Super Members Council

What Super Members Council does

Super Members Council (SMC) is a non-profit policy advocacy and research peak body for Australia's profit-to-member superannuation funds, established on 1 October 2023 through the consolidation of former Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and Industry Super Australia (ISA) member funds. It is headquartered in Melbourne, operates as a company limited by guarantee, and is governed by member funds including AustralianSuper, Aware Super, HOSTPLUS, UniSuper, Rest Super, Cbus, Australian Retirement Trust, ESS Super, and GESB. SMC represents approximately 12 million Australians holding close to $2 trillion in retirement savings managed by profit-to-member funds, and operates across three pillars: policy advocacy and parliamentary engagement (covering payday super, LISTO unfreezing, the gender super gap, under-18 super coverage, retirement simplification, and consumer protection); research and publications (the Retirement Revolution report series, Mind the Gap, Unfinished Business, Payday Super analysis, and government submissions); and trustee education via the Trustee Director Course (TDC1 and TDC2), customised board training, and the Super Wrap newsletter.

SMC's revenue model is a recurring subscription from member super funds, supplemented by course fees from the Trustee Director Course programs delivered in Melbourne, Sydney, and online. The organisation has assembled a senior bench heavily weighted with former Australian Treasury, APRA, Productivity Commission, and state Premier's office staff, including a Principal Modeller who originated Treasury's Model of Retirement Incomes and Assets and a Data and Modelling Team manager sourced from Treasury's electricity market modelling function. SMC has no proprietary technology platform; its competitive advantage rests on institutional credibility, in-house economic modelling, and unique peak-body status in Australian superannuation policy. Since formation, it has scaled research output, launched training programs, and built coalitions with Carers Australia, COTA Australia, Women in Super, First Nations Foundation, and commissioned analyst Impact Economics.

Name

Super Members Council

Legal name

Super Members Council of Australia Ltd

Website

https://smcaustralia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Super Members Council (SMC) is a non-profit peak body representing Australia's profit-to-member superannuation funds, advocating for 12 million Australians with approximately $2 trillion in retirement savings through policy research, parliamentary engagement, and trustee education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industry Association / Policy Advocacy

NAICS

Business Associations (81391), Pension Funds (52511), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Pension Master Trusts, Superannuation & Provident Funds (FSAAAGAB)

Keywords

• Superannuation policy advocacy
• Trustee director training
• Retirement policy research
• Peak industry body
• Profit-to-member super funds

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourne

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Member fund contributions: SMC is funded by contributions from its member profit-to-member superannuation funds. The organization was established on 1 October 2023 by super funds formerly members of AIST and ISA.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Super Members Council is a non-profit advocacy and research peak body that represents Australia's profit-to-member superannuation funds and their approximately 12 million members with close to $2 trillion in retirement savings. Its core activities are policy advocacy to Parliament and regulators, production of rigorous research and economic modelling on retirement outcomes, and fee-based trustee director training programs (TDC1 and TDC2) that deliver CPD-accredited governance education for super fund trustees and executives.

Product overview

Super Members Council (SMC) is a policy advocacy organization representing profit-to-member superannuation funds. Its offerings center on three pillars: (1) trustee education programs including the foundational Trustee Director Course (TDC1), the advanced course (TDC2), customized programs, and in-house board training; (2) research and publications including the Retirement Revolution report series, Mind the Gap report on gender super gaps, Unfinished Business report on SG coverage gaps, fact sheets, and submissions to government consultations; and (3) communications including the SuperWrap newsletter. SMC does not offer a software product platform but provides advocacy tools, educational resources, and policy research to protect and advance the interests of super fund members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trustee Director Course (TDC1) A comprehensive fee-based training program for aspiring trustee directors, directors with fewer than three years' experience in a super fund boardroom, or senior fund executives new to the superannuation sector. Delivers foundational knowledge in trustee duties, fund operations, governance, risk management, investment principles, and financial oversight, culminating in a mock board meeting; up to 60 CPD hours and GSMC post-nominal awarded.
• Advanced Trustee Director Course (TDC2) An advanced fee-based program for trustee directors with three or more years of experience, focusing on board culture, investment governance frameworks, ESG, climate risks, emerging technology oversight, and strategic decision-making frameworks; up to 50 CPD hours.
• Customized TDC Programs Build-your-own courses combining modules from TDC1 and TDC2 to meet specific organizational needs of super fund boards.
• Board Training Program (In-house) Customized in-house board training delivered to super fund boards on governance topics including investment, risk, cyber, legal/compliance, financial matters, and emerging issues.
• Retirement Revolution Research Series A three-report research series analyzing Australia's retirement system using real-world data from retirees. Report 1 covers super's coming of age; Report 2 covers simpler smarter retirement; Report 3 addresses economic security in retirement.
• Mind the Gap Report Research report analyzing how unpaid super affects women and contributes to the gender super gap in Australia.
• Unfinished Business: Fixing Gaps in the Super Guarantee Report examining Australians who still miss out on super due to who they are or the work they do, including carers, under-18 workers, and other excluded groups.
• Payday Super: Solving the Unpaid Super Crisis Report Report analyzing the scale of unpaid super in Australia and the impact of payday super reforms.
• Guaranteeing a Super Start to Work Report Report on super coverage gaps for under-18 workers and the impact of the 30-hour rule exclusion.
• Fact Sheets Fact sheets providing accessible explanations of superannuation topics including under-18 worker exclusions and LISTO.
• SuperWrap Newsletter A newsletter delivering curated superannuation updates, policy changes, and event notifications to subscribers.

Named customers9 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Carers AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026SMC partnered with Carers Australia to launch the 'Unfinished business: Fixing gaps in the Super Guarantee' report on 19 June 2026, highlighting that over one million Australians miss out on super due to caring responsibilities. SMC analysis shows a typical 45-year-old carer can miss out on around $45,000 by retirement.
• COTA AustraliacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026SMC partnered with COTA (Council on the Ageing) to co-launch the report on gaps in the Super Guarantee, representing the interests of older Australians in super policy discussions.
• Women in SupercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2026SMC partners with Women in Super on policy advocacy addressing the gender super gap, unpaid super impacts on women, and systemic reforms to close retirement savings inequities between men and women.
• First Nations FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 March 2026SMC partnered with First Nations Foundation to publish a report on removing barriers in super for First Nations peoples, presented at a webinar on 18 March 2026, addressing kinship structures and ID requirements for Indigenous Australians' access to super and death benefits.
• Impact EconomicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 October 2025SMC commissioned Impact Economics to produce the 'Retirement Revolution: Simpler Smarter Retirement' report — the second in a series of three retirement research reports using fund-level data, behavioural insights, and modelling.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU): Australia's peak trade union body that actively engages on super policy (including through industry super fund members). ACTU is a directly comparable advocacy organization with overlapping policy priorities on worker entitlements and retirement savings.

Direct peers

• Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST): AIST was one of the two predecessor organizations that merged to form SMC in October 2023. AIST continues as a separate trustee governance support body, making it a closely related peer focused on trustee education and governance.
• Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA): Industry-wide superannuation association representing all segments of the super industry. ASFA overlaps with SMC on policy advocacy, research, and industry events, serving as a broader (rather than profit-to-member-specific) policy voice.
• Financial Services Council (FSC): Australia's peak body for retail and corporate super funds, life insurers, and fund managers. FSC is the direct counterpart to SMC on super policy, advocating from a retail/capital-side perspective on the same legislative and regulatory issues SMC targets.
• COTA Australia (Council on the Ageing): National advocacy body for older Australians and a SMC partner on retirement policy. Operates as a member-based advocacy organization addressing retirement income, aged care, and cost-of-living - a directly comparable advocacy, research, and policy model.
• Industry Super Australia (ISA): ISA was the other predecessor organization of SMC, representing profit-to-member funds on research, marketing, and advocacy. It remains an active peer organization spanning campaign work and policy research on similar issues.
• Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI): ACSI represents super funds on ESG, climate, and corporate governance issues. It is a directly comparable peak body serving Australian super funds with research and advocacy, complementing SMC's policy work.

Regional players

• National Farmers' Federation (NFF): Australian peak body for the agriculture sector. Operates as a membership-based advocacy organization with a similar model of policy research, government relations, and parliamentary engagement on a defined sector stakeholder base.

Broad incumbents

• Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI): National chamber network representing businesses of all sizes. ACCI engages on superannuation policy from an employer perspective, making it a peer on the same policy landscape with opposing views on issues like SG rate and payday super.
• Business Council of Australia (BCA): Australia's leading broad-based business advocacy body engaging on economic, tax, and workforce policy. Comparable as a large, well-resourced peak body that competes for influence on the same parliamentary and regulatory agenda SMC targets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/supermemberscouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/super-members-council
• Instagraminstagram.com/supermemberscouncil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles22 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Super Members Council