Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. I thank Senator Stephens for her very important question. The Gillard government has—and I have outlined this on previous occasions—an extensive reform agenda in respect of deregulation. One deregulatory simplification that this government has introduced is called the Superannuation Clearing House. As senators, including Senator Stephens, would recall, last year we introduced this service to solve the red tape created for small business when the former Liberal-National government introduced choice of fund into the superannuation system. This imposed significant new regulatory and compliance requirements on business which were particularly onerous for small business.

The clearing house that the Labor government has introduced is administered by Medicare Australia. It is free and it is simple to use. The take-up for the clearing house service has been growing steadily since it was introduced on 1 July last year. It will continue to grow as more and more businesses—