Superannuation funds are agitating for lower retirement age thresholds for Indigenous Australians, warning lower life expectancy means they're not getting fair access to the pension and super.

Major fund AustralianSuper, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and the Australian Council of Trade Unions all raised concerns about Indigenous access to funds in retirement as part of submissions to a government review.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said there were systemic and structural transformations needed. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population born between 2015 and 2017 the life expectancy for men was 71.6 years and for women was 75.6 years. Non-Indigenous men and women have a life expectancy of 80.2 years and 83.4 years respectively.

In the past decade there has been a small narrowing in this life expectancy gap. The federal government has committed $4.1 billion for Indigenous health initiatives for four years from 2019-20.