Australian renters require nearly double the superannuation of homeowners to retire comfortably, placing them on the brink of crisis without greater government support.
Super Consumers Australia boss Xavier O’Halloran warned that without government intervention, renters faced a “retirement disaster”.
“Telling renters to simply ‘save more’ isn’t the solution to this problem,” he said.
“Renters are at a real risk of retirement disaster if the government doesn’t act.”
The organisation’s 2026 Retirement Savings Targets for Renters report, released on Tuesday, revealed that more than 325,000 age pensioners were receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance in June 2025.
Almost one in three remained in rental stress – spending more than a third of their income on rent – even after receiving the payment.
According to the report, a typical single retiree who rents would need $659,000 in superannuation to retire comfortably, compared with $322,000 needed by a homeowner.
Couples who rent would require $786,000 combined, versus $432,000 for an equivalent homeowner couple. The targets are based on Australian Bureau of Statistics spending data.
O’Halloran said long-term solutions must focus on expanding access to affordable housing, but immediate support for retired renters was essential.
“We’ve got a crisis facing retirees right now – Commonwealth rent assistance has not kept pace with actual rents,” he said.
Super Consumers Australia is urging the federal government to prioritise changes to rental assistance.
“Every day this isn’t addressed, renters face an impossible financial challenge in retirement,” O’Halloran said.
The group also called on superannuation funds to offer better guidance and tools to help members understand their retirement needs.
On Tuesday, wealth manager AMP launched a platform enabling Australians to compare their super fund’s performance, fees and other key features with competitors, using independent SuperRatings data.
“There are some funds that are still trading on yesterday’s reputation,” AMP’s superannuation group executive Melinda Howes told AAP.
She said some funds continued to market themselves as top performers even when the data no longer supported those claims.
“There’s a long-held belief out there that industry funds are always cheaper and perform better than retail funds, and we expect that this tool will challenge and help dispel that myth,” Howes said.
The comparison tool allows users to assess returns over one, three or five years, along with insurance costs, fees, digital offerings and social and environmental governance metrics.
Howes said the aim was to give greater confidence to the large proportion of Australians who feel uncertain about their retirement planning.
“Transparency drives competition and lifts standards across the industry and highlights the funds that are genuinely delivering for their members,” she said.
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