Most Australians never read their super fund's complaints policy. But a new review from the corporate regulator suggests how it works matters to them. ASIC found that 14 of 45 super trustees identified no systemic issues at all from two years of member complaints, even as the complaints body found problems at almost twice their rate. In one case, a tax-related system fault went uninvestigated for years.

What ASIC found

ASIC released Report 844, Lessons to be learned: How trustees use insights from Superannuation complaints, on 2 November 2026.

The regulator surveyed 45 trustees and reviewed 10 of them in depth. It found 24 of the 45 identified fewer than five systemic issues from complaints over a two-year period. Fourteen identified none.

ASIC also said close to one quarter of trustees did not regularly analyse their complaints data. That is despite Regulatory Guide 271, which makes such analysis an enforceable requirement.

By contrast, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority identified systemic issues at almost twice the rate of trustees. In other words, the external complaints body was spotting patterns that many funds were missing.

The 45 trustees in the review hold $1.6 trillion on behalf of more than 12.8 million members.

AFCA received more than 19,400 complaints about these 45 funds between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2026.

It also reported that several trustees put more than 60 per cent of complaint causes down to members themselves.

ASIC says that is part of the problem. It found some trustees were too quick to attribute complaints to member "expectations, awareness, or error", rather than looking at communication, processes, delays or system failures. The regulator treats a low rate of systemic-issue findings as a potential red flag.

The tax-related fault that sat for years

One case study stands out for members worried about tax.

A tax-related system problem was raised in complaints for years before the Trustee checked whether other members were affected. Early estimates put the number of affected members at about 1,200.

Neither ASIC's release nor the news report names the fund or describes exactly how the fault worked.

Another case study involved more than 250,000 members who could not access their documents online at various times.

That may sound like an administrative nuisance, but fund documents often matter at tax time. Members who want to claim a deduction for personal super contributions, for example, generally need to lodge a notice of intent with their fund and receive its acknowledgment before claiming. Statements showing contributions and tax deducted also help members keep track of their contribution caps.

The point ASIC is making is that individual complaints are often early signs of wider problems. Fixing one member's issue without asking whether the same fault affects others can leave many people out of pocket.

How a tax error can add up

Hypothetical example: The fault in ASIC's case study has not been described publicly, so this example is purely illustrative.

Under current rules, non-concessional (after-tax) contributions are generally not taxed when they enter a super fund. Concessional contributions, such as employer super, are generally taxed at 15 per cent in the fund.

Imagine a fund's system wrongly treated a member's $5,000 non-concessional contribution as concessional, and deducted 15 per cent tax. The member would lose $750.

If the same fault affected 1,200 members in the same way, the total would be $900,000, before any lost Investment earnings.

A single complaint might get one member's $750 back. Only a systemic review would find the other 1,199.

'Ready to act'

ASIC is signalling it will not leave this to goodwill.

Commissioner Simone Constant described complaints as "the canary in the coalmine for trustees". She said: "Blaming the customer is not a complaints strategy."

She added: "We're willing and able to bring these actions against funds…"

Regulatory Guide 271 sets out ASIC's standards for how financial firms, including super trustees, handle complaints internally. Because parts of it are enforceable, a trustee that fails to analyse complaints data properly is not just falling short of best practice. It may be breaching its obligations.

ASIC expects trustees to review the report's findings promptly, get external assurance where needed, and apply the lessons. It says the findings will feed into its next round of work on member services.

The report follows earlier ASIC work in the same series, on death benefit claims handling in March 2025 and on communications with retirees in October 2025.

Industry reaction was mixed. Xavier O'Halloran of Super Consumers Australia said too many funds were not listening to their members.

Blake Briggs of the Financial Services Council said trustees had strengthened their complaints frameworks. He also pointed to the mandatory service standards the government promised nearly two years ago.

What the findings mean for members

Members who think something is wrong with their account, including how tax has been applied, can complain to their fund first. If they are not satisfied with the response, they can take the matter to AFCA.

Annual statements show contributions, tax deducted and fees, and records of any contact with the fund can be useful. If several members raise the same issue, ASIC's message is that the fund should be asking whether the problem goes wider.

What to watch

The immediate test is whether trustees act on Report 844. ASIC has asked them to review it promptly and has not ruled out legal action.

APRA's quarterly superannuation statistics for the September 2026 quarter are due in November, giving a fresh read on the size of the system.

The mandatory service standards that, according to the Financial Services Council's Blake Briggs, the government promised nearly two years ago. Their timing and content will shape what funds are required to deliver.

And with Division 296 applying from 1 July 2026 and the ATO expecting to release draft guidance on it in November, accurate fund systems for tax are about to matter even more.