Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Supporting Choice in Superannuation and Other Measures) Bill 2025. This bill is comprised of six sections touching on a range of different reforms. Today I will speak in relation to schedules 1 and 2—two of those reforms—and how they reflect and further the objective of superannuation as set out in the Superannuation (Objective) Act 2024.

The core purpose of this bill is to implement two policy measures to support the transition to payday super. Firstly, the bill amends the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 to support employers to streamline the choice of fund process during employee onboarding. These amendments are intended to provide greater flexibility for when an employer or their agent may request details of an employee's stapled superannuation fund from the commissioner so that the employer or their agent can provide those details to the employee during onboarding to inform the employee's choice of fund.

Secondly, this bill amends the Corporations Act to ban advertising of certain superannuation products to new employees as part of that onboarding process. Schedule 2 will commence on 1 July 2026. The ban under this schedule is intended to reduce the risk that employees are induced or influenced to choose a superannuation product that is not appropriate to their needs, or if it results in the opening of multiple unnecessary superannuation accounts during that onboarding process.

There are many reasons why people have multiple superannuation accounts, and frequent job changes is one of them. It's not uncommon—around four million Australians have more than one—and, of course, you can if you want to. You might want to keep multiple insurance covers, increase your variety of investment options, or, if your super is a defined benefit fund, you might want to retain that benefit. However, there are well documented disadvantages, like paying more than one set of fees, having to keep track of more balances and investments, and retaining and paying for unwanted insurance cover. Plus, you're at risk of ending up with lost super accounts.

The key drawback, though, is that having multiple super funds involves increased charges and fees. We know that most super funds charge a range of fees related to someone's superannuation account, and, if you have more than one, you're most likely paying these multiple times. Super funds will also often provide you with automatic default insurance cover like life insurance—also called death cover—as well as total and permanent disability insurance and income protection insurance if you meet certain eligibility criteria. You might also end up paying multiple premiums for cover that you might not actually need or might not be eligible to claim under.

Another drawback of multiple accounts is increased administration, including with respect to nominated beneficiaries, reading multiple annual reports and having multiple different sets of performance to track. There's also the potential for lower retirement savings, because having your super spread out across multiple accounts can make it harder to track the growth of your fund or to make good investment choices. That's on top of paying all the extra fees and insurance premiums. This can leave you at risk of lower retirement savings, and, as we know, the higher someone's retirement savings are, the better.

The highest possible accumulation of superannuation is the purpose of our world envied superannuation system. This purpose is set out in the objective of super in the Superannuation (Objective) Act 2024. It states that the objective is to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way. Both the elements 'equitable' and 'sustainable' are equally important. Schedules 1 and 2 to this bill are compatible with that objective. The superannuation choice-of-fund requirement is a foundational feature of our superannuation system in Australia, and it operates to ensure that employees can choose which superannuation fund they want their superannuation contributions paid to. They should be able to do this, because the accumulation of funds in a superannuation fund belongs to the person making that choice.

The first principle of our system is simple. The employer must contribute to a fund chosen by the employee. If the employee does not make a choice, the employer can then make a request to the commissioner to determine if the employee has what is called a stapled fund. If the employee has a stapled fund, the employer will generally be required to pay superannuation contributions to that stapled fund. If there is no chosen fund or no stapled fund, the employer may contribute to a new, default fund for the employee. Typically, an employer must give a standard choice form to an employee within 28 days of commencement in order to obtain relevant superannuation fund details for that employee.

Stapling in superannuation is where an employee's existing super fund is 'stapled' or linked to them for life, following them if and when they change jobs, and operating to prevent the creation of multiple, unnecessary super accounts when changing jobs, therefore reducing account fees and protecting retirement savings. The objective of stapling is to reduce this unintended creation of new default fund accounts, where employees already have existing superannuation arrangements. This has the effect of reducing unintended duplicate fees and insurance premiums that erode member balances.

Currently, requests for stapled fund details can only be made after an employee does not make a choice of fund selection. Schedule 1 rightly amends the stapling provisions to clarify that employers can request stapled fund details before, at the time or after the employee is given a standard choice form. The effect of this is to assist employers to provide stapled fund details to the employee during the employment onboarding process to help inform their choice of fund.

Employees benefit from this. Under this reform, it will be easier for employees to see, consider and select their existing fund when starting a new job and it will reduce the potential for employees to create unintended duplicate accounts and then pay the fees and insurance premiums that erode their balance. Employers will also benefit because they will receive accurate fund details quickly, reducing the prospect of delays and mistakes. This change will, therefore, help to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement for working Australians. This is entirely consistent with the objective of superannuation as set out in the act.

Like schedule 1, schedule 2 is also compatible with the objective of superannuation as set out in the act, because it will operate to preserve savings to deliver income for that dignified retirement that all working Australians deserve. It will also ensure that onboarding service providers can continue to deliver value for employers, but in a way that is safe, equitable and sustainable for employees.

With some limited exceptions, schedule 2 operates to amend the Corporations Act to impose a ban on advertising certain superannuation products to employees during the employee onboarding process. If employee onboarding software platforms are paid to advertise superannuation products, then the policy objectives of the choice of fund and stapling provisions may be compromised. Employees sometimes forget about super funds that they have, and the advertising of superannuation products during onboarding can not only cause confusion but act to pressure employees to select the fund that might not be in their best interests or to open yet another fund that they don't need.

There is no doubt that onboarding software is a critical productivity tool for employers, but consumer harm may be the result if superannuation funds are advertised on these platforms during the onboarding process. With choice of fund and stapling provisions available, such advertising is not really necessary. This ban will protect employees from being influenced into making quick and uninformed decisions, opening inappropriate products and unintentionally creating duplicate accounts. The exceptions to this are to show employees their stapled fund and also the employer default fund.

Schedule 2 therefore is also consistent with the objective of superannuation as set out in section 5 of the act, because it helps to prevent the evaporation of fund balances, helping members to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement. Employees stand to benefit from greater savings that compound over their working lives through fewer unintended multiple accounts or through funds that are not fit for purpose or not in their best interests.

With respect to human rights, schedules 1 and 2 engage with the right to social security as set out in article 9 and article 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women and the right to a standard of living and security under article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognises the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to health, and acknowledges the importance of adequate social benefits in reducing the effects of poverty. Article 11 of CEDAW recognises the right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, old age and other incapacities to work as well as the right to paid leave. These human rights are prosecuted by schedule 1 and schedule 2 of this bill because they enable employers to identify the appropriate fund in which to make timely superannuation contributions for new employees.

The prohibition on advertisements in onboarding software platforms during the onboarding process protects new employees from making uninformed or inappropriate decisions around the opening of new superannuation products because of advertising. It reduces confusion and it reduces pressure on employees during the commencement of a new job, which is often an inherently stressful time in an employee's life.

The effect is that these amendments help bolster an employee's social security at the retirement stage by ensuring new employees are paid super contributions on a timely basis and into the most appropriate fund for them, avoiding any procedural delays that may arise in the onboarding process or through the influence of advertising. With respect to the right to a standard of living and security as set out in article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this article acknowledges that everyone has the right to a standard of living which is adequate for the health and wellbeing of them and their families and the right to security in old age, which we all hope we get to. Schedules 1 and 2 will similarly prosecute this right by streamlining the process to identify the appropriate fund in which to make superannuation contributions so new employees will receive their contributions quickly and not make disadvantageous decisions due, again, to the influence of advertising.

Schedules 1 and 2 of this bill are consistent with the objective of the superannuation system in Australia, which is a dignified retirement for working Australians. Our superannuation system is the envy of the world. Labor is the party of workers and the party of superannuation. I commend this bill to the House.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Supporting Choice in Superannuation and Other Measures) Bill 2025. As a relatively new member, I was a bit surprised to see that there were other measures in this bill that deal with our tax arrangements with Portugal and the Rugby World Cup. I'll concentrate, though, on the thing that I know a little bit more about and that I feel in my bones, just like every Labor member in this place, which is superannuation. We feel it because it has been a Labor scheme right from its inception.

At every point along the way, the coalition has really been dragged kicking and screaming along to it. Who knows what plans they have for its future. Let's not forget that, while it stands at 12 per cent today, which was achieved in 2025, originally it was Labor's plan that superannuation would be at that point in 2019. It is quite an easy mathematical exercise to see that that delay cost Australian workers billions of dollars and a healthy retirement. It's a real revelation of what the coalition feels about superannuation.

Superannuation is something that I'm familiar with and that I feel in my bones, like other Labor members. But, within the Labor Party itself for many years, from our inception until our latter days, there might have been some sort of perceived hostility between workers and capital. At its formation, over a 100 years ago, I think there was a lot of scepticism. What I'm trying to say here is that there was a realisation, in the eighties, that it wasn't good enough for working people to just be reliant on an income. At some point, we wanted to create a system in which working people could become financially free. I think that is something which I hope—which I know—unites both sides of this chamber. Sometimes we disagree on how we're going to get there, but I think financial freedom is one of the core economic objectives of an individual and I think is a core objective that we try to facilitate as a parliament.

It is very much a reflection of my own personal story as well. When I first became interested in politics and economics at about the age of 14, I really thought that they were about achieving better wages and better working conditions on the shop floor. I didn't realise really how important it was that workers invest in assets to create that sense of financial freedom. It probably wasn't until years later, when I became really interested in business myself, that I came to appreciate how important it is to have that goal of financial freedom—so much so that it's something that I talked about in my first speech. But there's something which I didn't really get time to talk about then, which I want to take the opportunity to talk about today, when we talk about superannuation.

I became really fascinated in business, so much so that I probably read something like 160 business books. I came to believe that a pursuit of entrepreneurialism, a sense of finding one's own individual destiny, could be one driver in life to give satisfaction. As part of that, I came to appreciate how important it is to be careful with your money, as silly as that may sound. I came to appreciate how important it is to be frugal, to reject materialism, and to use your money, steward it properly and put it into productive assets which create a return for yourself and benefits for the economy. Of those 160 books or so, there are a couple that really stand out in my mind. One of them was very much about that careful approach to saving.

The approach—and it was a book written in America—is something which I'm sure would be familiar to a lot of people who have read these books. The approach is that you pay yourself first. You put 10 per cent away of whatever you earn so that you can then build that up to be something for the future. No matter what, pay it before anything else, and then carefully—and this is a theory of this book, written in America—invest in an index; nothing particularly risky or groundbreaking, but a simple index that might return whatever was in that book, three or four per cent or something similar. Over time, it was easy; it was just a matter of arithmetic. You could track at which point your savings, your investments, would pay for the essential services that you needed to pay for, whether that was your housing, your food, your energy. Once you worked out how much you actually needed to survive, you could then track how long it would take saving that money before you actually reached a point at which you could then become financially free. It was not a 'get rich quick' scheme. There was nothing flashy to it. It was just hard work, hard savings and a plan. That was in America, where they don't have a superannuation system.

It's amazing that here, in Australia, we have something that really helps us to do that. It helps everybody to do that. In fact it takes more than 10 per cent—it takes 12 per cent, and puts it away in something which actually does better than an index fund. And there is a point at which it does create financial freedom for all Australian workers. The other book that I read was a revelation into how, I think, most businesspeople operate, which is with that sense of frugality and being careful, carefully stewarding the resources that you're given to invest in productive capital. One of the things I came across was that good businesspeople—as I believe the second deputy speaker is, and I'm sure he would know this and would be able to teach me some things on this too—really good businesspeople, are the ones least likely to take a foreign holiday, the ones least likely to drive a new car and the ones least likely to eat out. They are the ones who are most careful with their resources and who know that, ultimately, this money is not something which has been given to us, to those involved in business, but has, in some ways, been given to us to carefully steward.

So it is that our superannuation system in Australia does that for every worker—every single worker. It is a revolution in finance that has not only provided a standard of living for Australian retirees that would have been completely unimaginable 50 years ago but provided a pool of national savings somewhere around—what is it now?—$4 trillion, which is the envy of the world. It has also given a seat at the table to Australian workers, some of the biggest businesses in Australia and some of the most important businesses in the world.

The measures in this bill are not only building on Labor's superannuation from the Hawke-Keating era and the increase to 12 per cent that was legislated under the Rudd government but building on the actions of this government as well. For instance, it might seem amazing that it took us took us this long to get here, but, because superannuation is under attack, we as a government have had to define what superannuation actually means. It is 'to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way'. Again, it's 'to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way'. It is about helping Australian workers and Australian retirees build up their savings of money to give them financial freedom. We've had to do that, to set that as a baseline, because we want people on the other side of this House who are thinking about changes to superannuation to really reflect on what superannuation is there for and what it really is meant to achieve for Australian workers.

Another measure this government has taken is payday super. I'm sure that, as MPs, we are all in contact with constituents who have been ripped off by an unscrupulous employer. There's one very short email that I received a little while ago from a constituent, which I'd like to read out here. This constituent said: 'My daughter worked for a company for about five years. That company chose not to contribute to her superannuation account. When my daughter resigned, and moved on to another position, she realised her guaranteed superannuation contributions from her employer had not been paid. She then had to put the hard work in to try to recover what is rightfully hers for her future. To date, none of those contributions have reached my daughter's superannuation account. She's given up, actually, because it wasn't on her payslip—as simple as that—because she thought that the employer was doing the right thing. The employer wasn't doing the right thing.' One very simple change, one very practical change, could have fixed that problem, just as it will fix problems for people in the future.

We have made reforms to the LISTO to ensure that lower income earners who make a contribution to superannuation are paid at a tax rate comparable to their income tax rate. We've taken measures to ensure that superannuation is paid on government parental leave. That's because one of the most telling statistics about gender inequality in Australia is the amount of superannuation which is held by women compared to men. Something like 30 per cent of the nation's superannuation balance is held by women. That is because, as always, it seems to be that it is women taking the time off to have children, women taking time off to look after a disabled child and women taking time off to look after an aged parent. And so there is something that this government can do, apart from trying to address gender inequality in the workforce and in pay separate to superannuation—at least we are able to pay superannuation on parental leave. That is something which is going to have an enormous benefit over the longer term.

Finally, as I've said before, we're increasing the superannuation guarantee charge to 12 per cent. It is really inconceivable that the previous Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government thought that they could cheat Australian workers out of what was truly deserved. Remember that superannuation is not something which has fallen out of the sky or that is out of the goodness of the heart of government or even necessarily employers. Superannuation is what workers gave up as a tax cut and what workers gave up as a pay rise. This is workers' money. It is our own money that is going into this. It is no gift. For the previous government to delay that increase to 12 per cent really did highlight their approach to what I and other people on this side of the House believe is a practical way to help people achieve financial freedom. Ultimately, that is what it's about. For me, personally, from being involved in the Labor Party I have realised that that is what we want to achieve—financial freedom for people so that they can really follow their passions, so they can do things and make the contribution to the society that we live in that you can't make if you're focused on just paying your bills and getting through day by day. Financial freedom is what superannuation is about, and it is why I can't understand why those on the other side aren't wholeheartedly in favour of it. The measures in this bill will go further towards making sure it's protected.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pride to speak on this bill on superannuation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Supporting Choice in Superannuation and Other Measures) Bill 2025. I've always had a keen interest in superannuation while I've been in this place. We just heard the member for Forde outline the reasons for superannuation and the benefits to workers that superannuation gives in later life. It was interesting listening to the member for Forde talk about the increase to 12 per cent that Labor introduced when we were last in government in 2013. The last coalition government stopped this or delayed it. I recall very clearly, because I was following the debate, the then Treasurer, Mr Hockey, saying when he made that decision not to increase superannuation to 12 per cent that workers would rather have it in their pockets and that most bosses would give it out as a pay increase. Well, guess what? I don't think there was a single increase in wages over the next few years in lieu of the 12 per cent super—not a single increase anywhere. I remember following it very closely, monitoring it and speaking to people in my electorate, asking if they got that increase that the then Treasurer, Mr Hockey, alluded to. In other words, it was just to cover up that they didn't want to give that 12 per cent. Superannuation is not a gift. It doesn't just appear. Superannuation is for services given by the employee. It is no different to your wage and your hourly rate. It is no different to getting your pay at the end of the week. We know that this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Supporting Choice in Superannuation and Other Measures) Bill 2025, aims to strengthen the transparency in superannuation and inform decision-making for employees when they start a new job. It introduces measures that make it easier for workers to see and select an existing superannuation fund if they wish to continue using it.

One of the other measures that we've brought in is about getting super when you get paid—in other words, to receive your entitlements for superannuation in your superannuation account as your wages are getting paid—and there was a reason for that. We've seen many constituents—I'm sure both sides of the House have seen this—that have come into the office chasing unpaid super. Previously, it would take up to three months to put the super into the account. Now it's with every pay, which makes it easier both for the employee and for the employer, and it's very important that transparency is there so that people can see what's going into their accounts. They know what's going in, when it's gone in and how it's accumulated. This bill also provides employers with more timely and accurate superannuation information, which helps them prepare for upcoming changes under these new payday super reforms.

A key feature of the bill is a ban on advertising superannuation products to employees during the onboarding process when an employee starts his new position or job. A recent review of the Your Future, Your Super framework found that some onboarding software providers had been paid to promote particular super funds—often those linked to the software platform itself. These practices risked influencing employees at a moment when they should be receiving important and impartial information about the future of their savings when they retire. The reforms are designed to strengthen consumer protections, reduce the likelihood of workers being steered into unsuitable products that perhaps have enormous fees and help prevent the accidental creation of duplicate accounts.

Overall, the measures aim to ensure that every Australian can make more confident and informed decisions about their superannuation. This bill is a reflection of this good Labor government, which is a party of superannuation and supporting the Australian worker. Of course, superannuation was a Labor policy back in the late eighties under the Hawke-Keating administration. We identified that too many workers were retiring with not enough savings and were relying on the social security pension scheme at the time. So it was identified back then that we needed a scheme like many other countries had around the world, such as pension schemes and superannuation schemes, to ensure that when workers retired they were able to either supplement their super with a small pension that was available or retire with super funds that would give them the dignity required once they stopped working.

It's a very important policy that affects every single Australian. Back then, not many people had superannuation or retirement plans. There was superannuation in place, but it was for the very, very few in elite positions—in managerial roles and CEOs et cetera—so it was great reform. It was reform that allowed ordinary workers to ensure that a bit was put aside every week, every fortnight or every month for their retirement to be able to do the things that we all aspire to do when we retire, which is to ensure that we can pay our bills and continue to live the way that we did when we were working. So it's a very important Labor policy.

We've always supported superannuation reforms because we know that, when we introduce this legislation, it makes it better for the average worker. Therefore, superannuation has always been about something far greater than numbers on a statement. It's always been more than a policy; it is a promise that, after a lifetime of work, every Australian deserves the dignity, security, stability and peace in retirement, and it's about ensuring that every Australian, no matter where they work or what stage of life they are in, has the chance to look towards the future with confidence rather than with fear.

The measures in this bill reflect a simple but powerful principle: people deserve to be in control of their own retirement savings. It's a principle that strongly resonates with this Albanese Labor government. Yet for many Australians, especially young workers in their teens or early 20s, the very beginning of that journey can be confusing and overwhelming. As we heard other speakers earlier speak about, many young workers were not receiving superannuation entitlements at all, even though they were entitled to them. We've seen many constituents come through the office, usually with their parents, to basically say that they had unpaid super in their last employment or wherever they were working last. It's often too difficult and very complicated to get that superannuation back paid.

All Australians but especially young Australians need to be able to identify, read and know exactly what's happening with their super, and too often they're signed up to superannuation products without understanding them, without guidance and without realising they even have a choice. Sometimes a single moment of onboarding—a rushed form, a digital checkbox, an unexamined default—can shape the structure of that person's retirement for decades to come. Many end up with duplicate accounts, each quietly draining their savings through fees and insurance that they never needed. This legislation recognises the weight of that moment. By ensuring workers can easily see and choose their existing fund when they start a new job, we give them something invaluable. We give them choice, clarity and control. It gives people clearer control over their own superannuation by ensuring that they can easily identify and choose their existing stapled fund when starting a new job. That reduces the risk of duplicate funds, duplicate accounts and duplicate fees that quietly, as I said earlier, drain away thousands of dollars over a lifetime of work.

With earlier access to their stapled fund details, employees can make decisions with confidence—when you have all the information, you can also make informed decisions—and employers are better equipped with accurate information as Australia moves towards payday based contributions. These changes are not just about administrative efficiency; they're about respecting people's futures. They're about making sure that the wealth workers build over a lifetime remains protected, not chipped away by unnecessary duplication or choices that are made under pressure, duress, confusion or lack of information.

This bill also sits alongside broader reforms that are designed to protect the integrity of that superannuation system. Together, these efforts help ensure that superannuation continues to fulfil its core purpose. What is its core purpose? To provide an income for a secure, dignified retirement. That's its purpose, a purpose that matters deeply to every single Australian, from the teenager starting their first job or apprenticeship, doing part-time work when they're at university or starting their first full-time job to the parent returning to work and older Australians planning their next chapter in their lives.

We should take pride in our superannuation system. It has grown into one of the most respected and successful retirement saving frameworks in the world through the vision that the Labor Party and that Labor government had in the Hawke-Keating years in the eighties. Systems must evolve as people's needs evolve, and that's what this bill is for. It's about changing the system, evolving to the needs of Australians. It must stay strong, it must stay fair and it must stay focused on those that it's designed to serve—and that is people in retirement. Every improvement we make strengthens the retirement outcome for millions of Australians.

At the end of the day, superannuation is not about politics; it's about people and their retirement saving funds. It's about their savings, their future, their families and their right to grow old with security and with dignity. That's something really worth protecting, that is something worth improving and it's something that every single Australian deserves.

This bill strengthens superannuation. It makes it fairer, it makes it more understandable and it ensures that people, whether they're starting work or whether they are about to retire, know the exact position that their superannuation is in.

Superannuation is one of the most important cornerstones of our industrial relations system. It gives people dignity in retirement, the ability to live with that dignity once they stop working, once they're at home, and to plan their retirements in a way that perhaps they couldn't before the eighties. I commend this bill to the House.

Daniel Mulino (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to thank those members who have contributed to this debate. Given that I was in the chamber during most of his contribution, can I acknowledge the member for Adelaide's contribution and can I also acknowledge his longstanding support for our superannuation system. I want to acknowledge the member for Wentworth's contribution and proposed amendment of the superannuation related schedules of this bill. I acknowledge the member's advocacy in this important policy area and involvement in the government's Economic Reform Roundtable in August last year. I want to reassure the member that this bill recognises and strikes the right balance between choice, competition and safeguards to protect consumers when presented with advertised information.

I also acknowledge the now former shadow treasurer's proposed amendment relating to schedules 1 and 2 of this bill. The government will not be supporting the opposition's second reading amendment. In his remarks, the former shadow treasurer suggested the bill would restrict choice in superannuation and that this bill was part of a cynical plot to wedge the opposition. On both counts, he was wrong. With regard to schedule 1, the bill amends the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 to streamline the superannuation choice-of-fund process during employee onboarding. This amendment provides greater flexibility for employers or their agents to request an employee's existing stapled fund details from the ATO earlier in the onboarding process. That way, if a stapled fund exists, the employer can provide those details to the employee during onboarding. This provides employees with more choice earlier in the onboarding process, not less, as suggested by the former shadow treasurer during his earlier remarks.

This amendment supports the government's commitment to empowering employees to make informed choices, by making it easier to see, consider and select their existing super fund when they start a new job, if they choose to do so. It will also give employers more timely and accurate superannuation details, supporting their readiness for the government's payday super reforms.

With regard to schedule 2, it is important to provide context regarding the policy rationale for these changes. The Your Future, Your Super review 2022 uncovered inappropriate behaviour, where a software provider directed employees towards products that were associated with the provider. This was highly inappropriate. It lacked transparency and left employees vulnerable to being pushed into a product of a related entity, which may not have been in their best interests. Therefore, schedule 2 of the bill amends the Corporations Act 2001 to impose a ban on advertising superannuation products to employees during onboarding. Exceptions will be available for showing employees their stapled fund, the employer's default fund and certain MySuper products which are subject to strict regulation. The condition to show an employee their stapled fund to advertise a MySuper product is an important consumer protection that will provide the necessary information and context to make a better informed decision. This amendment reinforces the government's commitment to supporting Australians to make an informed choice about their superannuation, while providing strong consumer protections.

Schedule 3 of the bill delivers on the government's commitment to support Australia's hosting of the Rugby World Cup 2027 for the men's competition and the Rugby World Cup 2029 for the women's competition by providing targeted tax exemptions to the entities responsible for delivering these major international events. These exemptions are consistent with those provided for other global sporting events hosted in Australia, including the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. They are essential to meeting our obligations to World Rugby and ensuring the successful delivery of these important tournaments. This measure reflects Australia's ongoing commitment to being a world-class host of international events that are part of Australia's broader sporting legacy leading into the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Schedule 4 of this bill amends the International Tax Agreements Act 1953 to give force of law to the tax treaty between Australia and Portugal. This treaty, the first of its kind between Australia and Portugal, is in our national interest. It will provide Australian individuals and businesses with increased opportunities to access capital and technology from Portugal by reducing tax on cross-border income and providing greater tax certainty. It will also facilitate labour mobility to strengthen our cultural ties with Portugal. Finally, the treaty builds on Australia's existing tax integrity measures, designed to combat international tax evasion and avoidance, ensuring multinationals pay their fair share of tax.

Schedule 5 to the bill amends the income tax law to specifically list the following organisations as deductible gift recipients: Coaxial Foundation Ltd, Community Foundations Australia Ltd, Equality Australia Ltd, Foundation Broken Hill Ltd, Partnerships for Local Action and Community Empowerment Ltd, Paul Ramsay Foundation Ltd, Social Enterprise Australia Ltd, St Patrick's Cathedral Melbourne Restoration Fund, Sydney Chevra Kadisha, the Great Synagogue Foundation and the Parenthood Project Ltd. The schedule also removes the following specifically listed entities: the Bradman Memorial Fund, Clontarf Foundation, NSCA Foundation Ltd, Sydney Talmudical College Association Refugees Overseas Aid Fund, the Australian Future Leaders Foundation Ltd, the Ranfurly Library Service Inc., the Roberta Sykes Indigenous Education Foundation and WA National Parks and Reserves Association Inc.

Schedule 6 to the bill will increase support available to all eligible wine producers under the existing wine equalisation tax producer rebate scheme from a cap of $350,000 per financial year to $400,000 from 1 July 2026. These changes deliver on the government's commitment to support the Australian wine industry as well as regional tourism, investment and job creation. I commend this bill to the House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question before the House is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Fairfax be agreed to.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question before the House is that the bill be read a second time.