The CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Mary Delahunty, has been working with the government in the fallout. (Source: ASFA/Getty)
Australian workers who lost more than a $1 billion dollars of their superannuation savings in two investment funds that collapsed have a limited time to make a formal complaint or risk missing out on compensation altogether. And the industry is warning that “time is running out”.
Some 11,000 Aussies were invested in the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian Master Fund which dramatically collapsed in 2024 and 2025. But only a fraction of those who lost money have lodged a formal complaint with authorities.
Currently fewer than 2,000 victims have registered a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), and the corporate watchdog ASIC will begin contacting impacted workers from today to make sure they’re aware of the situation and their rights.
Yahoo Finance understands regulators believe some victims may be unaware they lost money in the collapsed investment funds, or simply believe someone else has made a complaint on their behalf.
It comes as the federal government continues to grapple with the fallout of the scandal, tapping regular industry super members to help compensate victims.
The CEO of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), Mary Delahunty, has described the move as “fundamentally unfair”.
“People in traditional super funds are being made to fund compensation for losses they will never claim for themselves,” she told Yahoo Finance.
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The superannuation industry is waiting on the Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino to release discussion papers this month as the federal government consults with the industry about potential new regulations to help prevent workers moving their retirement savings into high risk investment products based on inappropriate advice, as well as changes to the Compensation Scheme of Last Resort (CSLR) used to compensate certain victims of dodgy financial practices.
“Fundamentally, the CSLR needs redesigning from the ground up,” Delahunty said. “It’s is evidently unsustainable because the scheme is running out of money, and the government now requires ordinary super fund members help pay for it.”
The offending entity has to be insolvent for victims to access the CSLR, so it’s unthinkable workers in such large funds would ever need to make use of it.
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“Our members are having to come up with $6.1 million this year, and that can only be seen to increase in future years. That lost money from people’s superannuation accounts in 30 years time is worth something like $106 million,” Delahunty told Yahoo Finance.
“That sort of lost compounded income when you’re never able to claim on the scheme is fundamentally unfair.”
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino is working with the industry in the fallout. (Source: AAP)
As the government looks to strengthen regulations to prevent future losses, among the reported suggestions is a cooling off period when people switch their superannuation to smaller funds with less regulatory oversight.
Delahunty said it is “glaringly obvious” there needs to be a focus on harm prevention in the first place, but cautioned about adding more friction and onerous obligations to the super system.
In the Shield and First Guardian cases, people were pressured into rushed decisions often under claims of high returns and low risks and reported being pressured by sales tactics and lead generators that are allowed under current rules.
“When people are pushed to move quickly, decisions can be more emotional and less rational. People are especially vulnerable when they fear they don’t have enough to retire on. So bad actors can come along and exploit that fear,” Delahunty said.
“If we believe there to be elements of the investment community that are unsafe, then instead of making sure people are aware of that, should they even be allowed?”
ASIC and Super Consumers Australia have now launched a new website to help those impacted by the collapse of the two investment funds.
From today, ASIC will begin sending further information to investors, including a link to the new website takeyoursuperback.com, which was created by Super Consumers Australia to provide information to those impacted.
The deadline for some investors to make a complaint to AFCA is as early as 31 March 2026. So the group is urging people to check their super to find out if they were affected.
“Thousands of people have had their retirement savings wiped out after being steered into high-risk products that were never right for them,” CEO of Super Consumers Australia, Xavier O’Halloran, said in a statement Thursday.
“The fact that only a small fraction of affected investors have complained tells us many people either don’t know they can take action or don’t know where to start,” he said.
Most people who make a successful complaint to AFCA will be entitled to up to $150,000 in compensation.
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