Three of the country’s biggest compulsory retirement savings funds have lobbied the government to ditch laws requiring members to physically hand over forms that nominate who gets their superannuation when they die and digitise the process for acquiring death certificates across Australia.

The changes would reduce the delays that families of deceased members face when making claims for a relative’s unused retirement savings and life insurance policies from the funds. It “would result in lower administration costs for superannuation funds and improve member outcomes,” said Australian Retirement Trust, which manages more than $300 billion in savings.