Protecting workers during onboarding
This week, the Government introduced landmark legislation to tighten advertising rules on employee onboarding platforms.
As the Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino outlined in Parliament on Wednesday, these reforms will “protect employees from being unduly influenced to make uninformed decisions, open inappropriate products and unintentionally create duplicate accounts.”
Under the proposed framework, onboarding platforms will be required (in most cases) to display an employee’s existing stapled fund first, before showing any other options. Advertising will be restricted to MySuper products that have passed the annual performance test, ensuring only well-regulated funds with a good performance history are promoted.
Crucially, the legislation bans onboarding platforms from advertising super products where they have a commercial interest or conflicted remuneration arrangement.
These important reforms are vital in upholding the intent of the stapling laws introduced by the previous Government, which have already lifted the proportion of Australians with a single super account from 74% in 2020 to 78% in 2024. These new measures aim to push that figure even higher, reducing unnecessary fees and protecting members’ balances.
They also complement the payday super laws set to commence on 1 July 2026, which will require employers to pay super at the same time as wages. Together, they represent a powerful package of consumer protections that will help millions of Australians keep more of their hard-earned money for retirement.
Could the proposed rules be stronger?
Missing from the legislation is a recommendation we made in our submission on the exposure draft of payday super legislation for any onboarding advertising to include a clear link to the ATO’s YourSuper Comparison Tool – a simple step that would ensure workers know they are in a well performing super fund.
But overall, this is a balanced set of reforms that Parliament should pass early in the new year so they can take effect alongside payday super.
Starting a new job is a key moment for Australians to actively think about their super. These reforms ensure that when they do, they’ll have guardrails in place to prevent them making potentially harmful decisions.
