Fund type definitionsVersion: 7.4.12

ATO regulated fund types

The Australian Taxation Office regulates Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) as described below.

ATO Regulated SMSF

In general, an SMSF (other than a single member fund) is one where:

  • Prior to 1 July 2021 - there were no more than four members
  • On or after 1 July 2021 - there are no more than six members
  • all members are trustees or directors of the trustee company
  • there are no trustees or directors who are not members
  • there are no members who are employees of other members (unless they are relatives)
  • no trustee of the fund receives any remuneration for their services as trustee.

It is important to note that some State and Territory laws restrict the number of trustees a trust can have to less than six. An SMSF is a type of trust, so people considering an SMSF should seek professional advice to help them understand if their SMSF is impacted by these restrictions. To avoid this issue SMSFs can have a corporate trustee and each member is a director of that corporate trustee.

A single member fund with a corporate trustee is an SMSF if:

  • no trustee of the fund receives any remuneration for their services as trustee
  • the member is:
    • the sole director of the company
    • one of only two directors where the other director is a relative, or
    • one of only two directors and not an employee of the other director.

A single member fund without a corporate trustee is an SMSF if:

  • no trustee of the fund receives any remuneration for their services as trustee
  • the member is one of only two individual trustees and the other trustee is:
    • a relative, or
    • not an employee of the member.

APRA regulated fund types

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) supervises regulated superannuation funds (other than SMSFs), Approved Deposit Funds and Pooled Superannuation Trusts, all of which are regulated under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 External site (SISA).

Approved deposit fund

Approved Deposit Funds (ADF) can receive, hold and invest certain types of rollovers until such funds are withdrawn or a condition of release is satisfied (depending on the preservation status of the assets). ADFs can be either single-member or multi-member.

For the purpose of this publication multi-member ADFs are considered to be retail funds, and single-member ADFs are considered to be small funds.

Eligible rollover fund

Eligible Rollover Funds (ERF) are super funds or approved deposit funds which are eligible to receive benefits automatically rolled over from other funds. ERFs typically accept superannuation monies from other funds where the member has become "lost".

Small APRA Fund

Small APRA Funds (SAF) are super funds regulated by APRA where:

  • Prior to 1 July 2021 - there were no more than four members
  • On or after 1 July 2021 - there are no more than six members.

Non-public offer fund

A non-public offer fund is a super fund that:

  • Prior to 1 July 2021 - had more than four members
  • On or after 1 July 2021 - has more than six members

where the membership is limited to employees of an employer or group of employers.

Pooled superannuation trust

Pooled Superannuation Trusts (PST) are trusts in which regulated super funds, approved deposit funds and other PSTs invest.

Public offer non SAF

Public offer funds are super funds regulated by APRA that offer or intend to offer superannuation interests to the public on a commercial basis.

Other fund types

Other fund types include non-regulated and exempt super funds as described below.

Non-Regulated Super Fund

A super fund is a non-regulated fund if it has not made an election to be regulated by APRA or the ATO.

A non-regulated fund cannot be a complying fund unless it is an exempt public sector superannuation schemes which is exempt from regulation.

Exempt Public Sector Superannuation Scheme

Under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 External site regulatory provisions, some public sector superannuation schemes are exempt from regulation. These schemes are known as exempt public sector superannuation schemes.

Exempt public sector superannuation schemes are, instead, subject to government supervision (that is, the Australian Government, state or territory governments) in accordance with the principles of the SISA.

An exempt public sector superannuation scheme is a complying super fund.

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