$100 swim voucher for NSW kids: What you've missed

By

One in four Aussies robbed of super, and NSW expands swim voucher program for children.

Here are five things you might've missed this week.

A quarter of Aussies short-changed on super

nsw swimming vouchers

A new Industry Super Australia (ISA) report has found that almost three million Aussies lose an average of $1700 every year in superannuation they've earned. Almost 1.7 million men and 1.3 million women have been underpaid super.

In 2018-19, Australian employees missed out on a total of $5 billion in employer super contributions.

Young workers and those on lower incomes are most likely to be underpaid their super: a third of workers under 30 - about 890,000 - have been underpaid, while half of those earning less than $25,000 missed super payments and 30% of those earning between $25,000 and $50,000 were underpaid.

"Super is your money, you should get it paid at the same time you get your wages," says Industry Super Australia CEO Bernie Dean

"Most employers are doing the right thing, but they are being undercut by competitors who are getting away with daylight robbery. Paying super with wages is the only way to get workers their money and level the playing field for business."

Inflation jumps

Headline inflation hit 3% following a 0.8% increase in the September quarter.

The jump was mostly due to jumps in the cost of fuel, up 7.1%, and new dwellings, up 3.3%.

Importantly, the 3% CPI figure puts inflation at the top of the Reserve Bank of Australia's 2-3% target range.

"In these circumstances, it is entirely reasonable for the Board to consider whether the current emergency settings for policy are justified," says GSFM investment strategist Stephen Miller.

"In that context, the November Statement from the Governor may need to consider whether the existing guidance around the likelihood of no increase in the policy rate until 2024 is retained."

ASIC sues former Freedom Insurance director, consultant over insurance incentives

ASIC has commenced civil proceedings against Keith Cohen, the former managing director of Freedom, and Robert Oayda, a former quality control manager, for decisions that saw sales agents qualify for overseas holidays if they reached certain sales targets and a Vespa scooter if they made the most sales.

ASIC suggests that these incentives influenced the sales agents to focus on sales targets rather than the customer.

'The impact of incentives when selling financial products has been a longstanding issue for ASIC.

"We are concerned that incentives may cause sales agents put their own need for sales and reward above the needs of their customers."

Freedom Insurance had previously been used as a case study during the Financial Services Royal Commission, before the insurer was placed into external administration in February last year.

Chi-X lists crypto miners ETF

Chi-X has introduced the Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF (Chi-X: DIGA) to the Chi-X exchange, which will provide investors with exposure to crypto miners including Marathon Digital (NADSAQ: MARA), Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ: RIOT), Hive Blockchain Technologies (NASDAQ: HIVE) and Hut 8 Mining Corp (NASDAQ: HUT).

The fund tracks the Global Digital Miners Index, which is maintained and rebalanced by

S&P Dow Jones Indices and will only include companies that generate at least 80% of their revenue from digital currency (such as Bitcoin) mining and infrastructure.

Investor demand for access to advanced products and technologies, including cryptocurrencies, is constantly increasing and we expect this trend to continue as more

products like DIGA become available.

First Lap program expanded

The New South Wales 'first lap' program, which provides $100 vouchers for swim lessons, has been expanded to cover children in kindergarten this year, or who are starting kindergarten in 2022.

Previously, the vouchers were only available for preschool-aged children.

"Because of COVID restrictions, our kindy kids have missed a crucial window of being able to develop the skills they need to stay safe in the water," says Premier Dominic Perrottet.

"It's really important they don't miss out, so we're making sure they can also access the First Lap voucher program now that our pools are back open for lessons."

Families can apply for the First Lap vouchers from 1 December, through Service NSW.

Get stories like this in our newsletters.

Related Stories

David Thornton was a journalist at Money from September 2019 to November 2021. He previously worked at Your Money, covering market news as producer of Trading Day Live. Before that, he covered business and finance news at The Constant Investor. David holds a Masters of International Relations from the University of Melbourne.