The ACTU warns that the current push by Coalition members to cut compulsory employer-paid superannuation will cost the average 30-year-old worker around $165,000 in retirement income.
Key Coalition members, including Alex Antic, Matt Canavan and Llew O’Brien, have voiced support for cutting the superannuation guarantee rate from 12 per cent to 9 per cent if the Coalition wins the upcoming election.
Reducing compulsory employer-paid super contributions by 3% would reduce compounding returns significantly. According to ACTU estimates, the average 30-year-old worker today would lose around $165,000 in superannuation.
The Coalition members’ reported comments raise questions about how far the Coalition will go to undermine the hard-won entitlements of Australian workers.
In a Sydney University speech in October last year, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor stated that the Coalition’s ambition included “aligning superannuation with other global retirement schemes – like the United States of America’s 401k.”
Australia’s superannuation system is consistently ranked one of the best in the world.
In the 2024 Global Pension Index Australia is in 6th place, while the United States is ranked 29th out of 46 countries.
Australian superannuation allows us to retire with significantly more retirement income than the mediocre US system provides.
Working people, through their unions, built a world-class superannuation system. We will defend super for future generations because every worker deserves a comfortable and dignified retirement.
Working Australians can’t afford to lose $165,000 or more in retirement income. Super is a workplace right and should be protected, not attacked by out-of-touch politicians.” Said ACTU Assistant Secretary, Joseph Mitchell.
The United Services Union stands alongside the ACTU in calling this proposal a serious attack against workers.