6 in 2026

1. Annual fee consents

At the beginning of 2025, we saw new requirements¹  come into effect for annual fee consent requirements around ongoing fee arrangements, which included the ability to commence the fee renewal process up to 60 days before the next reference date² (which is usually the 12 month anniversary date of the existing fee consent unless the consent specifies an earlier date). With those new requirements taking effect from 10 January 2025, we are now in that 60 day period when the renewal process can commence.  Whilst the number of fee arrangements with reference dates in early January 2026 is probably on the low side, this early fee renewal process, coupled with the 150 day post-reference date window for fee consents to be renewed provides advice businesses with more flexibility to plan around the fee renewal process across their client base.  Additionally, it is important to remember that there is also now the opportunity to nominate the next reference date earlier than the 12-month anniversary date of the consent³, which provides the flexibility for an advice business to align reference dates where client ongoing fee arrangements had previously commenced at different times throughout the year.

We also saw during 2025 questions being raised about account numbers and new accounts. Under the existing legislation⁴, it is important to remember that for any new fee consent arrangements to be valid, the fee consent form must contain (at the time of being provided to the client) the account number from which fees are to be deducted.

One other area to keep an eye on is when your super clients transition from accumulation to pension phase, and whether this results in a new account.  The answer will depend on the superannuation fund your clients are in. In some instances, the same account is retained, with the same account number, and it is the tax treatment of the account (as well as access conditions that have changed). In these instances, any existing fee consent should continue to operate. In other instances, it may be a new account that is established, that would necessitate a new fee consent to be entered into.

3. Division 296 changes

Perhaps one of the most talked about topics during 2025, we saw the Government release⁷ an amended version of the proposed Division 296 tax on high superannuation balances on 13 October, with draft legislation⁸ finally released on 19 December 2025.

Most would herald the changes as a victory for the retirees and common sense, with the removal of taxation on unrealised gains. However, the new proposals don’t come without their own issues and have the potential to increase the administrative burden, and therefore cost, on superannuation funds.

Not only has the Government moved away from taxing unrealised gains, but they have indicated that under the new measure they will only seek to tax realised gains to the extent those gains accrue after the commencement of the new legislation, which is now slated to be 1 July 2026. However, the approach to achieve this outcome differs for small super funds (defined as those with no more than six members and therefore includes self-managed super funds (SMSFs)) to that for larger APRA regulated superannuation funds.

For SMSFs, there will be the ability to elect for a Division 296 cost base for capital gains tax (CGT) calculations based on the market value of the CGT assets as at 30 June 2026, so that only gains accrued after that date are included in any Division 296 calculation. Whilst this removes the taxation of any gains accrued prior to that time, there are still considerations for SMSFs in whether to pursue this option, including:

• The election applies to all the CGT assets of the SMSF at that time, so will cover any that have actually fallen in value since acquisition. It will also cover the CGT assets of members not captured by Division 296.
• The election, which cannot be revoked if made, applies only for the purposes of the Division 296 election, so will require SMSFs to maintain records of two costs bases for each relevant CGT asset – one for normal tax purposes, and one for Division 296 purposes.
• SMSFs that have no members currently captured by Division 296 will need to consider if they still want to make the election to potentially reduce future liabilities for members if they fall within the Division 296 regime in the future (eg where they start receiving a death benefit pension) and where there are assets that are expected to be held for the longer term.

For larger APRA funds, there is no cost base reset option. Instead, for the first four years of operation of Division 296, a factor (of less than 1) will be prescribed by as yet to be released regulations and it will determine the proportion of the net capital gains realised by the fund in that year that will be taken into account for determining Division 296 liabilities.  For example, the factor for the first year of operation could be 0.2, meaning only 20% of the net capital gain for a fund is included in that year’s Division 296 calculations.

There may also be differences between the way the relevant attributed earnings for Division 296 tax purposes are calculated between different funds, for example SMSFs and large APRA funds, as well as defined benefit arrangements. 

The draft legislation proposes that for SMSFs, allocations between members will be done in accordance with actuarial determinations. Hopefully these will align with the manner in which these funds currently obtain actuarial certification to determine how much taxable income of the fund is exempt from tax when the SMSF is paying pensions to members. However, this would be a new process introduced where members of the SMSF are all still in accumulation.  For large APRA funds, the allocation is to be done on a fair and reasonable basis.

Whilst it could be argued that all of this only matters for the small number of members expected to be impacted by Division 296, the problem is that superfunds will need to account for this on a per member basis as they may not know who is impacted until contacted by the ATO – as they are unlikely to know which members have substantial balances in other superannuation funds that bring them into the Division 296 regime.

Whilst the draft legislation has provided some clarity on how Division 296 is now proposed to operate, hopefully more clarity will come early in 2026 (given consultation on the draft legislation closed on 16 January 2026) so that advisers can more confidently discuss potential impacts with clients likely to be affected.

5. Superannuation standards

Another area of expected change in 2026 is around superannuation standards.  Back in January 2025, the Government announced¹¹ its intention to introduce mandatory and enforceable service standards for all large APRA-regulated superannuation funds, designed to improve member outcomes.

These new standards will initially target critical areas where complaints data shows the greatest need for improvement, such as:

• The timely and compassionate handling of death benefits;
• Fair and efficient processing of insurance claims; and
• Clear, respectful and accessible communications with members

Draft standards are to be released for consultation, although this consultation may be more targeted at the superannuation industry itself. Given we have seen increased regulator activity around delays in payment of death benefits in recent months, it is hoped that these new standards will come into effect at some stage during 2026.