Status: Completed
Date: 2013
On 9 May 2013 a Charter Group was established to consult and advise the Government on the development of the Charter of Superannuation Adequacy and Sustainability and a Council of Superannuation Custodians. The Charter Group reported to the Government on 5 July 2013.
Members
Jeremy Cooper (Chair)
Mr Cooper is currently Chairman, Retirement Income at Challenger Limited.
Mr Cooper was previously Chair of the 2009-10 Super System Review and a former deputy chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
While at ASIC, Mr Cooper had oversight responsibility across a range of ASIC’s teams in the financial services sector, including superannuation, financial advisers and consumers and retail investors.
Prior to his appointment to ASIC, he was a partner of an Australian law firm, now Ashurst Australia, where he worked principally in the area of mergers and acquisitions and corporate advice for 20 years.
Mr Cooper is a member of the Policy Advisory Council of Finsia and the Industry Advisory Committee of the Australian Centre for Financial Studies.
The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC
Mr Goldberg served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 1997 to 2010, when he returned to practice at the Victorian Bar.
Mr Goldberg signed the Bar roll in 1965 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1978. His commercial and public law practice focusing on administrative, constitutional, equity, commercial, corporate and trade practices law. He was the founding President of the Commercial Bar Association of Victoria.
In 1997 he was appointed Judge of the Federal Court of Australia. In 1998 Mr Goldberg was appointed Deputy President and then President in 2003 of the Australian Competition Tribunal.
Mr Goldberg was President of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty Victoria). He has been the Deputy Chairman of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is on the board of TarraWarra Museum of Modern Art.
In 2005 Mr Goldberg was appointed an Officer in the general division of the Order of Australia for his service to the judiciary, particularly in the areas of competition law and equity, and to the community as a contributor to debate on human rights and civil liberties, and as a supporter of the arts.
Ross Jones
Former Deputy Chairman and Member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), first appointed in July 2003 and whose term expired on 30 June 2013. At APRA, he took principal responsibility for superannuation and private pensions and chaired APRA’s Enforcement Committee.
Mr Jones was also President of the International Organisation of Pension Supervisors, a group whose members include pension supervisors and regulators from more than 70 countries.
Mr Jones was also Vice Chairman of the OECD Working Party on Private Pensions and was a member of the Singapore Central Provident Fund Advisory Panel.
Prior to joining APRA, Mr Jones was a Commissioner of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. He was also an Associate Professor in the School of Finance and Economics at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Elana Rubin
Ms Rubin is a Director of Mirvac Group Ltd, NAB Wealth / MLC, PPB Advisory and a member of the Federal Government’s Infrastructure Australia Council, the Climate Change Authority, and a member of the Evans & Partners Advisory Board.
Ms Rubin recently retired as Chair of AustralianSuper, one of the largest multi-employer superannuation funds in Australia, and as a Director of TAL (previously Tower Ltd). Prior roles include as Chair of Victorian WorkCover Authority, Director of TAC, Director of Industry Super Property Trust and Chair of the Victorian Rail Track Corporation (VicTrack).
Ms Rubin is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australian Institute of Management, Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. She is also a member of Chief Executive Women.
Steve Tucker
Mr Steve Tucker was the Chief Executive Officer of MLC for nine years, and served for 25 years with MLC and NAB.
Mr Tucker was appointed CEO of MLC in 2004. He joined MLC in 1988 and held a number of senior roles including heading up MLC’s Retail Investments business and leading MLC’s Advice businesses, where he was responsible for MLC’s partnership with financial advisers.
Mr Tucker was a director on a number of NAB company boards. He was also a director on the Financial Services Council Board, a Member of the FPA, a Fellow of Finsia and a Senior Associate of the ABA.
Terms of reference
Rationale
On 5 April 2013, the Government announced it would establish a Council of Superannuation Custodians to ensure that any future changes to superannuation are consistent with an agreed Charter of Superannuation Adequacy and Sustainability.
The Charter would be developed against the principles of certainty, adequacy, fairness and sustainability. The Charter would clearly outline the core objectives, values and principles of the Australian superannuation system.
The Council would be charged with assessing future policies against the Charter and providing reports to be tabled in Parliament.
In addition, the Council would provide an annual report on the superannuation system against the Charter, also to be tabled in Parliament.
By establishing an independent and robust institutional framework through which all future superannuation changes are measured, the Council and Charter would ensure that Australia’s superannuation system is enhanced and protected for generations to come.
Terms of reference
Reporting by 5 July 2013, the Chair and Group members are requested to:
- Develop and recommend a Charter of Superannuation Adequacy and Sustainability which embodies the principles of certainty, adequacy, fairness and sustainability and will be used to:
1.1 assess future superannuation policy proposals for consistency with these principles; and
1.2 guide the operation of the Council of Superannuation Custodians.
- The Charter should have sufficient scope and breadth to accommodate a maturing superannuation system against the background of structural changes in the economy, such as the evolution of the financial system and demographic change.
- Develop and recommend an appropriate structure for the Council of Superannuation Custodians, including:
3.1 appropriate Council structure, including role and powers;
3.2 appropriate size and representation; and
3.3 delineation of the Council’s advisory function from that of the regulators.
- In conducting its review, the Chair of the Charter Group is to put in place a process for consulting key stakeholders, including the community, industry and regulators.