By Dan Blackman
The federal government has introduced changes to Superannuation Guarantee legislation to remove the ability of employers and unions to mandate super fund membership through enterprise agreements and workplace determinations.
The Minister for Education, Mr Dan Tehan, says that, under this Bill, it would be no longer possible to deny choice to individuals on the grounds that they are employed under an enterprise agreement or workplace determination that specified their fund for them.
According to Mr Tehan, lack of superannuation choice could force people to be stuck in poorly performing funds.
“A sample study undertaken by the Attorney-General’s Department shows there are at least 290 agreements that restrict choice in some way to an underperforming fund,” he said.
“This Bill is the next step in fixing the problem of multiple accounts by preventing Australians from being forced into having multiple accounts because of their enterprise agreements or similar workplace determination.”
The Bill, if passed, will commence on 1 July 2020.