The Fair Work Amendment Bill 2012 was introduced into the House of Reps on Tue 30.10.2012. The Bill proposes to implement measures seeking to improve the selection of default superannuation funds in modern awards in response to the Productivity Commission’s report.
The Bill will amend the Fair Work Act 2009 to establish a process whereby an Expert Panel within the Fair Work Commission (whose name is being changed from Fair Work Australia) will assess applications from superannuation funds that wish to have generic MySuper products included as default funds in modern awards. The Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten, said all funds with a generic MySuper product will be able to apply for selection as a default fund on an equal basis. The Expert Panel will publish a list of generic MySuper products that it considers are in the best interests of default fund employees covered by modern awards, having regard to a number of criteria (eg performance and governance).
A Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission will then determine which particular funds from the Default Superannuation List are best suited for inclusion in each modern award, with the best interests of the employees covered by that award. Mr Shorten said this process will occur every 4 years, to align with the 4-yearly reviews of modern awards. The first such review will occur as soon as practicable after 1 January 2014. (Source: Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation media release No 072, 30 October 2012.)
DATE OF EFFECT: The amendments will commence from the later of 1 January 2014 and the commencement of Sch 4 to the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Further MySuper and Transparency Measures) Bill 2012.
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