Report – Fixing unpaid super

Australia’s $4.1 trillion superannuation (super) system is one of the most effective retirement schemes in the world. It covers around 90% of employees, with median balances of about $200,000 for workers nearing retirement, expected to be more than $500,000 (in today’s dollars) by the early 2060s. With this success comes a responsibility to keep improving super, ensuring its benefits are enjoyed by as many Australians as possible.

Unpaid super is when a worker receives less than their full super entitlement on time or is not paid their super at all – either unintentionally or deliberately. Today, one in four working Australians are losing more than $100 million in unpaid super every week, denying them the full benefits of our transformational super system.

A key cause of unpaid super is the misalignment of its payment with wages. To address this, the Australian Government has committed to introducing a payday super scheme. This member-focused super policy will modernise the system and drastically reduce underpayments, making it fairer for workers and employers alike.