Naz Randeria, director of Reliance Auditing Services, told SMSF Adviser that the decision to remove the Australia Post electronic service address highlights a deeper issue within the SMSF sector.

“Wrkr is now the only independent ESA provider, but it operates entirely online. For trustees who don’t scan documents, use email, or navigate portals, that’s simply not an option,” Randeria said.

“This shift highlights a deeper issue: we are digitising compliance in ways that exclude people who can’t keep up. Many of these trustees have responsibly managed their funds for decades but are now being forced into systems they can’t easily navigate.”

Randeria continued that the convenience of walking into a local Australia Post branch and getting help is being replaced by platforms with no human interface.

“For a generation that values face-to-face service, that matters,” she said.

“Without a simple, user-friendly solution, these trustees risk falling out of compliance through no fault of their own – and the ATO has yet to offer a viable path forward.”

Shelley Banton, director of Super Clarity, said the number of SMSF messaging providers for SuperStream continues to contract rather than provide flexible options for SMSF trustees to use them.

“I’m not sure which service providers are still free, but the rule of thumb is if the fund uses an SMSF service, the ESA is free to use. There is only one paid (subscription-based) SMSF message provider on the ATO’s list,” she said.

“The problem is that once Australia Post ceases the service after November to new trustees, and discontinues the service once current subscribers finish their subscription, there are eight SMSF message providers left, and only four of them offer both contributions and rollovers or release authorities.”

Banton added that if members are contributing, all SMSF message providers can assist with that, whereas if they want to roll over their balances to another super fund, there is only one SMSF message provider that offers a subscription service.

“The other three offer free ESAs to users of their service, which is both practical and reasonable because the software is processing the rollover and you have to have a subscription to the software to use it,” she said.

“If the ATO wants to offer flexibility to SMSF trustees in being able to choose an SMSF message provider that offers both options, more must be done to attract new service providers.”

Furthermore, Banton said, as an SMSF can only have one ESA at a time, and if they don’t use an SMSF administration software to process their funds, there may be delays in rollovers to other funds as a result.

“Apart from all the other issues we see happening in SuperStream, these types of problems will only contribute to a further loss of confidence in the SuperStream system,” she said.

David Busoli, principal at SMSF Alliance, said any SMSF administered on a recognised platform like Class, BGL, or SuperMate would be using the free electronic service address provided by those platforms, and he does not believe the SMSF sector will be impacted by the Australia Post ESA closure.