No immediate changes to super: Hockey

Treasurer Joe Hockey has poured cold water on any immediate tightening of tax concessions for superannuation.

Tinkering at the edges would change a system many expected to remain the same during their working lives, he told ABC radio on Monday.

But Mr Hockey did not rule out prospective changes to superannuation tax rules, especially in light of a government discussion paper that raises the possibility of replacing the current flat tax regime with a tax on contributions and earnings being paid at an individual's marginal tax rate.

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the tax treatment of superannuation needs to be improved and he will be consulting the sector this week about possible options.

Labor, as the creator of compulsory super, would not only defend and protect the system but improve and reform it, Mr Bowen said.

"Something this government is singularly incapable of doing," he told reporters in Sydney.