make the move: guiding members to tax-free retirement

modernise the retirement system so it's simple and flexible

There’s a critical gap in Australia’s retirement system – too many Australians are not moving from saving for retirement to using their retirement savings. The cost of inaction by members is significant for their long-term financial outcomes. Eligible members miss out on the benefit of superannuation’s retirement phase tax-free investment returns.

We want to work with the government to make
retirement simpler

Currently, many members miss out on tax-free benefits when they retire because the system is too complicated. Our research¹ shows that if you move your super into a retirement account (such as the HESTA Retirement Income Stream) as soon as you’re eligible, you could get up to 12% more total retirement income in retirement compared with someone who delayed the move into a retirement account by four years. But many people don’t know this or find it hard to do.

We’re asking the government to remove certain regulatory barriers so that:
 

• Funds can help members move from accumulation accounts into a tax-free retirement account as soon as they become eligible.
  
  
• Members can add money to their retirement accounts if they keep working after reaching retirement age.
  
  
• People who receive the Age Pension can work more without losing their entitlements.

Here’s why this matters

HESTA’s research¹ shows that:
 

• All retiring Australians would benefit from funds transitioning members into retirement products when they are eligible, regardless of their income, relationship status, or home ownership status.
  
  
• Between 2017 and 2025, eligible Australians missed out on $13.5 billion in retirement income simply because they weren’t transitioned into retirement phase products when they became eligible.
  
  
• The number of members moving into retirement products to take up the benefit of a tax-free retirement is low – and not growing fast enough.
  
  
• Female and lower account balance members are especially impacted because their take-up of the benefit of a tax-free retirement is even lower than that of average Australians.

Australia’s superannuation system has solved hard problems before. The introduction of MySuper transformed the accumulation phase by removing barriers and making good defaults work for members. We need the same ambition for retirement.

¹ HESTA research conducted for HESTA by Laneway Analytics, December 2025.

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