Bill
Treasury Laws Amendment (Protecting Your Superannuation Package) Bill 2018
passed, as at 2019-03-12. Treasury portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Treasury
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2018-06-21
- second reading — 2018-06-21
- second reading — 2018-06-28
- second reading — 2018-06-28
- third reading — 2018-06-28
- introduced — 2018-06-28
- second reading — 2018-06-28
- second reading — 2019-02-14
- second reading — 2019-02-14
- committee — 2019-02-14
- third reading — 2019-02-14
- other — 2019-02-18
- passed — 2019-02-18
- royal assent — 2019-03-12
Divisions
- The majority voted against [amendments (1) to (34) on sheet 8501](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2019-02-14.244.1), which means they failed. They were introduced by NSW Senator [Deborah O'Neill](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/nsw/deborah_o'neill) (ALP). ### What does the bill do? According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1819a/19bd032): > *The Treasury Laws Amendment (Protecting Your Superannuation Package) Bill 2018 contains three Schedules, the purpose of which is to make amendments to the* [Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993] *and the* [Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999] *to:* > >> * *limit the amount of fees that can be charged by a trustee of a superannuation fund for MySuper or choice products to three per cent of the balance of the account if the balance is less than $6,000* >> >> * *prohibit superannuation funds and approved deposit funds from imposing exit fees when a member disposes of all or part of their interest in a fund* >> >> * *prevent superannuation funds from providing insurance such as death, total and permanent disability or income protection insurance on an opt-out basis where:* >> >>> * *the member is under the age of 25 years and begins to hold a new superannuation account on or after 1 July 2019* >>> >>> * *the member’s account balance falls below $6,000 or* >>> >>> * *the member’s account has not received a contribution for 13 months and is inactive* >> >> * *require retirement savings account providers and superannuation providers to pay the balance of MySuper or choice accounts to the Commissioner of Taxation, where the account is inactive and the balance is less than $6,000 and* >> >> * *require the Commissioner to consolidate any amounts received into a person’s superannuation account that will have a balance of $6,000 or more once consolidated.* — 2019-02-14, Senate: negative, ayes 24, noes 38
- The majority voted against a [motion](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2019-02-14.252.1) to keep particular items in the [bill](https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:legislation/billhome/r6141) unchanged, which means those items were successfully opposed. ### Which items were opposed? > *(6) Schedule 2, item 1, page 12 (line 6) to page 14 (line 24), [sections 68AAB and 68AAC](https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6141_first-reps%2F0002;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6141_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0), TO BE OPPOSED.* > *(14) Schedule 2, [items 4 and 5](https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6141_first-reps%2F0002;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr6141_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0), page 17 (line 23) to page 19 (line 35), TO BE OPPOSED.* These items deal with low-balance accounts and members under 25 years of age. ### What does the bill do? According to the [bills digest](https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1819a/19bd032): > *The Treasury Laws Amendment (Protecting Your Superannuation Package) Bill 2018 contains three Schedules, the purpose of which is to make amendments to the* [Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993] *and the* [Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999] *to:* > >> * *limit the amount of fees that can be charged by a trustee of a superannuation fund for MySuper or choice products to three per cent of the balance of the account if the balance is less than $6,000* >> >> * *prohibit superannuation funds and approved deposit funds from imposing exit fees when a member disposes of all or part of their interest in a fund* >> >> * *prevent superannuation funds from providing insurance such as death, total and permanent disability or income protection insurance on an opt-out basis where:* >> >>> * *the member is under — 2019-02-14, Senate: negative, ayes 3, noes 57
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2018-06-21.
The bill would stop superannuation savings from being reduced by fees and insurance costs.
It would cap fees for low-balance accounts, ban exit fees, make insurance opt-in rather than automatic, and give the Australian Taxation Office more power to merge small, inactive accounts.
The explanatory memorandum notes that superannuation makes up 17 per cent of household assets and is the second-largest savings vehicle for Australian households.
- The bill limits fees on low-balance accounts so those savings are not eaten up by high charges.
- The bill bans exit fees so people can more easily combine their accounts.
- The bill makes insurance in superannuation only available if members actively choose it, preventing them from paying for coverage they do not want.
- The bill expands the Australian Taxation Office's authority to find and merge small, inactive superannuation accounts.
Australians with superannuation accounts, particularly those with low balances or multiple accounts.
Sources
em
em supp
billhome
frl act