“What we would really be looking for based on the processes that we've been working through, is that the people have thought through what it means and what the requirements mean with regards to stopping these pensions and appreciating that it is an all or nothing approach to it,” Miller said.

“That ultimately does require a thought process, and most likely in many people's cases, an advice requirement where they're getting and seeking the appropriate advice as to whether it is the right action because there may be consequences for the fund.”

Miller said the changes to the legacy pension regulations and commutability of various legacy pensions were set to be one of the bigger issues for advisers and trustees to consider going into the first half of 2025.

“Many of them exist within the SMSF space and that clearly has some short-term ramifications and with that, a number of people would also identify as to whether they want to maintain any existing reserves sitting in the funds,” he said.

“Again, one of those issues where, unlike the legacy pensions, which are linked to five years, the reserve changes are in place indefinitely, as far as allocating against a non-concessional cap versus concessional caps. It might still take a number of years for people to allocate all monies out of the reserve, subject to the size of the reserve and what its original purpose was.”

Aaron Dunn, CEO of Smarter SMSF, said the sector had started to “unpack” the new regulations and build documentation in the space.

“We’re looking at the issues that we need to flesh out from this and there's quite clearly still some unknowns around the asset test exemption,” he said.

“We saw the minister make an announcement to ensure that there's no debt waiver or recovery that's ultimately going to be provided in that instance.”

Dunn added that documentation around things such as asset test exemption, deed considerations around the fact that many of these pensions were set up under a previous deed, and what needs to be put in place was important.

“There's a number of moving parts within this legacy pension framework around documentation and the steps that need to be put in place,” he said.

Miller continued that this year is also set to see some activity around the indexation of the general transfer balance cap, which the sector is expecting to occur based on existing indexation numbers.

“At the moment, we're expecting that to occur on the 1 July and that has implications on both pension strategies and contribution strategies which will be key for a lot of people,” he said.