Government chooses Medicare as super clearing house
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The Government has announced it will use Medicare Australia as the administration platform for its superannuation clearing house service for small businesses.
The Minister for Superannuation, Chris Bowen, and the Minister for Small Business, Craig Emerson, made the announcement, pointing to Medicare Australia as one of the Government’s key service delivery agencies with the infrastructure required to handle the volume of payments.
Under the program, superannuation contributions previously required to be made by small business employers to various funds will be electronically paid to one location. Once the correct amount is paid to the clearing house, the small businesses will be discharged of their legal obligations.
A statement from Bowen’s office said the Government chose Medicare Australia as the conduit for this service because it has in its current roles “significant capacity in payment processing which can be readily adapted for superannuation contributions”.
Through its existing infrastructure Medicare will be able to ensure the privacy of information and security of funds, the statement said.
The clearing house will be available for use free of charge for small businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
The service will commence in July next year. Small businesses can register for the service from May.
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