AIST to Treasurer: Salary sacrifice and SG for all

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) wants the earnings threshold for the super guarantee abolished, salary sacrifice into super universalised, and the introduction of a ‘super baby bonus’ for women, according to its pre-Budget submission.

The superannuation system could not call itself a truly “;national”; system while ever it excluded those earning less than $450 per month, according to AIST policy & research manager, Andrew Barr. “;If a worker is at the point they should be – that is with a single super account, and employers with well-established systems for administering super payments – then cost can no longer be used as an excuse for shutting them out of the system,”; Barr said, pointing out the Government’s proposed central clearing house for super contributions would make the system even more employer-friendly. Building on that theme, AIST also recommended that all employees be able to ‘sacrifice’ pre-tax salary in the form of voluntary super contributions, saying that less than 25 per cent of Australian workers do so now. Another major recommendation of the pre-Budget submission was the introduction of a ‘super baby bonus’ to top up a new mum’s nominated super account. AIST recommended the ‘super baby bonus’ “;should be a tax-free payment in the hands of the fund, which would form part of the untaxed component of the ultimate benefit (similar to the co-contribution). It should be pitched at a level that would restore the superannuation savings of a women on full-time Average Weekly Earnings and basic SG, who takes twelve months unpaid leave, (currently approximately $4000 after allowing for the tax that would apply to SG contributions).”;