Self-managed Super Funds

Establishing a self-managed super fund (SMSF) has become very popular over recent years and involves the members managing their own superannuation fund. As at March 2026, there were over 672,000 SMSF’s in Australia managing around $1.06 trillion of super funds. They are regulated by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

With an SMSF, all members are also Trustees of their fund and are responsible for the ongoing management and compliance responsibilities of the fund, including:

• documenting the fund's investment strategy;
• making and managing the fund's investments underlying to that investment strategy; and 
• administering the fund, including day to day activities of the fund and meeting all compliance issues including the lodging of tax returns and audited accounts for the fund

Many people establish SMSFs to gain access to a broader range of investment options not available in other superannuation funds, including direct shares, collectables, certain direct property investments and borrowing via Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements (LBRAs). (Refer to the Investments module for more details on investments information.)

It is important to realise that self-managed super funds can be a very complex area and should involve assistance and specialised advice from an appropriately qualified and experienced adviser. Further explanation will be provided later in this module as well as in the separate SMSF module.

Note: On 25 June 2026, a Parliamentary Amendment was agreed to that changes the application of the Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement’s (LRBA’s) that previously allowed super funds, including SMSF’s, to borrow to acquire investments.  The previous rules required that the borrowed money be used to buy a single “acquirable asset”.  The definition of an acquirable asset was broadly defined to include any asset that the super fund would normally be allowed to invest into, such as shares and residential property.  

From 10 August 2026, trustees will no longer be permitted to use Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements (LRBAs) to acquire property unless the property meets the definition of “business real property” - that is, the property must be used wholly and exclusively in the carrying of a business.