SUPERANNUATION REFORM AN OPPORTUNITY LOST TO ASSIST YOUNGER GENERATIONS AND RETIREE RENTERS BEING DENIED HOME OWNERSHIP

April 14th,2023

Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA)’s ‘Submission: Legislating the Objective of Superannuation’ has encouraged the Treasury to take a bigger picture approach to defining what a successful retirement means.

REIA President, Hayden Groves said REIA supports the need to enshrine the objective of superannuation, but the draft definition does not respond to the mounting challenges our retirement support systems will face as our population ages and home ownership rates decline.

“REIA agrees Australians would benefit from legal framework to safeguard their mandatory superannuation savings.

“The 2021 Retirement Income Review identified that home ownership is a fundamental pillar of successful retirement supplemented by superannuation and other income.

“This will become more important our nation deals with the economic, social and ethical implications of an increasing ‘greying population’ that will be seeking access to their superannuation.

“It will also affect those younger and lower-to-middle income Australians whom over the past 40 years have suffered from declining home ownership rates.

“Increases in residential property prices, later workforce entry, delay of household formation and declining housing affordability have all been key factors in this trend,” he said.