![Bendigo workers are missing out in millions of unpaid super, according to an industry source. Bendigo workers are missing out in millions of unpaid super, according to an industry source.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/jvRqbJ7xAN2nzdLa48pxun/709db859-24d3-4586-8b6f-49c3f666945e.jpg/r0_75_800_525_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Bendigo's workforce has missed out on $18.9 million in just one year due to unpaid superannuation, according to Industry Super Australia (ISA).
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ISA's analysis of the latest tax data shows 12,400 Bendigo workers lost an average of $1525 in the 2019-20 financial year due to unpaid superannuation entitlements.
It claims that over three years, the region's workers have been deprived of $78.3 million in retirement savings.
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The ISA is now calling on politicians to change the law around how superannuation is paid, warning failure to do so could mean one in five local workers will continue to miss out.
ISA advocacy director Georgia Brumby said a key factor in driving the Bendigo region's unpaid super scourge was a 1990s law which allowed super to be paid quarterly.
She said this led to a misalignment between the super amount published on a payslip and when it could be deposited into a worker's account.
"While most bosses do the right thing, some exploit the outdated laws and lack of engagement to hide underpayments, dudding workers and getting an unfair advantage against competitors in the process," Ms Brumby said.
"Missing out on nearly $20 million in super that they've earned, is a crushing financial blow for Bendigo's workers."
She has called on politicians to mandate for superannuation to be paid on payday.
Ms Brumby said payday super would eliminate red tape and allow smoother payroll management.
She said women would be better off now and in the future, highlighting the big losses female workers were experiencing at the moment.
According to the ISA, 4800 Bendigo women were underpaid an average of $1066 in super and local women's combined retirement savings losses were $5.1 million in just one year.
Ms Brumby said missing out on super could mean $40,000 less in a woman's nest egg at retirement.
"Super theft is denying nearly 5000 Bendigo women the chance to save for a financially secure future and can wipe as much as 10 per cent from the final nest egg of some local women," she said.
Ms Brumby said women were still more likely to have broken career patterns and earn less than men and missing out on contributions early in life could have a greater proportional impact to their savings.
"Modernising the law so that super is paid on payday will make it easier for workers to keep track of payments, drastically reducing the prevalence of unpaid super," Ms Brumby said.
"Paying super more frequently means liabilities won't build up over the quarter to the point where businesses can't pay. Regulators will also be able to use real-time payments monitoring to uncover unpaid super.
"As payday super is cost neutral to the federal budget it can be quickly enacted to allow thousands more women in the Bendigo region to get the vital early super contributions needed to build a financially secure retirement."
Industry Super Australia (ISA) modelling shows a 30-year-old earning the age-based median wage could be $8000 better off at retirement if paid super fortnightly instead of quarterly, because contributions paid more frequently compound for longer.
The ATO only recovers 15 per cent of unpaid super. Ms Brumby said only payday super stopped the unpaid super problem at its source.
The ISA is also calling on super to be included in the Fair Entitlements Guarantee - a government safety net that pays workers' entitlements when businesses go bust.
"Aligning payment of super and wages is the right thing to do by workers, boosts government revenue, lifts investment returns and puts all employers on a level playing field," Ms Brumby said.
"Paying super on payday will help women claw back more super now, while the government is unable to commit to other superannuation equity measures like paying super on paid parental leave."
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