FINANCIAL experts are urging Wimmera workers to check their superannuation payments as new data suggests thousands are being underpaid.
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Industry Super Australia analysis of Australian Tax Office records shows the region has the equal highest percentage in Victoria of employees with unpaid super.
The analysis suggests superannuation to 17,740 workers across the Wimmera and Mallee was underpaid during the 2015-16 financial year.
This comprises 36.2 per cent of the regions total workforce to receive super that year the same as the South Coast and Gippsland.
Industry Super Australia chief executive Bernie Dean said Wimmera and Mallee employers fell short of their required contributions by $31.63 million or about $1783 per employee.
Workers in the Wimmera-Mallee are some of the most affected in Australia when it comes to the underpayment or non-payment of super, Mr Dean said.
Once you get outside metropolitan areas, the portion of workers underpaid skyrockets. It comes down to the nature of work opportunities in these regions less secure employment, more seasonal work, more often manual jobs. These are the types of jobs were seeing workers getting underpaid super within.
Mr Dean said in releasing the figures, ISA hoped to convince the federal government to change the law so employers paid super into a workers account at the same time they paid wages.
He said people who believed they were being underpaid could check with their employer or super fund.
If you dont know who your super fund is, your employer will know where the funds were meant to be going, and many super funds have money recovery processes in place, he said.
Financial adviser Robert Goudie of Horshams Consortium Private Wealth said people should take the time to learn how to read their super statement.
Payslips only show the amount of super that should be paid. That doesnt mean the employer has actually paid it, Mr Goudie said. Investors need to review their half-yearly statements.
Mr Goudie said people could get the most out of their super by taking advantage of what he called freebies.
For someone who earns less than $37,000 a year, if they put $1000 into super fund on top of their employers contribution, the government will give them $500 a year, which could be tens of thousands worth of benefit down the track, he said.
Or if someones partner earns less than $37,000 and they contribute $3000 of after-tax money into their super account, the partner who made contribution is eligible for a $540 rebate.
The ATO handles complaints about employers not meeting their super guarantee obligations. The body said it could only investigate an inquiry about unpaid super once the employers due date for lodgment had passed.