Super changes win guarded ASFA approval
Associationof Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) chief executive officer Philippa Smith has welcomed the superannuation proposals in last month’s Federal Budget as “radical, bold and far reaching”, while calling for some ongoing issues to be addressed.
Complimenting Treasury for springing “a nice surprise on Budget night”, Smith said the two ongoing issues of most concern for ASFA were the superannuation guarantee thresholds and co-contribution limits.
She said ASFA will push for the “co-contribution to be extended” and for the removal of the $450 per month superannuation guarantee threshold to help casual and part-time workers, predominately women, build retirement savings.
Raising the threshold to $800 per month would “do nothing” she said, adding that the way to simplify super would be to “abolish the threshold completely”.
Other ASFA lobbying priorities for the future include anti-money laundering legislation, a business regulation taskforce and Financial Services Reform refinements, and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority licensing regulations, according to Smith.
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