[Australia] SG botched by government agency

A government agency has botched superannuation benefit payments spanning a decade, with misinterpretations and errors reportedly affecting more than 56,000 employees who are owed tens of millions of dollars. According to its FY20 financial report, the Northern Territory government owes about $39.5 million in superannuation contributions to the majority of current and past workers affected. In total, around 415 employees have been overpaid an estimated $7.1 million.

The NT government flagged the muddle in December 2019, a result of misinterpreting tax legislation and coding errors. The issues gained attention after the Australian Taxation Office published advice relating to the application of superannuation guarantee (SG) to recreation leave loading, which then prompted the Department of Corporate and Information Services to review superannuation payments that ultimately led to the errors.

The Mandarin - a news outlet for the public sector - estimated at the time that about $30 million was owed. The figure made up of $20 million in underpayments and $10 million worth of interest. An audit was conducted to investigate between January and June 2020. At the end of October, Julie Crisp - Auditor-General for the Northern Territory - tabled the findings in parliament and blamed the lack of oversight for the errors. Australian Payroll Association reports on the botch and shares what Ms Crisp wrote.

A government agency has botched superannuation benefit payments spanning a decade, with misinterpretations and errors reportedly affecting more than 56,000 employees who are owed tens of millions of dollars. According to its FY20 financial report, the Northern Territory government owes about $39.5 million in superannuation contributions to the majority of current and past workers affected. In total, around 415 employees have been overpaid an estimated $7.1 million.

The NT government flagged the muddle in December 2019, a result of misinterpreting tax legislation and coding errors. The issues gained attention after the Australian Taxation Office published advice relating to the application of superannuation guarantee (SG) to recreation leave loading, which then prompted the Department of Corporate and Information Services to review superannuation payments that ultimately led to the errors.

The Mandarin - a news outlet for the public sector - estimated at the time that about $30 million was owed. The figure made up of $20 million in underpayments and $10 million worth of interest. An audit was conducted to investigate between January and June 2020. At the end of October, Julie Crisp - Auditor-General for the Northern Territory - tabled the findings in parliament and blamed the lack of oversight for the errors. Australian Payroll Association reports on the botch and shares what Ms Crisp wrote.