Choice in Super

Individual participants in the Australian superannuation system enjoy the opportunity to make a variety of different types of choices in relation to their contributions. This article maps the statutory and other rules that govern the way this occurs. It does so in order to highlight the extent and intricacy of the bricolage created by repeated government reforms of the various regulatory regimes. The granular fidelity of that description provides a foundation for addressing questions about the normative underpinnings of the system, such as how the provision of different types of choice advances the pursuit of efficiency and legitimacy goals to ameliorate the paternalism immanent in a mandatory system and how recent government initiatives fit into this contest between competing regulatory objectives.