No wonder funds love compulsory superannuation

New figures from APRA show that net superannuation contributions fell by $2.3 million in the June quarter as Aussies withdrew around $30 billion from their super nest eggs under the federal government’s early release policy.

It was the first quarterly decline in net contributions – which includes both inflows and withdrawals – since compulsory super was introduced nearly three decades ago:

Contributions in the June 2020 quarter were $33.6 billion, which was an increase of 17.0 per cent from the March 2020 quarter ($28.7 billion) but 1.4 per cent less than in the June 2019 quarter.

Personal contributions for the June 2020 quarter ($7.8 billion) were particularly soft, recording the lowest June quarter figure since June 2016. Total contributions for the year ending June 2020 were $120.6 billion.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.