Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in strong support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Bill 2025. This isn't just a minor administrative tweak; this isn't just another line in the budget paper. This is a fundamental reform to the bedrock of our retirement system. It is a promise to Australian workers that the money they earn, the money they're entitled to, will actually end up in their superannuation accounts. It's a reform that is long overdue.

Before Labor, superannuation was not a right. It was a privilege, and it was reserved for a select few in high-paying jobs—mostly men—while the majority of working Australians, especially women and blue-collar workers, were left with nothing but the age pension. It was unsustainable. It was the Labor Party, through the grand social and economic bargain of the Prices and Incomes Accord under the Hawke government, that laid the foundation. And it was the Keating Labor government that built the house, legislating the landmark superannuation guarantee in 1992.

Today's superannuation is the result of Labor's vision to turn a privilege for the few into a universal right for every worker. We built this system, now the envy of the world, and ever since its creation superannuation has been a defining fault line in Australian politics. Those opposite have consistently sought to undermine it, freezing the rate for years and treating super as a nest egg to be cracked open for other purposes. Labor's job has always been to build, strengthen and protect this legacy. This bill is a proud and critical continuation of that nation-building project.

But here is the problem. The Australian Taxation Office estimates that, in the 2021-22 financial year alone, $5.2 billion in super went unpaid because the employer either failed to pay the super or paid it quarterly. Let's pause on that number: $5.2 billion. That is $100 million every single week that Australian workers earned but never received. It's not a rounding error; it's a retirement crisis in the making if we don't fix it. It is wage theft, plain and simple. And it is a theft that disproportionately hurts the most-vulnerable in our workforce: younger workers who are just starting out, workers in lower-income jobs, and those in the gig economy or in insecure work. These are the very people who can least afford to have their retirement savings stolen from under them. The long-term impact is devastating.

Before I entered this place I was a small-business owner. I ran a small business for 10 years in my electorate of Bullwinkel, employing occupational health and safety nurses for remote area healthcare centres. So I know what it's like to manage a payroll. I know what it's like to balance cash flow in order to meet your obligations and to deal with the pressures of running a business. I know it's possible to do the right thing by your staff. I made the decision in my business to pay my staff's superannuation monthly, not quarterly. I did it when I paid their wages. First and foremost, it was their money. They had earned it and they deserved to have it paid into their accounts promptly, where it could start working for them by the magic of compound interest. I also did it because it was simply good business practice. It never meant I had a large looming superannuation liability building up, waiting to ambush my cash flow at the end of the quarter. It integrated super into my regular fortnightly payroll processes and kept my books clean, with obligations clear.

This legislation doesn't punish small businesses; it levels the playing field. It aligns the law with what is good and responsible business, small and large, what is good practice and what many already do. It ends a system that allows unscrupulous employers to use their employees' superannuation entitlements as a cheap short-term loan to prop up their own failing cash flow.

This bill is simple. From 1 July 2026 employers will be required to pay superannuation guarantee contributions at the same time as their wages. It's incredibly reasonable and incredibly fair. The benefits of this are immediate and profound. First, for employees it makes it easier for them to track their super—no more trying to cross-reference with a payslip from July when the super fund statement is in October and wondering where the money is. They will see the payment on their payslip, and within seven business days they will see it land in their super fund. It gives them visibility and power. Second, for enforcement this bill allows the ATO to detect missed payments earlier before the debts become unrecoverable.

This brings me to the new strengthened superannuation guarantee charge. This is the penalty employers face for failing to pay on time. Under this new framework the charge will apply for each payday that an employer fails to pay in full and on time. This new charge is designed to be tough but fair. It includes notional earnings to compensate employees for the investment returns they lose because of a late payment; an administration uplift to reflect the cost of enforcement—and, importantly, this uplift can be reduced for employers who put their hands up voluntarily and disclose an honest mistake; and choice loading, which is an additional penalty if the employer fails to pay into the employee's chosen fund. For those employers who still refuse to pay even after the ATO has raised a SG charge, the penalties will be higher—up to 50 per cent of the unpaid amount. These charges are designed to prompt employers to fix mistakes fast and ensure workers are made whole.

I know some in the business community will be concerned about the transition, and I want to address that directly. This is not a gotcha campaign. The enforcement of the reform is smart, modern and data driven. The ATO will use its data it already receives from Single Touch Payroll and match it with data from the super funds. This allows for near-real-time detection of missed payments. It's not about creating new red tape; it's about using existing data more intelligently to protect workers. This data matching allows the ATO to intervene early, reducing the risk of those massive unpayable debts building up.

This government is backing the reform with a $404 million commitment to support the implementation. Critically, the ATO will adopt a facilitative compliance approach in the first year. Employers who are making a genuine attempt to comply, even if they face technical hurdles, will not be the target of ATO compliance actions. This is about helping employers like myself to get it right, not catching them out. This reform helps employers by aligning super with their regular payroll cycle, reducing the end-of-quarter administrative burdens.

Finally, I want to address the urgency of this legislation. This legislation must pass as soon as possible. The start date of 1 July 2026 is necessary to give the entire ecosystem time to prepare. Employers need to update their systems, payroll providers need to build and test new software, and super funds and the ATO need to finalise their data-matching and reporting infrastructure.

This is a massive, once-in-a-generation reform which cannot wait. The longer we delay, the more workers are missing out. Every week we wait, another $100 million in super goes unpaid. This bill is pro worker, it's pro good business, it protects the vulnerable, it simplifies administration for responsible employers, and it closes a $5.2 billion gap of systemic wage theft. Let's get this done; let's fix unpaid super for good. This reform continues Labor's proudest legacy—ensuring that every Australian worker can build a dignified retirement. I commend the bill to the House.

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