The Federal Government must ensure that MySuper funds have a representative trustee model of governance so that members are ensured of maximum returns, said industry peak body AIST.

In its final response to the Cooper Review, AIST supported the creation of a specific role of trustee director, provided that the strength of the representative trustee model was not diminished.

AIST’s CEO, Fiona Reynolds, was adamant that the SIS Act should ensure that trustee directors were no longer directors under the Corporations Act 2002.

“The role of a trustee director is, and must be recognised as, separate and distinct from that of company directors,” Reynolds said.

In a separate comment, Reynolds urged all employers to align the payment of employee super with salary payments due to the ATO’s clampdown on employer non-compliance on super payments.

The ATO’s clampdown recognised that super was deferred wages, Reynolds said, and “all employees need the security of having their super paid at the same time as their wages, be it monthly or fortnightly.”