One in five ACT workers are being underpaid their super, representing a loss in retirement savings of $89 million each year, new research has found.
An analysis of new ATO data by the Super Members Council (SMC) finds more than 40,000 ACT workers are being shortchanged an average of $2,220 each year – the highest average underpayment of any State or Territory in Australia.
Over six years, unpaid super has been steadily rising in the ACT, costing workers a total of $446 million. The electorate of Bean had the highest levels of unpaid super with a total of $161 million. (see table)
Nationally, unpaid super is costing Australians $5.7 billion each year or $110 million a week – a loss that can only be curbed by urgent payday super laws.
The new data comes as a new survey for SMC by Pyxis Polling and Insights finds more than 70 per cent of Australians want payday super laws to come into effect on 1 July 2026. Fewer than one in ten people think the laws should be delayed.
Despite this, payday super is not listed on the Government's legislative program for the current Parliamentary sitting fortnight, risking delays that would be paid for by everyday Australians in lost retirement savings.
SMC urges the Government to get on with introducing and passing payday super legislation in the first 100 days of the new Parliament. These urgent laws will help 3.3 million Australians with unpaid super to be paid on time and in full.
In its submission on the payday super exposure draft legislation, SMC recommended a series of small but important changes to give employers the support and confidence they need in the transition to the new payment regime, smoothing the path to implementation.
These include extending the payment processing deadline from 7 calendar days to 7 business days, taking a phased approach to ATO enforcement in the early stages to give comfort to employers genuinely trying to do the right thing, and letting employers validate a worker's correct super account details at any time to prevent payment processing errors.
With digital payroll and single touch payroll reporting systems now available to all employers, many already pay super more frequently than quarterly. As of 2020-21, 56% of all small and medium businesses made super payments more frequently than quarterly.
Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert says millions of Australians can't afford any delay to payday super laws.
"It's disappointing the Government isn't making payday super legislation a priority in this first sitting fortnight when millions of everyday Australians are losing $110 million a week in retirement savings," she said.
"The average ACT worker could be shortchanged more than $30,000 from their final retirement nest egg if unpaid super isn't fixed urgently."
"We urge the Government and all Parliamentarians to get on with passing payday super legislation in the first 100 days of this Parliament."
Table – Unpaid super by ACT electorates in 2022-23
Electorate |
People underpaid |
Total underpayments |
Average underpayment |
Underpayments since 2017-18 |
Bean |
13,150 |
$34.2M |
$2,600 |
$160.9M |
Canberra |
12,600 |
$27.5M |
$2,190 |
$145.7M |
Fenner |
14,350 |
$27.2M |
$1,900 |
$139.7M |
Territory |
40,100 |
$89.0M |
$2,220 |
$446.3M |
Source: Super Members Council analysis of ATO 2 per cent sample file, 2017-18 to 2022-23, and ABS data.
The opinions above are those of the author in their capacity as spokesperson for Super Members Council (SMC). SMC, the authors and all other persons involved in the preparation of this information are thereby not giving legal, financial or professional advice for individual persons or organisations.
