Payday super laws to be tabled in parliament to tackle $5.7 billion problem

Laws being tabled in Parliament today that force employers to pay super at the same time as wages could save Aussie workers up to $5.7 billion in unpaid super.

Current legislation only requires super to be paid to employees every quarter, which lobbying groups argue cost Aussies $110 million a week and leaves some people $30,000 worse off upon retirement.

Should the laws pass, they will come into effect on July 1 next year, and supporters of the laws say it will allow Aussies to better track their super, and decrease the chances of it being lost due to the actions and fates of businesses.

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"It's really difficult for employees to keep track of whether their employers are up to date with super payments when they're only paid quarterly, especially if their pay varies each week," Mary Delahunty from ASFA, a superannuation body, said.

"It means going through months of payslips, adding up the super payments, and cross checking them against their super accounts.

"Often, by the time an employee discovers they've been underpaid, the employer is insolvent, or unreachable, making it impossible to recover what they're owed."

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Unpaid super could then unfairly impact certain groups of the working population, including women and younger workers.

Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert said the reforms are simple and will benefit millions of Aussies who need it most.

"Payday super is a simple, fair and urgent reform to help ensure every dollar owed to workers makes it into their super account on time and in full," she said. "Millions of Australians cannot afford to wait."

"Payday super is also tipped to deliver an average of an extra $7700 for working Australians by retirement because being paid your super sooner helps to grow your retirement savings faster."

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