$411 million in teen super missed this financial year

About 530,000 under-18 workers in Australia will miss out on $411 million in super contributions in the current financial year because part-time teenagers are excluded unless they work more than 30 hours a week for a single employer.

Super Members Council analysis found each affected teenager misses an average of $780 a year. That is 25,000 more teens than two years ago. The total amount lost each year has also risen 7%.

Under the current rule, workers under 18 are only guaranteed super if they work more than 30 hours a week for one employer. Meanwhile, 91% of under-18 workers are employed for fewer than 30 hours a week, leaving most without guaranteed payments.

530,000 under-18 workers affected

A teenager who spends at least two years in part-time work before turning 18 could miss out on about $2,500 in super by age 18. According to the council’s analysis, that loss could grow to about $11,000 by retirement in current dollars.

Young women are more likely to be affected because they are more likely to work part-time than teenage men. A typical young woman misses out on about $2,500 in super before turning 18, about 6% more than a typical young man. By retirement age, that loss grows to about $11,200 for women, compared with about $10,600 for men.

Super Members Council chief executive Misha Schubert said more than half a million young Australians were missing out on a workplace right to super that 17 million Australians already have.

She wants super paid from the first hour of a first job. Schubert said the earliest contributions matter most because they have the longest time to grow, and a few thousand dollars missed in the teenage years can become more than $11,000 lost by retirement.

The council supports scrapping the under-18 exclusion and giving businesses a transition period to adjust. It says the change would also simplify employer obligations by giving workers of all ages the same super entitlement.