Workers urge ATO to step up unpaid super recovery
About A$6 billion in super goes unpaid each year, while independent reports put the tax office’s recovery rate at about 15%.
Workers and superannuation industry representatives are urging the Australian Taxation Office to pursue employers more actively over unpaid super, which affects one in four Australian workers.
Brisbane oral health therapists Pauline Devin and Angela Noack were underpaid around A$5,000 and A$3,000 respectively while employed at a dental clinic. They said neither had received money into their super funds or further information from the ATO in the 18 months since it ruled in their favour.
The ATO said it devoted significant resources to employer education, audits and debt recovery. It said privacy and tax secrecy laws restricted information it could give employees, but workers were notified when unpaid contributions were collected for them.
Super Members Council chief executive Misha Schubert said payday super, introduced on 1 July 2026, gave workers and the regulator real-time visibility of contributions. The rules require employers to make super contributions alongside wage payments, but she said stronger compliance action was needed.
Schubert said the ATO recovered an average of only 15 per cent of unpaid super, a figure also supported by a 2022 Australian National Audit Office report. She called for clearer worker updates and a designated contact during recovery efforts.
The ATO said it used payroll information, super fund reports and referrals to identify and pursue non-compliance. Its figures show employers voluntarily pay 92 per cent of contributions by dollar value.
Industry Fund Services, which recovers contributions for three super funds, uses fund data to approach employers without waiting for employee complaints. Its executive manager of super recoveries, Natalie Lister, said calls and digital messages usually secured engagement, with about 10 per cent of cases reaching a final call and demand letter.
