Superannuation fund trustee audit checklist
Superannuation fund trustees must comply with the covenants in s 52 of the SIS Act and a suite of APRA prudential standards. This checklist structures a compliance audit to identify governance gaps, investment breaches, and member outcome issues before they escalate to regulatory action.
This is a 12-step checklist for auditing the compliance of a superannuation fund trustee under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) and APRA prudential standards. It covers covenants, investment governance, and member outcomes.
The checklist
Confirm trustee registration
Confirm the trustee is registered with APRA and the RSE licence conditions are current and reflect the fund's operations.
Review trustee covenants
Assess compliance with the trustee covenants including the duty to act in members' best financial interests.
Audit investment governance
Review the investment governance framework including the investment strategy, asset allocation, and liquidity management.
Check member outcomes assessment
Review the most recent member outcomes assessment and confirm it covers fees, investment performance, and insurance.
Review insurance arrangements
Audit insurance arrangements for members, including adequacy of cover, premium costs, and claims handling processes.
Assess conflicts management
Review the conflicts management framework including the register, policies, and treatment of material personal interests.
Audit risk management framework
Review the risk management framework, risk appetite statement, and the three lines of defence model.
Review outsourcing arrangements
Audit outsourcing arrangements for compliance with SPS 231 including service level agreements and monitoring.
Check fit and proper assessments
Confirm fit and proper assessments have been completed for all responsible persons within the required timeframes.
Review complaints and IDR
Audit the internal dispute resolution process and complaints handling data for systemic issues.
Check reporting obligations
Confirm all APRA and ATO reporting obligations have been met, including annual returns and significant event notices.
Document findings and remediation
Document audit findings, assign remediation owners, set deadlines, and report to the board and APRA where required.
When this checklist applies
Use when conducting an internal or external compliance audit of a superannuation fund trustee.
Common pitfalls
- Not updating the member outcomes assessment after material changes to fees or investment options
- Outdated conflicts register that does not reflect current board composition
- Risk management framework that has not been reviewed within the required cycle
- Outsourcing arrangements operating without documented SLAs or monitoring
- Failing to lodge significant event notices with APRA within the required timeframe
Run this checklist on a real matter
Quillio can map SIS Act covenants to audit evidence, summarise APRA prudential standards, and generate compliance gap reports from trustee documentation.
General superannuation trustee audit guidance. Fund-specific obligations vary — obtain specialist superannuation law advice.
Use this checklist on your matter.
Quillio can run this checklist on a specific NSW conveyancing matter — confirm each item, calculate adjustments, and generate the supporting documents. The free trial requires no credit card.
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