Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Fair Work Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) Bill 2017 would, if passed, strengthen the power of employees to get a fairer deal on their super.

Superannuation has long been considered a great Australian public success story. It aligns and achieves multiple public policy goals simultaneously. Superannuation helps Australians to achieve greater financial independence in their retirement; it also aggregates financial capital, making it available for large-scale investment in Australian infrastructure and enterprise; and it reduces the cost upon taxpayers by reducing the need for age pensions.

And yet, despite strident successes, superannuation is not currently working for all Australians. Industry Super Australia and Cbus estimate that there are at least 2.4 million workers in this country who have been underpaid their super, creating a $3.6 billion shortfall in retirement savings. This is further estimated to balloon out to $66 billion by the year 2024.

In my own electorate of Mayo there were accounted for more than 12,000 employees who had been underpaid their super last year, missing out on an average of $1,748 each.

This amounts to a staggering 28 per cent of all employees in my electorate who are entitled to employer-paid superannuation contributions, but they are underpaid on those entitlements.

I want to tell you the story today that set me down on the path towards introducing this bill.

September last year, as a newly elected member, I met with two men, one young and one in retirement, who asked for my assistance to recover their unpaid super from their employer, a transport business.

Travis initially contacted the Fair Work Ombudsman, who directed him to the ATO.

Travis came to me with a mountain of paperwork, which was his considerable efforts in trying to recover his unpaid super for several years through the Taxation Office.

From 2009—Travis lodged several investigations with the ATO. For each quarter the ATO would find an 'employer debt established' but debt after debt never progressed to actual debt collection. Despite being owed thousands of dollars over a near eight-year period of unpaid super, Travis received just two small amounts from the ATO, and one of those 'payments' was a letter stating he had been paid just one cent. It would have cost the ATO more in postage than what Travis received—and really makes a mockery of this situation.

Travis liked his job; it is hard to find work close to home in my electorate. He just wanted his super paid. In March this year, after all those years, his employer went into bankruptcy. Travis, with his two young children and wife, is owed thousands from eight years of unpaid super. He has effectively been robbed of his money, and nobody is in trouble for it.

Terry worked with Travis until he retired. Terry is now 71. He needs to keep his superannuation account open, costing him money every year on the slim chance that perhaps, after several years of waiting for payment, he will see what is owed to him.

I immediately raised this issue with the Treasurer and then with the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services.

Sadly, I have been approached by many constituents who have been robbed of their super.

Some employers simply evade their obligation to pay superannuation to their employees, and manage to do so with relative impunity. All too often, employees are either unaware that their superannuation is not being paid, or unwilling to pursue unscrupulous employers for fear of retribution or possibly losing their jobs.

And for those employees both brave and well informed enough to lodge claims to recover their unpaid superannuation, the main avenue of recovery via the Australian Taxation Office, I believe, is woefully inadequate. I believe there could be a better way.

This bill offers real solutions to the problems, whilst simultaneously also enabling employees to get a fairer deal on super.

Due to constitutional limitations, the superannuation guarantee charge currently operates as a potential charge that is only owed by the employers to the Australian Taxation Office in lieu of payment of superannuation contributions to employees. The effect of this is that the only legislative avenue for employees to recover their unpaid superannuation is by entreating the ATO to recover it on their behalf.

This bill includes superannuation within the National Employment Standards. This gives the Fair Work Ombudsman the authority to pursue the recovery of unpaid superannuation on an employee's behalf, but it also gives employees the legal standing and a direct legal avenue to recover their superannuation directly themselves, rather than being forced to rely on only the efforts of third parties—that being the ATO.

Currently, an employee's pay slip tells them how much superannuation they are owed by their employer, but does not tell them how much is actually paid. Even the vast majority of scrupulous employers only pay super once a quarter.

This bill would enable employees to track if and when superannuation contributions are actually paid to them by their employers, by requiring employers to provide employees with notice, such as via their pay slip, of when contributions are actually paid—or are not paid—for each pay period.

To further augment this greater transparency, superannuation funds will be required to notify their members within 28 days from when a superannuation payment to a superannuation company that is reasonably expected, remains unpaid. This could be as simple as an email or text to the employee.

The bill removes a loophole in the law which allows employers to claim salary-sacrificed super as if it was an employer superannuation contribution, thus reducing an employer's obligation to pay an employee's super themselves.

This bill also removes an exemption which allows employers to not make superannuation contributions to employees when those employees are paid less than $450 in wages in a calendar month.

This bill removes the remaining restrictions on choice of superannuation fund, as effected via workplace agreements and determinations. For example, no longer would an enterprise agreement be able to force employees into a particular superannuation fund against their will.

As soon as practicable after 12 months of operation, the bill requires the Commissioner of Taxation to conduct a review of employer compliance with superannuation payment obligations, and must include recommendations on how to further improve compliance.

The information that superannuation funds are required to provide annually to the Australian Taxation Office will be expanded such that it also includes information on:

The provision of this additional information to the ATO will help them to better identify recalcitrant employers, and to better formulate future public policy on superannuation.

I urge this parliament to turn its attention to the millions of working Australians who are missing out. We must do more for the 2.4 million Australians who are being robbed of their retirement savings, their future—and our nation's future.

I would like to give my time remaining time to the member for Indi.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to second this motion and, in doing so, I congratulate my colleague the member for Mayo and draw the attention of the House to how well the crossbench work together. There is clearly a problem—the minister recognising it, the parliament recognising it—and what we have seen today is a really strong demonstration to all in the community of the really good work that happens in cooperation here on the crossbench. So, congratulations on this bill, Member for Mayo.

The Fair Work Amendment (Recovering Unpaid Superannuation) Bill 2017 really brings together many of the solutions that we know need to take place. In saying that, I call on the government to actually consider bringing on for debate, and a vote, many of these very sensible, very practical solutions that are coming from the crossbench. I will be working with the Clerk, with the Leader of the House and with the opposition on how we can bring this particular legislation to the House so that it can be voted on, and then we can have what this parliament does really well: the give and take so that we get better legislation through debate. I want to acknowledge your work, Member for Mayo, and say thank you.

Following a similar private members' motion that came through the House last week, when this topic was debated, I took an opportunity to speak to the minister and to ask for her commitment to follow through on this work. There are 32 recommendations made by the Senate Economics References Committee, and only some of them have been addressed—good to have some. I will invite my colleagues of the parliament to come with me and meet with the minister and her advisers as she explains some of her thinking. And some of the other areas I am particularly keen to work on include the impact of superannuation for women. We all know they are particularly disadvantaged in the workforce and their superannuation is so important, so I will look forward to my colleagues joining me in doing that.

What I really want to say to the government is: come and walk with us on this next step. Bring some of this really sensible private members' legislation to the parliament and let us have the debate, as we know we need to do. Let's do something about it. Let's not just leave it on the table. Let's have the legislation that we need and that is so well proposed by the member for Mayo. Let's actually take action on this really important topic.

Debate adjourned.