Aware Super has expanded its online wills service to all members following a pilot programme with SafeWill.
The service includes a simple will at no extra cost. Aware Super launched the estate planning pilot in January 2025 and has now rolled it out across its full membership base.
The expansion adds estate planning to a broader range of services funds are using to deepen engagement beyond investment returns and account administration. Aware Super sees wills as a way to prompt members to review other parts of their finances, including retirement savings arrangements.
Steven Travis, Group Executive Member Growth at Aware Super, said demand during the pilot was stronger than expected.
"The need for a robust and accessible online estate planning solution is immense," Travis said.
He pointed to a gap between awareness of wills and actual uptake among Australians, alongside the scale of intergenerational wealth transfer expected over the coming decades.
"It's estimated $5 trillion will be passed down to the following generations over the next two decades and there's widespread understanding of the importance of having a legal will, yet up to 60 per cent of Australians don't have one.
"Enabling our members to start their estate planning journey online, in their own time and with no additional fees for a simple will, substantially lowers the barriers to getting started," he said.
Member engagement
Super funds have a direct line to millions of Australians and can use estate planning to start broader conversations about long-term finances. In practice, Aware Super has linked the wills process to prompts for members to update nominated beneficiaries for their super death benefit, consolidate accounts, review insurance and consider financial advice.
"We believe estate planning will be an important gateway to encouraging our members to engage with their broader financial plan, including for their super and retirement," Travis said.
"These behavioural 'nudges' can be effective at motivating members to take other positive financial steps," he said.
The approach reflects a broader shift across financial services towards digital tools designed to reduce friction around legal and financial paperwork. For super funds, estate planning also touches on issues already closely tied to account administration, particularly binding nominations and the treatment of death benefits.
SafeWill, Aware Super's partner on the pilot, said the service connects a legal task many consumers delay with decisions about family finances and longer-term planning.
"Integrating it into super helps make those decisions simpler and more connected to their long-term financial future," Lubofsky said.
Service scope
Members can complete a simple legal will online in about 20 minutes, according to Aware Super. The fund also offers paid options for more complex estates, including a customised will and a power of attorney.
Aware Super manages about AUD $208 billion for 1.2 million members, making it one of Australia's larger profit-to-member super funds. That scale gives it a sizeable audience for ancillary services tied to retirement planning, even as funds continue to face scrutiny over how they define member value beyond core investment and administration functions.
The online wills service gives Aware Super another point of contact with members as funds look for practical ways to increase engagement with retirement issues before people reach the end of working life.