ACTU – Ombudsman forgoes impartiality to back outrageous super amnesty

Ombudsman forgoes impartiality to back outrageous super amnesty
13 June 2018

The Small Business Ombudsman has made the shocking decision to support the Turnbull Government’s 26 year superannuation theft amnesty.

Rather than seeking to root out illegality in the sector that it is charged to regulate, the Office of the Small Business Ombudsman has instead chosen to support an amnesty which would allow any employer who has ever stolen super from an employee to walk away.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly:

• “The choice is clear – make employers accountable for their actions, or allow the disregard for the rights of working people which has become systemic in some sectors to go unpunished.
• “It is deeply regrettable that an office like the Small Business Ombudsman, which should be leading the charge on ending theft of superannuation and wages, is instead trying to protect the employers who have done the wrong thing.
• “We need to change the rules so that employers who don’t pay their workers are held to account, not let off with one of the biggest amnesties Australia has ever seen.
• “If you can’t pay your employees, or you don’t understand your obligations, then you should not be running a business. Employers need to be held to the same standard that every worker in this country is held to.”