In a speech to the SMSF Professionals Association of Australia conference, Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, discussed the Government’s priorities over the coming year for the whole sector and highlighted the Government’s concern that some SMSF trustees are unaware of their legal obligations.

He referred to a recent Australian Taxation Office (ATO) survey which found that 21 per cent
of participating SMSF trustees had ‘low’ or ‘low to medium’ knowledge
of their obligations and 30 per cent could not explain what the ‘sole
purpose test’ was. The survey also found that 15 per cent of trustees
did not have an investment strategy, while another 25 per cent were
unaware of the restrictions on the type of assets that could be
acquired from related parties.

He called on industry for submissions by the end of April on how best to address the issue.