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Superannuation Laws Amendment
(MySuper Capital Gains Tax Relief and Other Measures) Bill 2013
Introduced into the House of
Representatives on 29 May 2013
Portfolio:
Treasury
Summary
of committee view
1.1
The
committee seeks further information as to why it is necessary to reduce the
superannuation benefits of high income earning Australian Defence Force members
and how this is consistent with the right to social security.
Overview
1.2
This
bill seeks to facilitate the MySuper reforms (relating to the governance of
superannuation) by providing income tax relief to superannuation funds where
there is a mandatory transfer of default members' account balances to a MySuper
product in another superannuation fund, thereby ensuring members are not
financially disadvantaged.
1.3
It
also seeks to enable amounts under the Defence Force Retirement and Death
Benefits (DFRDB) scheme to be paid by the Commonwealth Superannuation
Corporation and to adjust benefits under that scheme to reflect those payments.
Compatibility
with human rights
1.4
The
bill is accompanied by a statement of compatibility for the two Schedules of
the bill. The statement in relation to Schedule 1 states that it is compatible
with human rights as it promotes the right to an adequate standard of living by
increasing the retirement savings of individuals. The committee notes that as
the Schedule deals with superannuation it is likely to also engage and promote
the right to social security under article 9 of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
1.5
The
statement of compatibility states that Schedule 2 does not engage any rights
and so is compatible with rights. However, the committee notes that the effect
of the amendments in this Schedule allow a lump sum to be paid from a
superannuation interest in the DFRDB scheme to meet a debt account discharge
liability for Australian Defence Force members of the scheme who are very high
income earners. As a result of this the member's superannuation benefits,
including any reversionary pension to be paid to a surviving spouse of a
deceased member, is reduced. No reason is given as to why this is necessary,
how much the benefits may be reduced by, and whether this is consistent with
the right to social security under article 9 of the ICESCR.
1.6
The
committee intends to write to the Minister for Financial Services and
Superannuation to ask why it is necessary to reduce the superannuation benefits
of high income earning Australian Defence Force members and how this is
consistent with the right to social security under article 9 of the ICESCR.
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