s financial system is only as resilient as its weakest link. Boards and executives must move beyond awareness and ensure their organisations have well-tested response plans and understand where they are vulnerable, so they can respond effectively under pressure.”

APRA Deputy Chair Therese McCarthy Hockey said: “This was the first time APRA and ASIC have created forums for rapid information-sharing across such a broad cross-section of the financial sector. It highlights both regulators’ commitment to better regulatory practices that support and enable industry – especially in the face of complex and evolving risks.

“A particularly encouraging theme that stood out was the willingness of more advanced entities to share practical insights, lessons and approaches with peers and less mature entities. This is precisely the type of ‘Team Australia’ mindset that is needed to shore up resilience across our highly interconnected financial system.”

An information paper with more insights from the roundtables, as well as a preparedness checklist for boards and executives, are available at: Insights from the APRA-ASIC Industry Roundtables.

Background

On 30 April 2026, APRA called for a step-change in how banks, insurers and superannuation trustees manage AI-related risks.

On 8 May 2026, ASIC called on all licensees and market participants to urgently strengthen their cyber resilience measures, as frontier AI intensifies the global cyber risk environment.

ASIC sets out how it will be easier to deal with for businesses trying to comply with the law, and harder to avoid for those causing harm, in its new Corporate Plan released today.

View the full media release.

ASIC Chair Sarah Court delivered a keynote speech at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) event in Sydney on 26 August.

Here are the highlights:

• ASIC has a clear mandate from government to support growth and productivity – and a responsibility to ensure our actions strengthen the economy and do not unnecessarily slow it.
• To do so, ASIC must act at the right time and address the right risks – becoming easier to deal with for those who are doing the right thing and harder to avoid for those who are not.
• This comes down to being more responsive, investing in earlier detection and prevention, and setting clear expectations, with targeted interventions and stronger consequences.

Find out more in the full speech.

Companies and directors can take simple steps now to prepare for the new requirements, including checking that company and director information is current and accurate.

From 1 July 2027, new laws passed under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Business Registries Stabilisation and Uplift) Act 2026 will require companies to provide director identification numbers (director IDs) to ASIC.

Companies will need to provide director IDs to ASIC through company reporting processes, including annual reviews and when notifying changes to director details. Further information and guidance will be provided before 1 July 2027.

These changes form part of broader improvements to Australia’s business registers, including stronger authentication arrangements for users who create and update registry records.

Together, they will help reduce the risk of fraud and identity misuse, improve the accuracy of company information, and make it easier to identify company directors.

Getting ready

Companies and directors are encouraged to check that company and director information is current and accurate, including:

• checking company details are up to date
• confirming all current directors are correctly recorded
• updating any incorrect names, addresses or contact details.

Keeping information up to date now may help avoid delays or issues when the new requirements commence.

We also encourage checking director details recorded on the ASIC companies register against those held by the Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) and updating records where necessary.

Directors can review their director ID details by visiting the ABRS Manage your director ID page, where they can:

• download a PDF copy of their director ID details
• update their details if they have changed.

Next steps

ASIC is engaging with stakeholders and will provide further guidance ahead of the 1 July 2027 commencement date. ASIC may also communicate directly with affected stakeholders to support awareness and readiness.

Find out more

• Visit the ASIC director ID webpage and FAQs.
• Information flyer: Important changes to director ID obligations.
• New laws to help Australians know who stands behind a company.

ASIC has published new guidance for professional year candidates, their supervisors, and Australian financial services (AFS) licensees.

Information Sheet 297 FAQs: Professional Year (INFO 297) provides answers to common questions, including information about documentation, record keeping, plans, tasks and logbooks.

ASIC has also provided candidates with a snapshot of some key milestones that must be met during the professional year.

ASIC developed the guidance to address issues identified in its 2024 review of a sample of professional year programs.

While the review found that AFS licensees generally had compliance systems and processes in place to ensure that individuals progressed through the professional year, ASIC identified some deficiencies in documentation and record keeping, including in documenting professional year plans and tasks, and maintaining logbooks.

The professional year is a supervised work and training period that forms part of the professional standards framework for relevant providers. The professional year standard is determined by the Minister and set out in the Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018. The phased approach during the professional year is intended to support the transition to providing personal advice to retail clients as a fully qualified relevant provider.

Together, INFO 297and the supporting snapshot provides guidance on the professional year standard and the requirements relating to provisional relevant providers in the Corporations Act 2001, as well as practical information on the year of work and training.

For more information on the professional standards, including the professional year, see:

• Professional standards for financial advisers, and
• Applying the professional standards.

Download

• Information Sheet 297 FAQs: Professional Year (INFO 297)
• Professional year webpage

The Federal Court has today made declarations that Netwealth Superannuation Services Pty Ltd and Netwealth Investments Limited (collectively Netwealth) contravened the Corporations Act in relation to the First Guardian Master Fund.

View the full media release.

The Government today announced a proposed compensation scheme that would provide superannuation members with a clearer pathway to compensation where significant losses arise because trustees have failed to meet their obligations.

Under the Government’s proposal, APRA would set capital requirements for trustees offering higher risk investment options. These requirements would seek to ensure trustees have the financial capacity to meet their obligations under the proposed compensation scheme.

APRA intends to consult on the detailed design of the framework once the Government has finalised the relevant legislation.

The Government’s proposed compensation scheme will complement APRA’s broader work to strengthen investment governance in superannuation. Together, these reforms will strengthen member protection by reducing the likelihood of trustee failures and improving outcomes when failures occur.

As part of this work, next month APRA will consult on a package of reforms to lift investment governance standards and reduce the likelihood of member harm. These reforms are part of APRA’s multi-year efforts to lift investment governance standards across the superannuation industry, particularly within the platform trustee segment.

The proposals directly address many of the shortcomings that were identified by APRA in its 2025 review of industry practices covering around 95 per cent of platform assets under management.

The proposals would strengthen requirements across eight areas covering the full investment management lifecycle. The main proposals include:

• Ensuring that a trustee’s investment management capability is commensurate to the complexity of their investment menu;
• Addressing weaknesses in onboarding, monitoring and offboarding practices;
• Addressing material conflicts;
• Improving member-level diversification; and
• Strengthening trustee oversight and accountability.

The investment governance reforms would apply to all trustees. However, the impact will be most significant for platform trustees, given their investment menus are typically broader, platform products are more complex, and financial advisors can play a larger role in selecting and recommending investment options. The proposals will have a limited impact on trustees with strong investment governance and simpler business models.

These proposals follow substantial supervisory and enforcement activity already undertaken by APRA. Following the 2025 review, APRA directed trustees to urgently uplift investment governance practice. It has also taken enforcement action against five trustees for investment governance failings.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said:

“The Government’s proposed compensation scheme will reinforce APRA’s proposals by creating a stronger incentive for trustees to remediate poor investment governance.

“APRA’s investment governance reforms aim to raise standards across the sector and reduce the likelihood of member harm from poor investment options.

“Together, these key reforms strengthen member protection significantly.”

APRA has published remarks by Executive Director Jane Magill delivered at the Conexus Retirement Leaders Summit, Navigating the retirement phase.

In her remarks, Ms Magill outlined the importance of supporting members through the transition to retirement and highlighted key challenges arising from a maturing superannuation system, including operational resilience, investment governance and liquidity management.

Her comments include:

• “Helping your members negotiate the uncertainties of the transition to retirement is more than a regulatory priority. It’s what your members expect from you.”
• “The emergence of frontier AI represents potential operational benefits, but it also amplifies risks including cyber risks and scams.”
• “Strong investment governance in retirement means thinking carefully about how products, strategies and member support frameworks help retirees navigate a different set of risks from those faced during accumulation.”
• “The focus should be on understanding member behaviour, monitoring emerging trends and ensuring liquidity frameworks remain fit for purpose in a system that is becoming increasingly retirement focused.”

The full speech is available on the APRA website at: APRA Executive Director Jane Magill’s remarks to the Conexus Retirement Leaders Summit, “Navigating the retirement phase”

ASIC is warning Australians that a quick online search is not enough to verify investment opportunities as scammers use generative AI to create vast networks of deepfake websites and endorsements to lure victims.

View the full media release.

Online brokers are targeting retail investors with complex or high-risk products without clearly disclosing their risks or conducting proper onboarding, leaving Australians exposed to risky products that could see them lose their investments within hours.

View the full media release.

Recruitment firm Hudson Global Resources (Aust) Pty Ltd has been fined $270,000 for failing to meet its financial reporting obligations as a large proprietary company.

View the full media release.

ASIC is warning consumers about dealing with Yepbit and Yepbit Exchange (Yepbit) after receiving several reports from investors who say they are unable to withdraw funds from the platform.

More information is available here.