New nominations for Gunnedah Youth Working Group

Two more nominations for the Youth Working Group were expected to be endorsed at last night’s Gunnedah Shire Council meeting.

Chelsea Riley (Youth Representative) and Yooralahni Griffiths (Winanga-li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre) were the latest members nominated for new working group.

Council has now received 19 nominations for the Youth Working Group that was recently advertised for organisation and community representatives. The term of the position is two years.

Working Group members will continue to be added as further nominations are received in coming months with names brought to council for endorsement at a future meeting.

Super changes

Australia’s largest accounting body, CPA Australia, is urging workers to check how next month’s increase to the Superannuation Guarantee will affect them.

The change means the minimum contribution that employers are required to make to their employees’ superannuation funds will rise from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent from July 1.

CPA Australia’s Superannuation Lead, Richard Webb, says the increase could make a substantial difference to retirement savings in the long run.

“For a young person on $60,000 a year, the increase translates to an extra $300 in their super account every 12 months. But depending on investments and fees, the cumulative effect of that increase could ultimately be worth thousands by the time they retire,” he said.

While the increase in the Superannuation Guarantee will have a positive long-term benefit to retirement savings, Mr Webb reminds workers to check if their employer is making the extra contribution, or whether it comes out of their total remuneration package.

“If your employment contract includes a total remuneration package including super, this could mean less take-home pay at the end of the month,” he said. “However, for those on award or enterprise agreements, your pay agreement is more likely to be a salary, which means the change will not affect your take-home pay.”