POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
AIST calls for speedier super payments
|
| Fiona Reynolds
|
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has urged employers to ensure employee superannuation payments are aligned with salary payments following an announcement from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that it would be clamping down on employer non-compliance in the payment of superannuation contributions.
AIST chief executive Fiona Reynolds described super as deferred wages and said it should be treated in the same way as salary.
“It should be recognised that all employees need the security of having their super paid at the same time as their wages — be it monthly or fortnightly,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said that with super payments currently only required to be paid quarterly, hopefully the Cooper Review’s SuperStream recommendations would lead to more employers paying super at the same interval as the payment of wages.
The long gap between payments meant that significant debts could accrue before arrears were detected and investigated, Reynolds said.
AIST research shows that many employers who ceased trading because of insolvency have outstanding super obligations, and the AIST also called on the Government to extend the MySuper criteria to include mandatory arrears collection.
“At the moment, it is only really a handful of funds that identify and attempt to remedy compliance issues. Even with the ATO’s increased powers in this space, all super fund members would benefit from the added protection of knowing that their fund is also on the look out for any anomalies in their super payments,” Reynolds said.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
Recommended for you
The two funds have announced the signing of a non-binding MOU to explore a potential merger.
The board must shift its focus from managing inflation to stimulating the economy with the trimmed mean inflation figure edging closer to the 2.5 per cent target, economists have said.
ASIC chair Joe Longo says superannuation trustees must do more to protect members from misconduct and high-risk schemes.
Super fund mergers are rising, but poor planning during successor fund transfers has left members and employers exposed to serious risks.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom 465 Calder Road Calder
96.54 3 y p.a(%)
2
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
85.26 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
78.55 3 y p.a(%)
4
BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF
50.39 3 y p.a(%)
5
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
47.50 3 y p.a(%)
