Introduction

Enforcement action against the superannuation sector peaks in 2025

	Regulatory enforcement action against superannuation trustees reached new heights in 2025. The imposition of licence conditions remains APRA's regulatory tool of choice, even though, in recent years, it has also favoured the use of court-enforceable undertakings. Civil penalty proceedings continue to be a central feature of ASIC's enforcement approach; however, it is increasingly using infringement notices as an alternative enforcement pathway.
	The range of subject matter of ASIC and APRA enforcement actions against superannuation trustees is broadening. Recent areas of focus include member services failures; governance and risk management issues (most notably in connection with the Shield and First Guardian Master Fund collapses); and greenwashing and bluewashing.
	Court-based enforcement proceedings commonly rely on misleading or deceptive conduct provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth); the general obligations of financial services licensees under the Corporations Act; and trustee covenants under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth). Reliance on the financial services licensee general obligations and trustee covenants, in particular, has broadly increased over time.
	Overall, the quantum of civil penalties in court enforcement proceedings remains steady. However, we may see penalties increase, in line with ASIC’s stated intention to pursue ones that ensure misconduct results in meaningful financial consequences for regulated entities.
	While, historically, enforcement activity has primarily been directed at retail superannuation funds, there has been a rebalancing of this focus between retail and profit-for-member funds in recent years. Retail funds, nonetheless, remain an ongoing focus of enforcement action, especially following the fall-out from Shield and First Guardian Master Fund collapses.
	In the year ahead, we expect to see: continued regulatory scrutiny of the delivery of member services, particularly in the area of complaints handling and oversight of administrative service providers; a continued focus on the protection of superannuation savings; an ongoing evolution of governance expectations and sustained enforcement action in relation to governance failures; a continued regulatory emphasis on cyber resilience and the responsible adoption of AI; and a tapering-off of greenwashing enforcement action—though ASIC has indicated it may take proportionate and measured supervision and enforcement action, if necessary, to ensure compliance with the new mandatory climate-related financial disclosures regime.

Introduction

Key takeaways