APRA funding levy rises to $253m

APRA's funding levy will rise by 4.2% to $253.3 million for the 2027 financial year, Treasury estimates show, with superannuation funds expected to cover one third of this charge.

Split across the sectors it regulates, APRA apportioned $81.2 million to superannuation funds.

Treasury said trustees continue to operate in a heightened risk environment with increasing cyber, operational, and geopolitical risks, whilst also facing significant competition and consolidation.

With this amount, APRA will focus its efforts on trustees improving platforms and investment governance.

"Rectification and uplift requirements continue for deficient platform trustees. There also is a case to consider changes to prudential settings for this sector of the market e.g. to strengthen conflicts management," the discussion paper read.

Targeting unnecessary spending, the levy will also be used for "intense scrutiny of fund-level expenditure to hold RSE licensees accountable for improving practices, reducing spending that is deemed not in members' best financial interests and promoting the financial interests of their members."

APRA's work will also cover retirement outcomes. Following the release of the Retirement Income Covenant pulse survey findings in November 2025, APRA said it is working with ASIC to provide individual feedback to trustees over the coming weeks.

Work is also underway to design the data collection to support the government's Retirement Reporting Framework, which "will substantially improve transparency on the retirement phase."

For the other sectors, authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADI) have the lion's share of the levy of $114.6 million. Life insurance and friendly societies are allocated $19.1 million. General and private health insurance have $27.2 million and $10 million respectively.

The Australian Taxation Office's (ATO) portion comes to $41.6 million, up 11.8% annually, while the Gateway Network Governance Body's funding levy of $1.4 million was steady. The superannuation consumer advocate body's levy was also flat at $1 million.

For all Commonwealth agencies, the total levy comes to $297.3 million for the period, marking a 5.2% year-on-year increase.

Treasury is seeking feedback on its estimates outlined in the Proposed financial institutions supervisory levies discussion paper until June 14.