The Productivity Commission will examine group insurance arrangements, costs and fees, and default fund members as part of its inquiry into the $2 million-plus superannuation system’s efficiency and competitiveness.

It will be the commission’s third and final review of the retirement savings system, which was a key recommendation of the 2014 Financial System Inquiry.

“Small changes in the system can have a real impact on people’s standard of living in retirement,” Treasurer Scott Morrison says in the issues paper. “The commission is to assess the efficiency and competitiveness of Australia’s superannuation system and make recommendations to improve outcomes for members and system stability.

“The commission is to also identify, and make recommendations to reduce, barriers to the efficiency and competitiveness of the superannuation system.”

The impact on retirement incomes of premiums for both default cover and individually written cover, the extent to which policy settings offset costs to government and whether policy changes could improve default cover are among matters to be considered.

A draft report will be released in January, and a final report by July next year.

The closing date for initial submissions is August 21. For more information, click here.