The Super Members Council welcomes the unanimous passage by Parliament today of new laws to prevent convicted child sex abusers from hiding their assets inside super to avoid paying compensation to their victims.
The Survivors Law Bill is a big stride forward to ensure the superannuation system cannot be misused by convicted perpetrators to shield assets and avoid court-ordered compensation to victims of child sex abuse.
Super exists to serve the long-term financial interests of working Australians — it should never be subverted into a safe haven for those seeking to evade justice for horrific crimes against children.
For too long, survivors have faced the deeply distressing reality that even when courts have recognised the devastating trauma inflicted on them, perpetrators have been able to frustrate the compensation orders made by the courts by moving swiftly to lock their assets away in super.
The legislation responds directly to those concerns by strengthening transparency, reducing uncertainty, and improving enforcement mechanisms.
By allowing victims and survivors to seek access to personal or salary sacrifice contributions where this type of compensation is unpaid, while maintaining appropriate safeguards, the legislation will deter the deliberate shifting of assets into super while preserving the retirement income role of compulsory super.
The Council welcomes the Government’s commitment to review the operation of the law after commencement to ensure it is operating as intended for victim survivors.
We’ll work with Government to help ensure the implementation of the laws is effective, proportionate and focused on restoring fairness, dignity and justice for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
“This is a huge stride forward to bring justice to the victims of child sex abuse by ensuring that perpetrators can no longer try to quickly move assets into super to avoid paying court-ordered compensation,” says Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert.
“Super should never be used as a loophole for criminals to dodge accountability — these laws make clear that perpetrators cannot use the system to avoid paying what victims are owed.”
“These reforms strike the right balance — they put victims and survivors first, strengthen accountability for perpetrators, and protect the integrity of super to benefit working Australians as their pay cheque in retirement - not be used to evade justice.”
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The opinions above are those of the author in their capacity as spokesperson for Super Members Council of Australia (SMC). SMC, the authors and all other persons involved in the preparation of this information are thereby not giving legal, financial or professional advice for individual persons or organisations.
