Streamlining your Super Admin
GAVIN MOREIRA, Member Services Manager CMPA provides a summary of upcoming changes to superannuation reporting.
SUPERSTREAM forms part of the government’s Stronger Super reforms and aims to streamline the ‘back office’ administration of super. It includes proposals to:
- Improve data quality
- Allow the use of tax file numbers as identifiers for super account searches and reporting
- Encourage the use of technology to improve processing efficiency
- Improve the processing of fund-to-fund rollovers and the way contributions are made
Take a closer look at these changes below:
Mandatory online data standards
One of the main changes under SuperStream is the move to compulsory online payments and data from employers. This requirement will prohibit the use of cheques and paper-based super contributions for all employers in order to improve data accuracy and record-keeping.
Key dates – Compulsory Online Transactions Employers
| Employers | Govt. Deadline |
| With 20+ employees | 1 July 2014 |
| With less than 20 employees | 1 July 2015 |
Tax file numbers as primary account identifiers
SuperStream will promote the use of tax file numbers (TFNs) as primary account identifiers for super account searches and reporting. Furthermore, super funds may not be able to accept contributions without a TFN in future.
Although TFNs will have increased usage in the super system, as per current practice, if an employee does not wish to disclose their TFN to their employer for superannuation purposes, this request will be honoured.
Fund-to-fund transfers
The Australian taxation office (ATO) will shortly introduce ‘SupertIC’ which super funds can use to verify the identity of members online using their tax file number.
This change will make the transfer process more efficient and simple as transfers will be conducted without the need for certified identification.
Your employees can also use the ATO’s SuperSeeker tool to find lost super and transfer this online.
Pay-slip reporting
Employers will be required to provide information about super contribution payments on their employees’ payslips from 1 July 2013; however, the Government is yet to specify what these requirements entail.
There is still a lot of uncertainty about how all this is going to work with the ATO and the super funds. Once there is more definite information available then we will provide an update to members.
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