Earn under $450 a month? This superannuation change will impact you
An extra 300,000 low income earners will now be eligible for the superannuation guarantee.
The government has announced in tonight's federal budget that Australian workers earning less than $450 per month will now be eligible for the superannuation guarantee.
Currently, if you're earning less than $450 per month, your employer isn't required to pay you any super on your earnings.
It's estimated that 300,000 working Australians who aren't currently eligible for the super guarantee now will be with this change. Of those 300,000 workers, the government says around 200,000 are women. This is because women are more likely to be employed in casual or part-time jobs.
This change will also benefit young Australians who might be earning just a few hundred dollars a month in a casual job while studying, as well as underemployed Australians.
The super guarantee means your employer is required to pay a certain amount of money on top of your full time earnings towards your superannuation. Currently, the super guarantee is set at 9.5% p.a. but this is about to increase to 10% p.a. from July 2021 and gradually go up to 12% p.a. by 2025.
What you need to do
If you're earning less than $450 a month, this superannuation change is good news for you. However, there are a few things you need to do.
If you don't have a super fund yet, it's time to open one. Compare super funds and apply for an account online. You can give your fund details to your employer, or employers if you've got more than one job.
If you do have a super fund already, or you think you might, you can look up your fund/s online by logging in to your myGov account. If you find that you've got more than one fund open (which is possible if you've had several different jobs), you should consider consolidating them into one account.
