The Government’s announcement of a Superannuation Clearing House is welcome news. “It was long overdue,” says Richard Rassi, Deloitte Partner Superannuation Assurance and Advisory Services.

“This initiative should not only reduce cost but it should also reduce the risk of fraud,” he said.

“With only one payment leaving the employer, transparency will be improved as will the ability to verify that superannuation deductions have made their way into the system.

“It will be important that the Clearing House is established with a sound set of internal controls, policies and procedures from Day One,” he cautioned.

“The operations need to be efficient and processing needs to be accurate and timely. Any failure to achieve these objectives will adversely affect employer and employee confidence in the new system.

“A future consideration for the Superannuation Clearing House is whether the organisation could be used to track down the billions of dollars in lost members and unclaimed superannuation benefits”, Rassi suggested.