The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has released its Performance Audit Report No 47 2011-12 on the implementation and administration of the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House.
Overall, the ANAO found the Clearing House was effectively implemented and well-administered by Medicare Australia. However, the report stated that Treasury did not prepare formal assessments of the potential legislative and competition impacts of the program, although it did advise the Government of competition issues. The ANAO found the cost per employee transaction of the Clearing House was 7 times higher than similar services being provided by the private sector. It also raised concerns of “low take-up” of the Clearing House making the service more expensive per transaction than expected. Costings estimated that in 2011-12, there would be around 150,000 registered employers with over 2m employee transactions; however, the number of employers using the scheme, as at 31 May 2012, was around 24,000 employers with 561,000 transactions.
The ANAO made 2 recommendations, to which Treasury and the Department of Human Services (Medicare) have agreed. The first is aimed at reviewing the program’s funding arrangements and its regulatory and competition impacts. The second is aimed at improving the KPIs for the Clearing House to enhance focus on cost-effectiveness and take-up.
[LTN 121, 26/6]