Ignore promises of legislative change, says ISA

Industry Super Australia (ISA) has urged the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to ignore the likelihood of any future move by the Abbott Government to change the default funds under modern awards regime and act promptly in line with the current legislation put in place by the former Labor Government. 

Giving evidence before a full bench of the FWC, the ISA’s counsel, Robert Watts, sought to counter calls by Financial Services Council and other parties for the Commission to delay implementing any major changes the Federal Government had signaled it intended to amend involving the default funds under modern awards arrangements. 

While acknowledging the likelihood of change and the fact that the Government has issued a discussion paper, Watts said, “We say to that that the current legislation is the current legislation”. 

“The government coming to a different view is certainly a very different proposition to the government - or to the Parliament - changing its legislation, the appropriate legislation,” he said. 

“The government has indicated that it’s looking at change. There’s no guarantee by any means that there’s going to be any legislative change whatsoever,” Watts said. “We think that if and when legislation is changed, that’s a matter that needs to be addressed then. 

“At this current point in time we’d say there’s an obligation on the commission to operate under the existing legislation,” he said. 

The Financial Services Council told the Commission that it continued to have concerns about perceptions of conflicts of interest in the specialist panel named to review and recommend default funds, and reminded the Commission that the relevant legislation required that conflicts of interest be disclosed.