ASFA urges monthly SG payments

The Government should go further in addressing superannuation guarantee (SG) non-payment including legislating for the monthly payment of SG contributions, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).

In a submission to the Treasury responding to proposed legislative changes including tightening the rules around salary sacrifice contributions, ASFA suggested the Government could go even further.

Looking at the legislative amendments which had flowed from the work of the Government’s so-called Cross-Agency Working Group, the ASFA submission said it would welcome further Government actions including requiring employers to pay SG contributions monthly and enhancing the powers of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

It said the powers of the ATO could be strengthened around phoenixing activity by company directors with the ATO being required to notify employees before they enter into an SG payment plan with an employer.

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The ASFA submission also suggested expanding the Fair Entitlements Guarantee to include unpaid SG contributions and removing the earnings threshold of $450 per month, below which employers are not required to make SG contributions for employees.

It said the proposed changes were either raised in ASFA’s submission to the recent inquiry by the Senate Economics Reference Committee into non-payment of SG or by the working group’s final report.

“We urge the Government to consider these measures, and the remaining recommendations of the working group, to develop a comprehensive policy response to the issue of SG non-payment,” the submission said.