Locations where workers are ripped-off on super revealed     

Canberra Times
July 6 2017

The federal electorate of Sydney, held by Labor's Tanya Plibersek, has more than 37,000 people who are not receiving their super entitlements a breakdown of non-payment and under-payment of compulsory super shows.

That makes the seat the worst in the country, ranked as a percentage of the electorate for non-payment or underpayment of super.   

The seats of Fowler and Werriwa in Sydney's South-West have more than one-in-three people not receiving their correct super guarantee entitlement.

Phil Gallagher, a special adviser at Industry Super Australia, the umbrella group for industry super funds, estimates almost 20,000 people in the seat of Fowler, or 37 per cent, do not receive any of their entitlements or are underpaid their super.

The average underpayment is $1666 a year with a similar estimate for Werriwa.

The seat of Solomon in the Northern Territory has 42 per cent of people not receiving their entitlements – the highest in the country.

Mallee is the only Victorian seat in the top 10, with four from Queensland – Capricornia, Dawson, Flynn and Maranoa.

Lingiari in the Northern Territory rounds out the top 10.

Previous research done by Gallagher estimated that for 2013-14, employers failed to pay or underpaid $5.6 billion in super guarantee contributions to almost 2.8 million employees across the country.   

His latest research, which again uses Tax Office sample data, shows a wide disparity in underpayment and non-payment across the country. 

The seat of Goldstein in Victoria, held by the Liberal Party, has only 12,400 people not receiving their entitlements, or 26 per cent of the electorate. Though that's still high, it is the lowest nationally.

Other seats to do relatively better include Bradfield in NSW, Higgins and Kooyong in Victoria, and Kingston and Boothby in South Australia.

Employers are legally required to pay 9.5 per cent in superannuation to every employee over the age of 18 earning more than $450, gross, a month.

Underpayment or non payment is likely to become a bigger problem because of the growth in part-time, casual and "gig" economy jobs.   

Employers have to report superannuation payments to the Tax Office, which has responsibility for enforcement action over the payment of super.

A report by the Senate inquiry into unpaid super, released in May 2017, found the Tax Office's approach to unpaid super "inadequate" and "problematic".

Half of its recommendations were aimed at improving the Tax Office's monitoring and compliance efforts, measures Industry Super Australia supports.

Gallagher says unpaid super must be dealt with as it is "leaving hard-working people tens of thousands of dollars short at retirement".   

And, as most employers do the right thing it creates an uneven playing field, Gallagher says.

Industry Super Australia is calling on government to, among other things, remove the $450 threshold on super guarantee eligibility, require monthly rather than quarterly super payments and extend unpaid super guarantee liabilities to related corporate entities.