Cooper wants fines for super mistakes

Employers who persistently fail to provide accurate information about superannuation contributions should face monetary penalties, according to the chairman of the Cooper Review, Jeremy Cooper.

Cooper has told the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds in Brisbane that such measures are justified by the cost of erroneous information on the super system.

Cooper’s comments came at the same time as he confirmed the degree to which Australian employers remained trapped in a paper-based system rather than embracing electronic funds transfers.

He said that as many as 38 per cent of employers were still using cheques to pay the superannuation guarantee, and half of that number wanted to keep it that way. Cooper said this paper-based approach was costly and ultimately needed to be addressed.

He said that where processing contributions currently cost in the order of 5 cents per transaction, it was believed possible to get them down to as little as 2 cents.

Cooper said that if employers were to be penalised for persistent mistakes then the money might be paid to the affected super fund or the Australian Taxation Office. He said the penalty should reflect the time and cost of correcting the mistakes arising from persistently incorrect data.