There are many commentators in Australia who engage in their own particular battle of the history wars by claiming that superannuation was a Paul Keating invention that has provided great benefit for the lower income earners. If only life was so simple. Continue reading
Month: March 2013
The role of the consumer in driving down wages
The Australian Government’s curious attack on the 457 visa migration programme has spawned associated chatter on talk-back radio. One theme that reappears is that 457 visa workers are willing to work for less pay and employment conditions. This argument goes on to purport that there are plenty of Australian workers qualified to do the job but who want pay and conditions higher than business will pay because “those Filipino workers are more malleable”, in the words of one prominent ABC Melbourne morning radio show host. So, business is blamed for rorting the system to drive down wages and keep Aussies out of Aussie jobs.
The proponents of these arguments must have regard to the role of consumers in our economic system, and of course, those consumers include the unwitting commentariat themselves. Continue reading
Gender based pricing of #DC #superannuation benefits
There is an interesting application currently in front of the Australian Human Rights Commission. In essence, the applicant is requesting an exemption from the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to be permitted to pay its female employees a higher rate of defined contribution into superannuation than it pays for its male employees. The applicant argues that paying the same rate of contribution (as a percentage of earnings) is discriminatory because females as a group live longer than males and therefore need more superannuation savings. The exemption request is to guard against disgruntled male employees claiming they have been discriminated against.
This application is interesting for several reasons. Continue reading
Australian Actuary 