ASFA National Legislation Discussion Group: Measuring Retirement Outcomes
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At our recent ASFA National Legislation Discussion Group webinar we had special guest speaker Anthony Saliba, Partner in Deloitte's actuarial consulting practice discussing APRA's consultation on the Retirement Reporting Framework.
Background: where the framework came from
Anthony began by setting the scene. Since the Retirement Income Covenant came into effect in 2022, trustees have been required to develop and give effect to a retirement income strategy, balancing three objectives: maximising expected retirement income, managing the sustainability and stability of that income and providing flexible access to funds during retirement.
The challenge is that funds have taken very different approaches to implementing those strategies, with no consistent way to compare outcomes across the industry. That changes with this framework.
In late 2024, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced four reforms designed to improve the retirement phase of superannuation. Two are particularly relevant to this session: the best practice principles and the retirement reporting framework.
The best practice principles are voluntary and non-binding but signal clear expectations from Treasury around understanding member needs, designing retirement income solutions and supporting member engagement. The reporting framework is something else entirely.
What the Retirement Reporting Framework measures
The framework introduces two categories of data collection: indicators and metrics.
Indicators are largely categorical. They capture what a fund offers, rather than how members are behaving. The three indicators are: whether the fund provides drawdown options above the legislated minimum rate; whether the fund offers a lifetime income product and of what type; and what proportion of members have received personal financial advice, both intra-fund and member deducted.
Metrics go deeper, capturing actual member behaviour across three groups. The first group covers take-up of retirement products: what proportion of members' assets are invested in retirement income stream products, and how does that break down by product type? The second covers member behaviour and payments: average drawdown rates, the proportion of members drawing at the minimum rate, and the total value of benefits paid from retirement income stream products. The third covers balance utilisation: whether members are actually consuming the assets they accumulated or preserving and in some cases growing them through the retirement phase.
All this data will be segmented by age, sex, balance band, retirement status,and product holdings, creating a rich cross-sectional picture of member behaviour at both fund and industry level.
The transparency dimension
Anthony was clear that the significance of this framework lies not in the data collection itself but in what happens when results are published. From 2028, outcomes will be publicly comparable across funds. Boards will expect management to be able to explain their numbers, not just report them.
The session drew a parallel with the EPIC Retirement Tick, a privately developed scoring system that generated significant board-level attention when it was released. The retirement reporting framework, administered by APRA and covering the entire industry, is likely to produce an even sharper focus.
Five readiness themes
There are five areas funds should be examining now, well ahead of the first data collection targeted for Q4 2027:
Do you have a clear understanding of what will be published and where your fund is likely to land?
Do you have strong data foundations and controls in place, particularly for retirement-specific data that may not have been captured in a structured way before?
Is there clear governance and accountability around who owns the retirement data and who is responsible for its accuracy?
Is there a coordinated operating model and narrative across the fund, linking data, risk, retirement strategy, and advice?
Are you moving toward automation and repeatable analytics, rather than ad hoc reporting each time the question is asked?
Implementation timeline
The APRA consultation is currently open, with consultation closing 3 June 2025. Final reporting standards and forms are expected later in 2025, with the first data collection in Q4 2027 and the first public dashboard publication targeted for 2028.
If the retirement reporting framework is on your radar and you are working through what it means for your fund, get in touch with Anthony Saliba at Deloitte.