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Statistics explanatory notes

Data provided by SMSFs reporting their financial position as at 30 June of the relevant financial year.

Last updated 24 May 2016

General notes

Much of the information in the statistical tables is estimated, based on data reported to us. Caution should be taken when using or presenting this data. The estimates have been based on data provided by SMSFs reporting their financial position as at 30 June of the relevant financial year.

Rounding of figures may cause minor discrepancies to totals.

The SMSF population, asset allocation and establishment tables are updated on a quarterly basis, with the remainder of the tables updated annually when the June quarter updates are published.

Quarterly reports (as at the end of March, June, September and December each year) will generally be published within two months after the end of the quarter.

Additional information

From the June 2015 report, the 2013–14 annual return data has been incorporated into our estimation model – as a result, the estimates are a more accurate reflection of SMSF asset holdings.

From the 2012–13 year, new data is being collected on the SMSF annual return, relating to non-deductible expense items and assets held under limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA). These changes to reporting have resulted in adjustments to our estimates as new data is incorporated into the statistics in each June quarter report.

In the September 2015 quarterly report, the methodology used to estimate LRBA assets was improved by applying property indices returns to stimulate growth between the June quarters. This change has been applied from the September 2012 quarter onwards, to reflect the data used in our estimates from the specific LRBA label introduced in the 2012 SMSF annual return.

In addition, the following improvements were also made from the June 2015 report – the:

  • member demographic tables now report additional age ranges. The '>64' age range has been split into two age ranges, '65-74' and '>74'
  • ‘flow of funds’ table no longer reports other contributions separately. Amounts previously reported here are now included in member contributions
  • ‘flow of funds’ table no longer reports on ‘administrative and investment expenses’ specifically but now reports more broadly on ‘operating expenses’ – as more expense items are now being considered, there will be increases in the amounts previously reported in this column.

On 16 December 2015, we released Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2013-14. Because the overview is based on historical data, it will differ from the more recent data in this quarterly SMSF statistical report.

See also:

Historical data

A number of tables no longer report historical data from before 2011 – to view all data from before 2011, refer to:    

QC49091