Advice for your Aware Super account.

First State Super changed its name to Aware Super in September 2020. The fund opened in 1992 for NSW public-sector employees and their families, became open to anyone in 2006, and merged with Health Super in 2011, all under the First State Super name. Older statements that still say First State Super are talking about the fund you hold today.

VicSuper merged with First State Super on 1 July 2020. Aware Super’s board material records that date, and the combined fund later took the Aware Super name. Your latest statement shows the Aware Super product that applies now.

WA Super merged into Aware Super in December 2020. Aware Super lists that merger with the VicSuper combination as the 2020 consolidations that built today’s fund. If you joined through WA Super, start from the Aware Super product name on your latest statement.

StatePlus was First State Super’s advice and retirement brand, and from mid-September 2020 it was renamed Aware Super along with the fund. NSW State Super schemes — SASS, SSS and related pensions — didn’t merge into Aware Super; they stay with State Super. Aware Super financial planners, through Aware Financial Services Australia Limited (AFSL 238430), which the Aware Super trustee owns, still advise State Super members, and State Super says the first appointment is free of cost or obligation.

TelstraSuper merged into Aware Super through a successor fund transfer on 30 April 2026. Aware Super’s 12 May 2026 newsroom note said about 85,000 TelstraSuper members moved across, creating a fund with over 1.2 million members and over $235 billion under management. Products that transferred include Corporate Plus, Personal Plus, Defined Benefit Division 2, Transition to Retirement, Retirement Income Stream and Term Allocated Pension — a defined benefit is still worked out from salary and service, not from markets.

On a Future Saver account, Aware Super charges $1 a week (about $52 a year) plus 0.15% p.a. of your balance, capped at $62.50 a month ($750 a year), plus an estimated 0.01% p.a. paid from reserves rather than your account. Funds publish a “cost of product” figure — one all-in yearly total on a $50,000 balance, so two funds can be compared without unpicking three fee tables. For MySuper Lifecycle Grow (High Growth, age 55 and under), Aware Super’s is $452 a year, using investment fees of 0.57% p.a. and transaction costs of 0.07% p.a. estimated as at 30 June 2025. Retirement Income and Retirement Transition accounts use about $52 a year plus 0.16% p.a. administration. The percentage part is capped at $1,300 a year, so Aware quotes a member-deducted maximum of $1,352.01, with a small extra cost met from reserves. That follows cuts from 0.23% to 0.17% in June 2025, and to 0.16% from 1 May 2026. Insurance premiums are extra if you hold cover.

Aware Super is a profit-for-members industry fund, open to anyone since 2006, with more than $235 billion under management and approximately 1.3 million members after the TelstraSuper transfer on 30 April 2026. SuperRatings named it Fund of the Year in 2025 and 2026. On 27 May 2026, Chant West awarded it Super Fund of the Year, Pension Fund of the Year, Best Fund: Member Services and Best Fund: Insurance. Its High Growth option returned 9.63% p.a. over the 10 years to 30 June 2026.* (SuperRatings Fund Crediting Rate Survey, June 2026, SR Growth 77-90, after tax and investment expenses, before administration fees.) Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns. Whether it fits you still turns on the product and option you hold, the fees on that balance, and any insurance or defined-benefit feature attached.

If you’re happy with Aware Super, there’s often no reason to move, and we’ll say so. If you’re not sure it still stacks up, Guideway specialises in industry, government and corporate super funds and can benchmark yours against five leading comparable funds so you know exactly where it stands. If it holds up, you’ll know you’re fine; if it doesn’t, we can help you weigh a move and handle it properly, insurance, timing and tax included.

Aware Super’s Retirement Income account is an account-based pension that lets you choose how much and how often you pay yourself once you can access the money; from age 60, Aware Super says the payments and investment earnings are tax-free. A Retirement Transition account is for members aged 60 to 64 who are still working and want to top up income while they cut hours. Administration on those accounts is about $52 a year plus 0.16% p.a., with the percentage part capped at $1,300 a year; members who already hold a Term Allocated Pension keep that product on the menu.

Yes. We can advise on the Aware Super account you already hold. If another option is relevant, we’ll explain why and compare it with your current arrangement before recommending a change.

It depends first on whether you’re stopping work or stepping back. If you’re staying on reduced hours, a Retirement Transition account can pay a regular income while you keep earning, and that’s taxed differently from stopping outright. If you’re finishing entirely, your Age Pension and how long the money must last drive the timing, and neither answer is to start the moment you become eligible.

Nothing. It’s a free half hour. Tell us what you’d like to discuss, and we’ll explain if and how we can help, including any fees, before you decide to go ahead.