Corinne Mulholland (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Superannuation is one of Australia's greatest nation-building achievements. It ensures that every Australian, not just the wealthy, can retire with dignity and security, and, of course, it is a signature policy that was introduced by Labor. After a lifetime of work, every Australian should be able to retire with independence and less reliance on the age pension. So, when super isn't paid properly, it robs Australian workers of their future. That's why the Treasury Laws Amendment (Payday Superannuation) Bill 2025 is so important—to make sure people are paid what they're owed. This is critically important because even small amounts of unpaid super mean less money compounding in your account over decades. That can cut tens of thousands of dollars from retirement savings, which can mean the difference between comfort and hardship in later life, especially for lower paid and casual workers, who can least afford to miss out on their superannuation.

This isn't just a technical change to payroll systems; it is about fairness. It's about ensuring that, when a worker earns a dollar of superannuation, that money actually reaches their superannuation account—on time, every time. Right now, far too many Australians are being robbed of their retirement savings. According to the Super Members Council, 3.3 million Australians were not paid the super they earned in 2022-23. That is not a rounding error; that is one in four Australian workers. The total cost is $5.8 billion a year or about $110 million every single week—disappearing from the retirement savings of honest, hardworking people. In my home state of Queensland, the problem is particularly stark: 680,000 workers—which is nearly 30 per cent of the workforce or one in three workers—missed out on an average of $1,720 each in unpaid super last year. Over the past six years, that's a staggering $5.7 billion totally taken from Queensland workers' nest eggs.

I'd like to put that into some further context for the seats that I represent and look after as duty seats in Queensland. In the seat of Longman, 23,950 people lost an average of $1,460. That's 28 per cent of workers in that electorate. In Fairfax, we also saw 28 per cent of the workforce underpaid by $1,590. In Fisher, 29 per cent of the workforce was denied an average of $1,670 of entitlements. That's 22,400 people. It gets worse the further out west you head in Queensland. In Wright, 23,950 workers missed out on $1,720. In Groom, 30 per cent of the workforce missed out on a whopping $1,730. That's 22,300 affected workers in the Toowoomba area.

Superannuation isn't a luxury; it is a promise—a promise that, after a lifetime of work, Australians can retire with dignity and security. When super isn't paid, that promise is broken. The damage doesn't stop there. Every dollar of unpaid super is a dollar that doesn't get the chance to grow and compound over time. If we don't fix this now, the average Australian worker could be short-changed more than $30,000 from their final retirement balance. That's why Labor's payday superannuation guarantee is so important. This legislation will require employers to put super at the same time as wages, not months later. It's a simple, commonsense reform aligning superannuation with payday so that workers can see their contributions flow in real time.

Payday super will create a better system for workers and employers alike. It will give the ATO, businesses and workers the ability to track and address unpaid superannuation sooner, before debts grow and companies collapse. Crucially, it will ensure that every dollar owed in superannuation starts earning investment returns right away, building stronger retirement savings for every Australian. Australians overwhelmingly support this reform. A national survey found that more than 70 per cent of Australians want payday super laws to start from 1 July 2026, because people understand that this isn't just about payroll compliance; it's about doing what is right.

This reform continues Labor's proud legacy of strengthening Australia's world-leading superannuation system. By passing the payday superannuation guarantee, we can stop the $5.7 billion drain on Australians' superannuation savings and ensure that every worker's super grows and compounds from day 1.