Media Release

Removal of the SG $450 threshold will improve super savings for low-income earners

27 October 2021

Removal of the SG $450 threshold will improve super savings for low-income earners

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) welcomes the Government’s introduction of legislation that will remove the $450-a-month threshold before an employee’s salary or wages count towards the Superannuation Guarantee (SG).

“This is an important step towards providing adequate retirement savings for low-income earners, particularly for women and younger Australians, whose superannuation is adversely affected by the $450 threshold,” said ASFA CEO, Dr Martin Fahy.

“ASFA has consistently advocated for the removal of the $450 threshold to give low income and casual employees an entitlement to super that higher paid employees have as a right.”

The employees who are affected by this measure, who earn less than $450 a month from a single employer, tend to be young, lower-income, part-time workers. This measure will benefit around 300,000 people, of whom approximately 63 per cent are female.

“Removal of the $450 threshold improves the coverage of superannuation and enhances equity across the super system,” said Dr Fahy.

“Women’s lower super balances in particular, have given rise to critical social policy issues, including increasing levels of poverty and homelessness in retirement. We will continue to work with the Government to achieve broader structural reforms to improve retirement outcomes for low-income earners.”

“Australia’s superannuation system enables Australians to achieve dignity in retirement. With a maturing superannuation system, we expect to see a greater proportion of retirees relying less on the Age Pension and more on their retirement savings,” concluded Dr Fahy.


For further information, please contact:
ASFA media team, 0451 949 300.


About ASFA

ASFA is the peak policy, research and advocacy body for Australia’s superannuation industry. It is a not-for-profit, sector-neutral, and non-party political, national organisation. ASFA’s mission is to continuously improve the superannuation system, so all Australians can enjoy a comfortable and dignified retirement.

   

Daniel Mulino MP

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services

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Born in Brindisi, Italy, Daniel was a young child when he moved with his family to Australia. He grew up in Canberra and completed his first degrees – arts and law – at the ANU. He then completed a Master of Economics (University of Sydney) and a PhD in economics from Yale.

He lectured at Monash University, was an economic adviser in the Gillard government and was a Victorian MP from 2014 to 2018. As Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer of Victoria, Daniel helped deliver major infrastructure projects and developed innovative financing structures for community projects.

In 2018 he was preselected for the new federal seat of Fraser and became its first MP at the 2019 election, re-elected in 2022 and 2025. From 2022 to 2025, Daniel was chair of the House of Representatives’ Standing Economics Committee in which he chaired inquiries; economic dynamism, competition and business formation and insurers’ responses to 2022 major floods claims.

In 2025, he became the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services.

In August 2022, Daniel published ‘Safety Net: The Future of Welfare in Australia’, which aims to explore the ways in which an insurance approach can improve the effectiveness of government service delivery.