William Johns is deeply frustrated by the way some of Australia’s major superannuation funds are treating their members.
The insurance claims advocate told ABC News he believes some super funds and their insurers are delaying claims, without justification.
“We find that superannuation funds often request additional information that’s either being covered, they may have lost information that we have already sent, and sometimes they fail to send the client forms onto the insurer,” he said.
Mr Johns, the founder of Claim Right, which helps people with their Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) insurance claims, said many delayed claims were made by some of the most vulnerable people — those who were sick or experiencing mental illness and unable to work.
The experience, he said, often further exacerbated their illness and caused severe financial hardship, including cases where people were being chased by banks and credit providers and were at risk of losing their homes.
“They’ve lost their jobs, they have mortgages. They’ve got kids in schools, they’ve got bills to pay.“
While he has found claims response times have generally improved, he believes some super funds and their insurers are still taking too long to process claims and lacking compassion.
“Yes, a lot of them have streamlined their processes, but they’re still not seeing themselves as active advocates for their members,” Mr Johns said.
“Superannuation funds really ought to pick up their game.”
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Government calls on funds to ‘raise the bar’
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said there had been areas where some funds had fallen short and the government was consulting on new standards to improve how funds engaged with their members.
He did not comment when asked by ABC News whether these standards would include specific timeframes for super funds to respond to insurance claims, but said the government wanted to ensure “funds put member interests at the heart of service delivery”.
Daniel Mulino says “there have been some areas where some funds have fallen short”. (ABC News: Brett Worthington)
Mr Mulino said Treasury had been working closely with consumer advocates, regulators and industry stakeholders this year to develop the service standards.
The next step will be draft legislation for public consultation, but he did not say when that would be introduced.
“While most funds offer services that meet or often surpass community expectations, there have been some areas where some funds have fallen short,” Mr Mulino said.
“The new standards will improve how funds engage with their members and raise the bar for service.“
Australia’s corporate regulator, ASIC, has also called for super funds to lift their game.
The regulator has already taken legal action against Cbus over its handling of death and disability claims.
In November, the superannuation giant faced a $23.5 million fine for the breaches and agreed to pay out compensation.
ASIC has also called on superannuation funds to overhaul the way they deal with death benefit claims, noting excessive delays, poor customer service and ineffective claims handling are leaving Australians worse off at some of the most vulnerable times of their lives.
ASIC commissioner Simone Constant said some funds had improved claims response times but the regulator had still seen mixed results in terms of how funds handled member claims.
She warned more super funds could face court action if they did not change their behaviour.
Simone Constant is calling on super funds to do better when it comes to processing disability insurance claims. (ABC News: John Gunn)
The regulator has warned super funds not to pass the buck and blame insurance providers for poor claims-handling conduct.
“Our message is really clear — they’re your members, this is a product that is operated and offered through your superannuation fund to your members, take accountability for that,” she said.
“If we see failure, if it looks and feels systemic … then absolutely super funds can expect this will be an area where we will use all our regulatory tools.“
Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) chief executive Mary Delahunty, whose members include the big super funds, said they were working to lift standards.
Ms Delahunty denied funds were outsourcing their obligations to the insurance companies, but said they did need to use insurers to handle claims.
“The way insurance works in superannuation is that the trustee buys a policy from an insurance provider and so that’s bought at a group level. So there’s always going to be two parties involved,” she said.
She noted ASIC data showed the average decision-making time on TPD claims was 3.6 months, and that 91.5 per cent of those claims are accepted and paid out.
But she said that “claims are and will continue to be complex sometimes, and they can take some time to decide”.
Mary Delahunty says super funds are making improvements to claims processes and times. (ABC News: Paul Pandoulis)
Mental health, language barriers can complicate claims
Because of the complexity of cases, often some can drag out for months or even years.
Many individuals reached out to ABC News about their ordeal but were unable to go on record due to the emotional toll their ongoing TPD claim disputes had had on them.
Some had suffered sexual violence, causing post-traumatic stress disorder. Many faced ongoing mental health struggles, which according to recent data reported by ABC News, has become one of the most common reasons for claims.
Ms Constant said approaches to death and disability claims were “inconsistent” between funds.
“You don’t want somebody making a claim to need to touch base multiple times to provide information. Expectations should be clear and well communicated up front.
“And it’s particularly difficult, for example, if there is a language barrier or perhaps a geographic barrier.
“This is common across member services issues and particularly claims process issues, if you’re from a First Nations or first language other than English background.”
Xavier O’Halloran, CEO of Super Consumers Australia, said some funds had put more stringent conditions on particular types of claims.
“In some cases [the funds are] requiring people to have active specialist care in order to make, say, a mental health claim, in cases where people just simply can’t afford access or don’t have access to those types of services in their area,” he said.
“They’ve been introducing stricter and stricter terms … for how you prove that you’re mentally unwell.
“In some cases, these terms are leading to people not being able to make a successful claim.”
Xavier O’Halloran wants to see super funds respond to insurance claims in a more timely manner. (ABC News: John Gunn)
Mr O’Halloran noted that when super funds put up unnecessary barriers and continued to ask people for information they had already been provided, or draw out claims, it had real economic impacts on people’s lives.
“And it impacts people’s mental health, to be drawn out that long in a claims process with no certainty in sight as to whether they’re going to be successful,” he said.
On mental health claims, Ms Delahunty highlighted a 732 per cent increase in people aged between 30 and 40 making claims over 10 years.
“Adding that on to what super funds and insurers are already dealing with means that the system is under some strain,”
she said.
“But we are making significant improvements.”
Requests for ‘irrelevant’ information drag claims out
Insurance claims advocate William Johns acknowledged disability claims were often complex cases but said the process could drag out for months, or more than a year, often because funds requested additional information.
“Sometimes we’re just really surprised that they request information that’s irrelevant,” he said.
“They [super funds] support the insurers’ decisions without really going through the insurers’ mindsets — whether they handled the claim correctly or not.
“We just feel like the fiduciary obligations of the trustee is sometimes being misdirected or at least controlled somewhat by the insurer.”
William Johns says many of the insurance claims the super funds reject are made by Australia’s most vulnerable. (ABC News: John Gunn)
Mr Johns called for the regulator to take more funds to court over alleged breaches.
“[A super fund] has got to act efficiently, fairly and honestly towards the client, and so inefficiencies are deemed as a breach in the Corporation Act,” he said.
“What we need is an enforceability of existing regulations to make sure that the superannuation funds are held to account … I think the ASIC does need to get more involved with insurers.“
Calls for funds to face mandatory service standards
Consumer groups including Super Consumers Australia have pushed for for the government’s mandatory service standards to include specific timeframes for funds to respond to claims, but the super industry is resisting that change.
“We want to see end-to-end timeframes and we want to see people given the ability to make complaints when these timeframes are not met,”
Mr O’Halloran said.
“We want this all to be enforceable, so that people can have faith that when they claim on these insurance policies that they’ll get a fair hearing in a timely way, and be protected financially for a product that they’ve been paying for.”
Mr O’Halloran said there had been strong pushback from some players in the super industry, “that don’t want clear timeframes and don’t want clear obligations put on them”.
“[The super funds] want a lot of wiggle room so that they can take their time, which in turn costs consumers financially and leads to real financial hardship.“
Ms Delahunty said setting specific times for super funds to respond to claims would be problematic.
“It would be difficult to set in place a standard upon a doctor, for example, to make a diagnosis,” she said.
But she said the industry was supportive of more general mandatory service standards over how funds communicated with members.
“Mandatory service standards are really important to help members understand where they are in the claims process and what they can expect from their insurer and from their super funds,”
she said.
“Setting those expectations helps alleviate a lot of the stress that people will be under when they’re … making claims for their mental ill health or [when] they’re making claims on behalf of a beneficiary because they’ve had a loved one die.
“These are stressful times. And so having those expectations clearly set through mandatory service standards can be very helpful.”
About 100 motorcyclists dressed up in festive outfits and rode to a hospital to deliver Christmas gifts to children.
Members of the Scunny Bikers group handed out the presents – which were donated by members of the community and local businesses – to patients on the Disney Ward at Scunthorpe General Hospital.
Gemma Lawrence, a senior staff nurse, said it helped make the children’s stay in the ward “a little bit more exciting”.
Gavin Stubbs, who organised the event, said: “This is the 13th year we’ve done the Christmas run and we love being able to put a smile on the children’s faces.”
Essential repairs to a recycling centre means it will remains closed until after Easter, according to a local authority.
Gloucestershire County Council has announced Hempsted Household Recycling Centre (HRC) will stay closed later than expected next year for essential repairs and improvements.
The original plan was to close in early January 2026 and reopen by Easter but after further assessments more groundwork is needed on the landfill site. Reopening by Easter – the centre’s busiest time – would not be feasible, the council said.
Councillor Martin Horwood said the council was sorry for any disruption this may cause local households.
The site, which is run by the council’s not-for-profit company Ubico, has been operational since the 1990s and was last upgraded in 2019.
Mr Horwood said: “We’ll keep residents updated as soon as we have confirmed dates.”
In a statement, the council said the improvements will make the centre safer, more sustainable, and easier to use.
This include new surfaces, modern waste compactors powered by renewable energy and a new reuse shop where items can be repaired and given a second life.
They will also add better protection for electrical waste and new EV charging points for service vehicles.
While Hempsted HRC is closed, residents are still be able to use other recycling centres in the county, including Pyke Quarry and Wingmoor Farm – which will be open seven days a week.
Residents can also consider using kerbside collections, bring banks, and bulky waste services.
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, December 14, 2025 —Far too many Canadians are struggling to find homes they can afford. Solving Canada’s housing crisis requires immediate action to bring down costs, cut red tape, and build homes more quickly.
Central to that plan is building – major infrastructure, more homes, and strong communities. To that end, the Government of Canada launched Build Canada Homes, the federal government’s one-stop shop for affordable housing, which will build affordable housing at scale, including transitional and supportive housing, deeply affordable and community housing, and affordable homes for the Canadian middle class. Build Canada Homes is responding to the housing challenges Canadians are facing with bold action.
Today, the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia announced a collaborative partnership to accelerate the development of housing across the province, to unlock an additional 1,430 new affordable homes. This collaborative partnership includes a joint commitment of up to $300 million,including operating funds for supportive and transitional units.
Under this collaboration, 500 units of non-profit and community housing will be jointly financed from the Province of Nova Scotia’s housing pipeline, with shovels in the ground within the next 12 months. The units will be affordable for low to moderate and median-income households and their affordability will be guaranteed for the long-term.
The partnership also includes close coordination at Shannon Park, a large, multi-phase redevelopment in Dartmouth delivering mixed-market homes, including public, supportive, and affordable housing.
In the first phase, a dedicated parcel has been earmarked for a Build Canada Homes Direct Build project, supporting up to 630 mixed-market homes. The plan is to deliver a minimum of 40% of homes below-market value that will be affordable to households with moderate and median incomes.
The joint investment will also make possible an additional 300 homes to be developed on the provincial portion of the site and will include supportive and/or transitional units as well as public housing units. Provincial funding and partnerships will ensure the affordability of these public housing units for the long term. These deeply affordable homes are possible because of strong partnerships with provinces and territories to ensure affordability is sustained for those who need it most.
Halifax Regional Municipality, working with Build Canada Homes and the Province of Nova Scotia, will support efforts to fast-track the development approval processes. Subject to Council approval, the Municipality will reduce or waive municipal development fees, provide relief from property taxes or provide other grant offerings in support of a 930 unit affordable housing project to be built on federal and provincial lands in Shannon Park.
The project will prioritize the use of modern methods of construction, such as factory-built housing, prefab, modular and mass timber construction to speed up delivery and reduce environmental impact. Build Canada Homes will launch a Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) for the development of its Shannon Park parcel in the coming days. RFQ responses will be accepted until February 9, 2026.
Dartmouth, NS – December 14, 2025— The Government of Canada, through Build Canada Homes, and the Province of Nova Scotia have committed to work together to accelerate the development of an additional 1,430 new affordable homes across the province. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to address Nova Scotia’s housing needs through a new approach that will unlock housing on federal and provincial lands, streamline approvals, and apply innovative construction methods to deliver homes faster and more cost-effectively.
Key Partnership Highlights
Build Canada Homes and the Province of Nova Scotia have secured a partnership to jointly commit up to $300 million to accelerate the development of 1,430 new affordable homes.
This will include 500 units of non-profit and community housing from the province’s housing pipeline, with construction starting within 12 months.
Build Canada Homes has committed up to $120 million, and the Province of Nova Scotia has committed up to $180 million in capital and operating funding for 500 units of non-profit and community housing from the Province’s housing pipeline, and 300 units in Shannon Park, which will include supportive and/or transitional units as well as public housing units.
The 300 homes at Shannon Park would be complementary and coordinated with the 630 Build Canada Homes rental units planned for phase one of Shannon Park.
Finally, the Halifax Regional Municipality, working with Build Canada Homes and the Province of Nova Scotia, will support efforts to fast-track the development approval processes and, subject to Council approval, will reduce or waive municipal development fees, provide relief from property taxes or provide other grant offerings in support of a 930 unit affordable housing project to be built on federal and provincial lands in Shannon Park.
Shannon Park, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
The federal government, through Build Canada Homes, has prioritized a portion of the Shannon Park property in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for a Direct Build approach using modern methods of construction to help accelerate approximately 630 residential units, where the plan is to deliver a minimum of 40% of homes below-market value that will be affordable to households with moderate and median incomes.
The Province of Nova Scotia will partner with Build Canada Homes to deliver an additional 300 shovel-ready homes on the provincially-owned portion of land at Shannon Park. Development of the site will provide a mix of different homes, including public housing, and supportive or transitional housing.
Build Canada Homes will issue a Request for Qualifications to select design-build teams for onsite housing construction the federal portion of the site. Proponents have been asked to demonstrate experience and innovation, especially in promoting modern methods of construction like prefabrication, modular, and mass timber.
The selected proponents will be required to prioritize Canadian-sourced materials.
The Request for Qualifications closes on February 9, 2026. Selected proponents will proceed to the Request for Proposals stage in 2026.
Build Canada Homes
Build Canada Homes is Canada’s new federal agency that will build and finance affordable housing at scale, while catalyzing a more productive homebuilding industry.
By combining access to federal lands, development expertise and flexible financial tools under one roof, Build Canada Homes will make it simpler and faster to get big projects off the ground.
Build Canada Homes will prioritize non-profit housing, supporting a mix of income needs as part of a national effort to double housing construction, restore affordability, and reduce homelessness.
As part of the federal government’s bold response to Canada’s housing crisis, Canada Lands Company is transferring under the newly launched Build Canada Homes. This marks a strategic shift in how federal lands and development expertise are mobilized to accelerate affordable housing delivery across the country.
Build Canada Homes will develop parcels at six Canada Lands Company sites in Dartmouth, Longueuil, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton. These sites will prioritize innovative, modern methods of construction to build up to 4,000 homes, quickly, affordably, and sustainably.
Software company ServiceNow is in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity startup Armis, which was last valued at $6.1 billion, Bloomberg reported.
The deal, which could reach $7 billion in value, would be ServiceNow’s largest acquisition, the outlet said, citing people familiar with the situation who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
The acquisition could be announced as soon as this week, but could still fall apart, according to the report.
Armis and ServiceNow did not immediately return a CNBC request for comment.
Armis, which helps companies secure and manage internet-connected devices and protect them against cyber threats, raised $435 million in a funding round just over a month ago and told CNBC about its eventual plans for an IPO.
Armis CEO Yevgeny Dibrov and CTO Nadir Izrael.
Courtesy: Armis
CEO and co-founder Yevgeny Dibrov said Armis was aiming for a public listing at the end of 2026 or early 2027, pending “market conditions.”
Armis’s decision to be acquired rather than wait for a public listing is a common path for startups at the moment. The IPO markets remain choppy and many startups are choosing to remain private for longer instead of risking a muted debut on the public markets.
Founded in 2016, Armis said in August it had surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenues, a milestone it achieved less than a year after reaching $200 million in ARR.
Its latest funding round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives’ growth equity fund, with participation from CapitalG, a venture arm of Alphabet. Previous backers have included Sequoia Capital and Bain Capital Ventures.
Work to build more than 1,400 new homes across Nova Scotia – about two-thirds at Shannon Park in Dartmouth – will soon begin with funding from the Province and the federal government.
Housing Minister John White and federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Gregor Robertson announced $300 million to build 1,430 new homes today, December 14, at Shannon Park Elementary School; 930 new homes will be located in that area.
“There is no province better positioned than Nova Scotia to work with the federal government on Build Canada Homes. Our government has a proven track record and strong success in delivering housing projects, faster,” said Minister White. “With barriers removed and the construction sector built up, we are ready to get to work to build homes for people and families.”
Nova Scotia is one of the first provinces in the country to have agreed to terms under the new federal Build Canada Homes agency.
This joint funding from the federal and provincial governments’ includes:
930 units at Shannon Park, 300 located on provincial land and 630 on federal, which include public and supportive housing, with funding from the Province ensuring affordability for at least 10 years; a new school is also planned for the area
500 units of non-profit and community housing across the province.
To support the project and accelerate development of affordable housing at Shannon Park, the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) will fast-track the development approval processes and, subject to council approval, will reduce or waive municipal development fees, provide relief from property taxes or other grant offerings in support of an affordable housing project for Phase 1 in Shannon Park.
The project will be completed in phases over several years, with shovels in the ground expected in 2026.
Quotes:
“This partnership between the Government of Canada and the Province of Nova Scotia demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together to tackle the housing crisis head-on. By combining federal and provincial resources, we’re not only accelerating the delivery of hundreds of homes at Shannon Park, but we’re also creating a community with schools, child care and supports that families need to thrive. This is a model for collaboration that will make life more affordable and strengthen communities across Nova Scotia.” — Gregor Robertson, federal Minister of Housing and Infrastructure
Quick Facts:
under the agreement, the Province is contributing $180 million and the federal government $120 million
the Government of Canada launched the Build Canada Homes, a new federal agency with the mandate to scale up the supply of affordable housing across Canada
by leveraging public lands, deploying flexible financial tools, and acting as a catalyst for modern methods of construction, Build Canada Homes is driving a more productive and innovative homebuilding sector
working in partnership with non-profits, Indigenous organizations, private developers, and all orders of government, Build Canada Homes is accelerating the delivery of housing Canadians need — faster, smarter, and more affordable
since the Province’s housing plan was released in October 2023, 14,667 new housing units have been created or are in progress and the conditions have been created to pave the way for another 54,174 units for a total of 68,841, well above the goal of 40,000 units by 2028
Additional Resources:
The Province’s five-year housing plan, Our Homes, Action for Housing: https://novascotia.ca/action-for-housing/
News release – Three New Replacement Schools in HRM: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2024/10/25/three-new-replacement-schools-hrm
The UK’s largest listed companies have been warned against using “boilerplate” arguments to justify big executive pay increases by an influential group of shareholders.
The Investment Association (IA) – whose members manage £10tn of assets – has told pay committees to avoid “benchmarking”: where companies argue higher pay is needed in order to match rivals and avoid bosses jumping ship for larger salaries and bonuses elsewhere.
The IA – whose members include Schroders, Legal & General and Aviva – used its annual letter to London-listed companies to say that the “use of benchmarking on its own to justify increases in remuneration is not appropriate, as it can lead to a ratchet effect in the market”.
It stopped short of naming any individual company but said it expected “well-substantiated” rationales for pay rises from remuneration committees.
“To date, members have observed that some rationale disclosures have not met this expectation, with remuneration committees using boilerplate and generic justifications, often citing ‘competitiveness against peers’ or the need to ‘attract and retain talent’ without any further supporting information,” the letter said.
“Where benchmarking suggests a large increase in pay purely to ‘catch up’ to a market percentile, remuneration committees should assess whether that is genuinely in shareholders’ interests and be prepared to explain reasoning beyond “market practice.”
The IA added that – as the biggest 350 listed companies prepare their annual reports in the run-up to the spring shareholder meeting season – the most important factor was that they demonstrate a “strong link between pay and performance”.
It comes despite a campaign to raise executive pay across the UK, with City firms such as the London Stock Exchange claiming it is harming competitiveness and curbing London listings.
The stock exchange chief executive, Julia Hoggett, said last week that UK companies had become more “forceful” about rewarding top executives to compete with international rivals.
“We are talking about being able to attract and make sure we can win in the war for talent so that our companies can have the best leadership to drive the best shareholder value,” she told the Financial Times’s Future of Asset Management Europe conference.
Hoggett’s boss, the London Stock Exchange Group CEO, David Schwimmer, saw his own pay jump to £7.9m in 2024 from £5.4m a year earlier. It came after investors approved an increase in his maximum pay levels from £6.25m to more than £13m, meaning he could take home that sum if he hit all the group’s internal targets.
Median pay for FTSE 100 chief executives jumped 11% to £6.5m last year, faster than the 7.5% rise for US bosses, where median pay is already much higher at $16m, according to data from the proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services.
Andrew Speke, the interim director of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said the IA’s warning over benchmarking was “very welcome”.
He said: “The value a CEO actually creates for their company, and how their pay aligns with the rest of the workforce, should be far more critical factors in determining how much they are paid.”
However, Speke said the IA’s warning would have limited impact. “Benchmarking is so deeply embedded across the FTSE 350 that the guidance may change how remuneration committees describe executive pay increases, without necessarily ending benchmarking in practice.”
While investors’ willingness to challenge pay awards has strengthened in recent years, the thresholds for voting down pay packages and policies remain high. “Ultimately, because these votes are advisory, remuneration committees still have too much power to push ahead with unpopular pay policies regardless of investor concerns,” Speke said.
“Strengthening investors’ ability to actually block inappropriate pay practices remains crucial if we want to see meaningful change.”
