Communication a barrier for indigenous super members: RC

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry yesterday heard that communication and difficulties meeting administrative requirements were key barriers to indigenous people accessing their superannuation.

Senior counsel assisting the Royal Commission, Rowena Orr QC, questioned QSuper’s head of technical advice, Lyn Melcer, who had spent time with the fund in Queensland’s Lockhart River community working on addressing issues faced by indigenous members.

Melcer said that she had seen “all these barriers that you don’t expect” through her work there, a major one of which was communication.

“While most people there speak English, superannuation is almost a language of its own,” she said, referring to its many technical phrases. “There’s no indigenous word for superannuation.”

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Melcer testfied that there were many ways that super funds could help overcome this barrier, such as simplifying communication to make it more understandable and asking questions multiple ways to ensure people understand what they are agreeing to.

She said that QSuper also clearly labelled all communication in and out of Far North Queensland so that those processing it could treat it appropriately.

When asked by Orr if she considered it an obligation to take the above steps in communicating with indigenous members, Melcer said that it “absolutely” was. She cited the fact that superannuation was compulsory and the members most in need of that money were often those in indigenous communities.

Melcer acknowledged that while these were often very large claims to work though, doing so was “not an impost at all”.

“We should be treating all superannuation members equally,” she said, which meant equal understanding and treatment.

Administrative difficulties identified by Melcer from her work in Lockhart River included:

• Indigenous people both not having Government-issued identification and then being unable to obtain clear enough copies for certification of it;
• Getting assessments from two doctors regarding ability to work; and
• Having legal death certificates.