Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to make a contribution to the debate on the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Amendment Bill 2015 and advise the Senate that Labor will be supporting this legislation. This bill amends the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 to remove the obligation for employers to offer a choice of superannuation funds to temporary resident employees or when superannuation funds merge. Currently, employers must give a standard choice form to employees within 28 days of them beginning employment. Already, many temporary resident employees do not exercise choice of fund or complete the choice of fund form and are therefore placed in the employer's default fund. Also, under current arrangements, employers may be required to give employees a standard choice form when the employees' superannuation benefits are transferred from a chosen fund or default fund to a successor fund under a fund merger arrangement.

Under the new arrangements in this bill, employers are not required to give employees a standard choice form if they hold a temporary visa, as defined by the Migration Act 1958. These new arrangements will capture New Zealand citizens, even though they can generally stay in Australia indefinitely. The bill will reduce cost and compliance burdens on employers, mainly small businesses, who hire people on temporary visas by removing the requirement to provide them with choice of fund forms. Importantly, employers will still be required to make superannuation guarantee payments on behalf of their employees, and employees will still be able to choose their own fund if they wish.

Labor welcomes these measures to reduce cost and compliance burdens that largely fall on small business because Labor supports reducing costs on small business. Labor will support these changes as they reduce compliance costs for small business and, importantly, do not reduce an employer's obligation to make superannuation guarantee payments for their employees.

Pursuant to the resolution of the Senate of 13 May 2015 referring the provisions of time critical bills to legislative and general purpose standing committees for inquiry and report, the Senate Economics Legislation Committee considered the provisions of this bill. By unanimous decision, the committee determined that there are no substantive matters that require examination.

Given the effect of this bill will be to reduce compliance burdens on business, it is worthwhile to recall some aspects of Labor's record on reducing red tape. For example, when Labor was last in government we repealed 16,794 acts and regulations. Under the seamless national economy reforms carried out by the former Labor government and conducted largely through processes of the Council of Australian Governments, or COAG, just the first 17 reforms reduced business costs by $4 billion every year. Our commitment in government to continually reduce regulation was considered part of the normal operations of what a government does.

In 2008, under Labor, the COAG agreed to implement regulation and competition reforms under the National Partnership Agreement to Deliver a Seamless National Economy. Thirty six separate reforms were covered by this national partnership, comprising 27 deregulation priorities, eight areas of competition reform and a reform to regulation making and review processes. As of July 2012, 17 of the deregulation priorities and three of the competition reforms were complete. Then, in May 2012, the Productivity Commission assessed 17 of the seamless national economy reforms in its report, Impacts of COAG reforms: Business regulation and VET. The Productivity Commission suggested that the 17 reforms that it modelled could increase GDP by around 0.4 per cent—that is over $6 billion—per year and reduce business costs by around $4 billion per year.

A very good reform example of this was the Standard Business Reporting, or SBR, which commenced on 1 July 2010. It offered Australian businesses, accountants, bookkeepers and tax agents a quicker and simpler way to lodge reports with government. The Productivity Commission estimates $500 million of potential benefits from this reform over nine years. SBR simplifies business-to-government reporting by removing unnecessary or duplicated information from government forms, using business software to prefill forms automatically with relevant information, providing an electronic interface to report to agencies directly from accounting software and providing a single, secure sign-on for online users.

It was the former Labor government that introduced the national business names registration service for a single online registration process, removing the requirement for small business to register in each state or territory and lowering the cost to business from over $1,000 for each registration in each jurisdiction to under $100 for a single national registration. It was also the former Labor government that introduced the superannuation clearing house, enabling small businesses to pay all their employees' superannuation contributions to a single location.

This bill is a timely opportunity to remind the Senate that Labor created Australia's compulsory superannuation system. We built our superannuation system for the same reason we champion a fair pension: we believe dignity and security in retirement is something due to all Australians. We will take responsibility for making sure that superannuation is sustainable and fair— a national retirement saving system for the many, not a tax haven for the few.

We are reminded that the record of the Prime Minister and this government on superannuation is poor. Since coming to office, the coalition has done everything possible to undermine superannuation. The government has frozen compulsory contributions and wound back concessions for the lowly paid. The coalition has done untold damage to the current system, which leaves us less prepared for the demographic challenges that are building. Let me remind the Senate that this government's delay in the increase in the superannuation guarantee will reduce our savings pool by $45 billion over seven years alone. The government has also scrapped the low-income superannuation contribution, which provided a modest amount of support for those on lower incomes. Despite this government's poor record on superannuation, Labor is pleased to support sensible measures and therefore supports the bill.

Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This bill implements the government's commitment to cut the superannuation compliance costs for small businesses. The bill reduces red tape for small business by simplifying when a standard choice form has to be offered by an employer. Employers will no longer have to of provide a standard choice form to a temporary resident within 28 days of the employee starting the job. This change simplifies the choice regime for businesses and will be especially beneficial for employers that are relying on large numbers of temporary residents for seasonal and intermittent work.

Another key change the bill makes to the superannuation guarantee regime is that employers will not need to re-offer a standard choice form to an employee if their superannuation fund merges with another fund. This is an unreasonable obligation on employers that many may not be aware of. Importantly, the bill will not remove any employee's right of choice. Whether an employee is a temporary resident or an employee whose fund has merged, they will still be able to nominate a fund they wish their contributions to be sent to, and employers must honour that choice. Removing these requirements simplifies the superannuation guarantee regime. Because of the government's measure to reduce red tape employers will no longer risk liability for the choice shortfall penalty if they do not provide a choice of fund form in these two circumstances. I thank senators for their contributions, and I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.