Education

The measure was announced on 19 August 2026 by Daniel Mulino, the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, in an address to the National Press Club.

Every SMSF must be audited each year by an approved SMSF auditor. As part of the compliance audit, the auditor checks whether the fund has met key rules in theSuperannuationIndustry (Supervision) Act 1993 and its regulations.

The ATO counted 672,805 SMSFs and 1,239,977 members at the end of March 2026, with total estimatedAssetsof $1.06 trillion.

The SMSF Association's figures, released on 8 September 2026 and based on ATO data, show roughly 60 per cent of new SMSF members in the June 2026 quarter were aged 35 to 49.

The SMSF Association described 2025–26 as a record year, with more than 50,000 new funds established and 12,264 in the June 2026 quarter alone.

The super guarantee has climbed steadily over recent years. According to the ATO, the rate was 9.5 per cent in 2020–21 and then rose by half a percentage point each year.

The tax was legislated through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Act 2026 and a companion imposition Act. According to the ATO, it commenced on 1 July 2026, so 2026–27 is the first income year it applies to.