Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer today introduced legislation into Parliament to allow employees the option to choose their superannuation fund.
“Currently around two million employees do not have the opportunity to choose the fund into which their compulsory employer contributions are paid,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“A common way this can occur is through enterprise bargaining agreements and workplace determinations, which may mandate a given super fund.
“The Turnbull Government recognises it doesn't make sense to force employees to save money in superannuation but then leave key decisions about how it is managed outside their control.
“The Choice of Fund Bill is designed to let people take control of their superannuation to improve retirement outcomes.
“The change also means that people with multiple jobs who may currently be forced to maintain more than one superannuation account will be able to consolidate their retirement savings to ensure their savings are not unnecessarily eroded by multiple sets of fees and insurance premiums.
“It’s about employees being able to choose the fund that best suits their needs, be it an industry fund, a retail fund, or a self-managed superfund.
“It is expected these changes will extend choice to up to 800,000 employees who currently do not have choice of fund under enterprise agreements and workplace determinations.
“These changes implement the Government's response to the Financial System Inquiry (FSI) recommendation,” Minister O’Dwyer said.