The Super Members Council, the peak body representing profit-to-member superannuation funds, released analysis showing that around 156,000 teenage workers in Victoria will miss out on an average of $735 in superannuation this financial year, totalling $115 million across the state. This figure is the highest of any state, with New South Wales workers missing out on $105 million, contributing to a nationwide total of $411 million in foregone super.
Council chief executive Misha Schubert said the law is discriminatory and out of step with community expectations.
“Teenage workers in Victoria are being denied a basic workplace right that 17 million other working Australians enjoy — and that’s just not fair,” Ms Schubert said. “A young person who earns a wage should also be paid super. Yet this outdated and discriminatory law treats teen workers differently just because of their age and their hours.”
The council’s analysis found that 91 per cent of under-18s work fewer than 30 hours a week, the threshold for mandatory super contributions. The average teenage part-time worker could miss out on $2,500 in super by age 18, which could compound to $11,000 by retirement.
“The earliest super contributions matter because they have the longest time to compound,” Ms Schubert said. “Missing out on hundreds or thousands of dollars as a teenager can mean losing much more by retirement.”
A push to reform the law is being led federally by the Greens, who introduced an amendment bill into parliament earlier this month and secured a Senate inquiry on the issue that will report back in November.
“For too long, Australia’s superannuation system has failed young workers. It’s time for young workers to be paid the super they deserve,” a Greens spokesperson said at the time. “The continued exclusion of workers under 18 who work fewer than 30 hours per week is a clear case of legislated age-based discrimination that no longer has any defensible policy rationale.”