Sometimes the biggest reforms are about finishing what we started.
A few weeks back the Greens in the Senate tried to change the law so all under-18 workers would be paid super. Though ultimately unsuccessful, it amplified the importance of this issue and helped put it in the national spotlight.
Last week’s Australian Labor Party National Conference took an important step by amending the party platform to explicitly support paying super on every dollar earned, including for workers under 18. While a conference resolution is not government policy, it is a welcome sign that momentum is continuing to build to finally remove an age-based exclusions in Australia’s super system.
This exclusion has a long history. When the Super Guarantee was introduced in 1992, employers were generally not required to pay super to under-18 workers unless they worked more than 30 hours a week for a single employer. At the time, the SG rate was just 3%, super balances were much smaller, and there were legitimate concerns that fees and costs could quickly erode tiny accounts.
But the world has changed.
The SG is now 12%, fee protections apply to low-balance accounts, and automatic insurance settings have been reformed to prevent unnecessary erosion of small balances. The original rationale for excluding young workers simply no longer stacks up.
SMC research shows today’s teenagers are not just working for pocket money. Many are working to save for their future. Yet around 515,000 young workers are still missing out on a combined $405 million in super this financial year because of the outdated 30-hour rule.
The exclusion also disproportionately affects young women. SMC analysis found that guaranteeing super for all under-18 workers could leave a typical teenage girl with almost $2,500 more in super by age 18, growing to around $11,000 by retirement through the power of compound returns. Seventy-three per cent of Australians support changing the law, while only seven per cent oppose it.
An exclusion that may have made sense in 1992 looks increasingly out of place in 2026. Last week’s policy change is an encouraging sign that this unfinished piece of super reform may finally be approaching its moment.
