Tuesday, 2 May 2022
Aware Super has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement that all employers will need to pay superannuation at the same time as they pay wages.
This significant transparency measure will help ensure Australian workers receive the right amount of super and can track their payments more easily.
Aware Super’s Chief Executive Officer, Deanne Stewart, said: ”This payday super reform is an important step to help address the underpayment of super and we applaud the Government for it.”
”Paying super quarterly, rather than with each pay cycle, is outdated and not befitting our world-leading retirement savings system.
"We simply wouldn’t accept an employment system where workers received their take-home pay retrospectively once a quarter.
”It’s incongruous and, in the 2020s, something of an anachronism that employees can receive their super – such an important part of their overall pay – so infrequently.
”While many of Aware Super’s 1.1 million members already receive their super with each pay cycle, many Australians still don’t, and we know how hard this makes it for them to track their super payments.
”For individuals, reconciling quarterly superannuation payments with monthly, fortnightly or weekly payslips can be a time-consuming and complex undertaking. For a busy parent, for example, it means that task often ends up in the ’too hard’ basket.
”Australian workers will now be in a much better position to keep tabs on their super payments and accordingly speak up if they’re not getting the right amount.
”If you discover you’re not getting correctly paid the super you’re entitled to, speak to your employer or consider lodging a complaint with the Australian Taxation Office.”
Many larger employers already pay their super with each pay cycle. While small businesses often pay less frequently, modern accounting software makes the process of calculating and paying super far simpler and will greatly help these employers in the transition.
”Super is vital to the long-term financial security of all Australians,” Ms Stewart said. ”It ensures Australian workers can live their best possible retirement, and eases the burden on taxpayers by reducing demand for the Age Pension and welfare.”
”Viewed through this long-term lens, super payments are as important to the financial wellbeing of Australians as their take-home pay. Yet the existing settings, in enabling super to be paid retrospectively after each quarter, effectively put it on a lower footing. Payday super is a very positive development that rectifies an outdated scheme, and all Australians will ultimately benefit.”