Once a person is disqualified, they must not act as a trustee of an SMSF or a responsible officer of a
corporate trustee. It is an offence under s126K of the SIS Act for a person to continue to act as a
trustee while they are disqualified.
As a disqualified person can no longer be a trustee, it means they can no longer remain a member of
an SMSF. Further, the option for a disqualified person to appoint their legal personal representative
to act as trustee on their behalf is also explicitly prohibited under s17A of the SIS Act.
A disqualified person is faced with limited options in managing their superannuation benefits. They
can opt to roll over their member benefits to an APRA regulated fund or they may opt to convert the
SMSF into a Small APRA Fund (SAF). If the member has met a condition of release with no cashing
restrictions, they may have an additional choice to cash out their member benefits from the
superannuation system altogether. This must occur within six months of a trustee’s disqualification.