SMC welcomes work starting on reforms to stop perpetrators inheriting their victim’s super

The Super Members Council welcomes the Government’s announcement today that it has opened public consultation on promised reforms to prevent family and domestic violence perpetrators from inheriting their victims’ superannuation death benefits.

The Council has long championed reforms to close a loophole in super law that can enable a perpetrator to benefit financially from the harm they inflicted on a partner.

Closing this legal loophole was among SMC's 12 key policy priorities that the council asked all parties and independents to support to strengthen and safeguard people’s super.  

Under existing laws, a perpetrator can claim a spouse or partner’s super death benefits unless their actions are found to be the direct cause of that person’s death, even where there is clear evidence of abuse.

This currently applies even if the perpetrator has been convicted of family violence offences, or in cases when there was systemic abuse which indirectly contributed to the cause of the victim’s death.   

In its advocacy, the Council proposed several potential avenues for reform including:  

• expanding the Forfeiture Rule to family violence-related crimes, which prevents murderers from inheriting their victim’s super; and 

• investigating legislative reforms that would allow super funds to withhold death benefits in substantiated cases of family violence. Clear and robust evidence standards, judged by an independent body such as a court, would ensure procedural fairness and due process. 

The consultation, announced today by Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Ged Kearney, is an important step to ensure super delivers dignity, safety and financial security — and can’t be used to entrench harm.

The Council acknowledges crucial multi-partisan work in the last Parliament by the Parliamentary Joint Committee in Relation to Financial Abuse chaired by Senator Deborah O’Neill and Deputy Chair Alex Hawke that helped to build strong momentum for this reform, and collective advocacy across the super system.  

“This is a welcome and long-overdue reform to close a deeply troubling loophole in Australia’s system,” says Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert.

“We look forward to working with Government, regulators and family violence experts to help deliver reforms that are strong, practical and fair, while providing trustees with clear legal certainty to act in the best interests of members.”