Wealthy Australians stand to be hit hard by a sweep of shock budget measures aimed at slashing the amount of money that can be pumped into Australia's tax-friendly superannuation system.

The new rules will make the super system more flexible for older Australians who wish to keep contributing to super and women who take career breaks, but the government will save more than $2 billion by slashing the amount of money that Australians can inject into super over their lifetime and placing a limit on amounts that can be transferred to tax-free private pensions.