Matthew Linden unpacks the many historic changes happening to super, especially for people on low incomes.
Super is being shaken up and the beginning of the momentous changes started this month with the passing of two historic new laws. The first means tax breaks for low income earners and the second will affect us all, as super contributions increase from 9 to 12 per cent.
Matthew Linden, the Chief Policy Adviser for the Industry Super Network, tells 3Q the changes mean retirement savings will increase by more than $50,000, even for low income earners.
The new legislation means low income earners (earning less than $37,000) will not have to pay tax on their super contributions. A rebate of $500 annually will be awarded to them to offset the 15 per cent tax rate they previously paid.
And with the mining tax legislation passed, super contributions will now rise from 9 to 12 per cent over the next eight years.
Bills have also been introduced to give safeguards for financial advice consumers, for the first time requiring financial planners by law to act in the best interests of their clients.
The Gillard Government’s other initiative to assist all workers with greater access to super information is through the Stronger Super package which will come into effect in 2013.
This initiative is designed to cut fees on super investments by up to 40 per cent and to give members a better handle on their super fund.
Recent studies have shown a public disengagement with super – even after 20 years of compulsory super and even amongst those on the verge of retirement.
As employers push for a flat rate of pay on weekends, most Australians believe weekend work should have a higher value, reflecting the fact that family time, community and sporting involvement is still conducted over the weekend. It’s the difference between an economy and a society, Lewis argues.
The segment also explores surprising support for a Coalition policy to fund nannies, bringing into stark relief the different approaches to social policy between the major parties.
Tim O’Connor talks about the success of the Kony 2012 campaign but warns it must yield results or risk making Gen Y disillusioned.
For better or for worse, the Kony 2012 campaign represents the future of social activism.
The video that went viral with over 150 million hits has been alternately praised and slammed. Championed for highlighting the issues of child enslavement in conflicts and criticised for oversimplified and outdated information, Tim O’Connor from UNICEF Australia tells 3Q that aid agencies must learn how to engage the next generation.
O’Connor, who has worked with victims of Kony, says ousting him is merely the beginning with the most important work needed to assimilate children back into their communities.
But the Kony campaign doesn’t touch on the major child soldier recruitment going on in other regions closer to Australia. There are more than 250,000 child soldiers fighting in 20 conflicts around the world with several conflicts in South East Asia.
What do you think? Was Kony2012 a good thing or a bad thing overall? And should Australia be focused more on this issue in it’s own backyard?
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Tim talks about his work on the Thai-Burmese border with child soldiers who are either recruited to join militias at the age of 13 to fight the Burmese military or are conscripted by the Burmese military themselves.
Social media experts estimate that Kony 2012, is both the most popular and the fastest growing ad for a brand, cause or political campaign to ever hit the web.
Learn about Invisible Children spent years mobilising on the ground before the viral campaign
Check out five lessons aid agencies can take from Kony 2012 to promote their own cause
UNICEF is involved in demobilizing, disarming and reintegrating child soldiers back into their communities. Not an easy job when the children carry physical and emotional scars – some girls bring children borne as the result of rape and few have the skills to attain employment. Communities can also ostracise returning children. People outside the transit centres, including other children, often fear the former child soldiers or resent the special support they are given.
Cate Wood explains why super should be part of maternity leave payments if we are to correct inequities in the system.
It’s been called a national disgrace by the ACTU. At the moment, over 60 per cent of women will be reliant on the pension because they do not have enough super to retire on.
The national chair of Women in Super, Cate Wood, tells 3Q that some good changes are in the wings but more needs to be done — including paying superannuation during maternity and leave-without-pay periods.
Women do badly out of superannuation. After 20 years of compulsory superannuation, women have much less in their superannuation funds than men.
According to the latest figures from the ABS the average payout for women at age 65 is $112,000 whereas for men of the same age, it is $190,000.
The reasons? More part time and casual work in lower paid jobs, time away from work for family commitments and a wage gap of up to 20 per cent between men and women.
Do you think it’s time to change the way super works for women? Read below and find out what we can change to make sure Super works for everyone.
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It’s estimated that six years out of the workforce can cost the average woman $77,000 in super—something that could be significantly reduced if women continued to receive Super payments whilst on paid and unpaid maternity and parental leave.
Just over 70 per cent of all single pensioners are female. Divorce or death of a partner plus a disengagement with super has left women nearly destitute.
But there is some help on the horizon. The mining tax will help lift compulsory super from 9 per cent to 12 per cent from July 1 next year until 2019-20.
And from 1 July, the Government will be assisting low income earners by ensuring no tax is paid on the superannuation contributions for Australians earning up to $37,000 – instead, that money will be directed into their superannuation.
Sixty per cent of the beneficiaries of this policy are women
There is also a new movement towards getting young women engaged through super funds like Care Super which has 60% women in its membership and is appealing to the youth market, by using former swimmer Giaan Rooney as their ambassador.
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EMC director Peter Lewis looks at the great Australian sickie.
The national secretary of the Transport Workers Union, Tony Sheldon, blames the big retailers for creating unrealistic deadlines for truck drivers which in turn leads to sleep deprivation and drug use that can have fatal results. Over 300 people die and 5000 people are injured each year in truck crashes.
After years of lobbying by the TWU for “safe rates”, the Government last week passed legislation to establish a tribunal that will make the users of trucking services answerable for their practices.
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The TWU is campaigning for Safe Rates for safe roads.
The new law sets up a Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal with the power to set minimum pay rates and conditions as well as resolve disputes and inquire into industry practices.
Sheldon told 3Q the major retailers remain opposed to the scheme but says they need to take responsibility for the economic and personal costs of tragedy which amounts to almost $3 billion a year.
Greenpeace campaigner John Hepburn says a move away from coal to renewables is essential and urgent. That’s why his organisation is shifting up a gear to make it happen.
With a tripling of coal exports over the next 10 years, Hepburn says it is more important than ever that Australian communities are prepared to examine mining proposals in their local area.
Responding to the recent controversy over plans for a $6 million fund to challenge the expansion of the coal industry, Hepburn tells 3Q that communities need to have legal assistance to do due diligence on the thousands of documents which accompany new mining proposals.
At the same time, Australia needs to invest in renewable energy technologies, especially as the prices of wind and solar come down while coal and oil prices go up.
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A recent international study ranked Australia 16th out of 19 countries in being ready to deal with a low-carbon world — ahead of just India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
The International Energy Agency – a conservative organisation not known for being ‘green’ – released a report earlier this year concluding that, if we are to have any chance of staying below the 2 degrees Celsius limit governments have set, the last coal fired power station in the world will have been built by 2017 and global coal use will plunge between then and 2035.
Greens senator Christine Milne says Greenpeace’s legal challenge is legitimate despite the condemnation it received from politicians and the coal industry.
Greenpeace has released this blueprint for changing from a dependence on coal to renewables with breakdowns for each year
The Property Council’s annual cities survey is out. And once again Adelaide comes out on top followed by Canberra. Then there is Melbourne and Perth at an equal third with the country’s most populous city Sydney rating a poor second last after Darwin.
But CEO Peter Verwer told 3Q that the survey highlights one finding common to all respondents: that people are dissatisfied with state and federal government performance when it comes to their cities.
“This is the people’s verdict on their own city, the ultimate report card on how liveable our cities are,” says Verwer.
“Australians know what makes a great city and they rate our cities poorly in housing affordability, environmental sustainability, congestion and public transport.“
“These results should shock governments into action to lift the performance of our cities.”
The Property Council surveyed over 5000 people who rated their city on its liveability, using 17 indicators, from the look and design of a city down to the cultural vibrancy.