Cbus chair Wayne Swan has again apologised to the super fund's members over delays in processing thousands of death and disability claims, saying it made him "sick in the guts".
Appearing before the Senate Economics Committee, chaired by NSW Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, the current Labor national president and former federal treasurer declined to go into specific detail about the delayed claims.
"These are matters that are the subject of legal action, and as such I'm not going to say anything," he told the Senate committee.
However, he repeated previous apologies, while arguing that the delays were out of character with the fund's overall commitment to its members.
Labor president and former federal treasurer Wayne Swan is the chair of the Cbus super fund. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
"I want to apologise to all of those affected in our fund," he said.
"Senator, we pay out 97 cent of insurance claims.
"I was sick in the guts when I heard that we had this accumulated list of people whose claims had been delayed."
Mr Swan said Cbus had been taking action for more than a year to address the problems identified in the corporate regulator ASIC's lawsuit against the fund.
"When we first became aware of the magnitude of the problem [we worked to fix it] and something like 80 per cent of the outstanding claims have been finalised," he told the committee.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan asked the question most pertinent to grieving people being dragged through an elongated process to access funds owed to them.
About the overdue claims that have now been processed, he asked: "You're at 80 per cent ... when will 100 per cent be resolved?."
"As soon as possible," Mr Swan responded.
"There are many things you can’t control (such as) family disputes, probate and (other items). Sometimes it’s not because it’s been a lack of will, it’s just how the insurance (claims) process works."
Cbus has taken on a new chief risk officer, Mr Swan added.
"We have frameworks in place and we're working with regulators to make sure they're the best frameworks," he said.
Many of Mr Swan's comments to the committee echo a speech he gave at Cbus's annual members meeting last night.
"We have taken steps, and are continuing to take steps to improve service standards and claims processing, including by:
• Uplifting resources in the insurance contact centre;
• Uplifting resources in the claims team to respond to members and their families quicker.
The steps taken to date have resulted in improvements such as:
• Call responsiveness in the insurance contact centre;
• Claims experience through access to dedicated case managers;
and
• A reduced backlog of claims."
Mr Swan told the committee today that Cbus was "not the only fund that has a challenge with a third party provider" but "we accept complete accountability for the outcomes."
In his speech last night, Mr Swan said all superannuation funds needed to rethink their operations now that more members were retiring and drawing down on their funds.
"We need a major rethink by the whole industry and all participants, including regulators and governments to ensure the system is fit for purpose for the growing number of members entering retirement," he said.
Cbus chair Wayne Swan has been deflecting questions from Senator Bragg about commercial arrangements with construction union, the CFMEU.
"You gave them $2.7 million last year," Senator Bragg put forward.
The former treasurer refuted that proposition, repeatedly.
"We're not handing them money and it's not right of you to characterise commercial partnership arrangements as hand-outs," Mr Swan responded.
Mr Swan explained that one of the partnerships was an educative tool that led to $100 million in lost super being reunited with members.
"We haven't given money to anyone. We've entered in to partnership agreements where services are provided," Mr Swan countered.
"We've entered into those agreements with employer [bodies like the Master Builders] agreements for the same reasons."
The fund's agreements with the CFMEU are suspended while the union is under administration.
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg also spent around 15 minutes asking Mr Swan questions about directors of the super fund and other issues that are covered in the fund's annual report, such as how much the former treasurer earns as chair — $210,000+ per annum.
Questions from Labor senator Jess Walsh were far less hostile, allowing Mr Swan to talk about the value of superannuation as a concept.
"Super has been Australia's secret financial weapon … other countries would die to have," he argued.
He added that changes — such as allowing people to withdraw super for a house deposit, a policy advocated by Senator Bragg — would put that at risk.
"If you threaten preservation, you threaten that," he said.