Rest urges Parliament to prioritise superannuation legislation that will improve retirement outcomes for low-income Australians

Rest, one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds, has urged Federal Parliament to legislate the removal of the $450 monthly income threshold for Superannuation Guarantee eligibility as a priority during this sitting week.

“With the Federal election due in the coming months, there are only a handful of days left to ensure this critical reform is passed in time for the proposed start date of 1 July 2022,” said Vicki Doyle, CEO of Rest.

“The $450 threshold is preventing thousands of lower-income workers from receiving retirement savings for every dollar they earn. They can’t afford for this change to be delayed any longer.

“There is bipartisan support for this change, so we are urging Parliament to pass the legislation this sitting week to remove this inequitable limit and provide certainty to members and employers.”

Currently, employees that earn less than $450 per month are not entitled to receive Superannuation Guarantee contributions from their employer. Employees who work multiple jobs that each pay less than $450 per month would not be entitled to employer contributions, even though their combined income would exceed the threshold.

“We welcomed last year’s announcement as important progress in making the superannuation system work more fairly for all Australians,” said Ms Doyle.

“The $450 income threshold has disadvantaged hundreds of thousands of Australians working in lower-income jobs, especially those working multiple jobs. It is one of many factors that lead to women retiring with far less than men. Removing the threshold is an important contribution to improving women’s financial security.”

This measure was announced in the 2021-22 Federal Budget and has been tabled as part of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Superannuation Outcomes for Australians and Helping Australian Businesses Invest) Bill 2021, which is yet to pass the House of Representatives.

“We hope that Parliament will pass this legislation this week, and that further measures to improve women’s retirement outcomes, such as including superannuation contributions as part of the Parental Leave Pay and Dad and Partner Pay schemes, will be announced in the upcoming 2022-23 Federal Budget,” Ms Doyle said.

For further information, please contact:

Angelica Tziotis
Corporate Communications Specialist
angelica.tziotis@rest.com.au
m: 0438 918 051