Retirement
Super industry says budget was a ‘missed opportunity’ for women
Recommendations made by the industry to address the gender super gap were not addressed in this year’s budget.
Super industry says budget was a ‘missed opportunity’ for women
Recommendations made by the industry to address the gender super gap were not addressed in this year’s budget.
While welcoming some new announcements from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s latest budget, the superannuation industry has expressed broad disappointment in the lack of measures to improve the retirement outcomes of women.
Paying super on Commonwealth parental leave pay was a key recommendation made by the industry in the lead up to the budget, but was not included in this year’s budget.
“This budget was another missed opportunity to narrow the gender super gap and it’s disappointing the government did not make a modest investment in the financial future of millions of mums and pay super on parental leave,” commented Industry Super Australia chief executive Bernie Dean.
“Working mums are going to keep falling behind until super is paid on parental leave.”
HESTA CEO Debby Blakey said that the super system still had a “persisting gender blind spot” that saw females retire with nearly a third less super than males.
“Eighty percent of HESTA members are women, and those who raise children continue to pay an unfair financial penalty through inadequate super balances, leaving too many vulnerable to poverty as they age,” she said.
The super fund, whose members are mostly in the health and community services sectors, had also called for the introduction of a super ‘carer credit’ to compensate parents for super lost due to unpaid parental leave, however this was not included in the budget.
“Women predominately take on the primary caring role, making an enormous contribution to our economy and society through raising children,” said Ms Blakey.
“Our super system needs to recognise this by helping new parents get their retirement savings back on track, ensuring they’re not penalised with financial insecurity later in life.”
HESTA did point to a number of measures that are expected to improve the workforce participation of women as well as retirement outcomes including paid parental leave changes that allow eligible working parents to share up to 20 weeks of flexible entitlements.
Also expressing disappointment in this year’s budget, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) repeated its calls for an assessment into the financial coercion of women who used the early release of super scheme during the pandemic.
“This information is critical in informing future policy decisions and avoiding unintentionally facilitating abusive behaviour and also aligns with the Government’s commitment to end family violence,” AIST CEO Eva Scheerlinck.
“We also note the extension of the temporary reduction in the minimum drawdown rates of account based pensions, but this mostly benefits people with larger balances, and many retirees simply don’t have enough in super to be able to support themselves if they halve what they get from their account based pension.”
RELATED ARTICLES
Superannuation
Aware Super slashes admin fees for retirees by up to 25 per cent
Aware Super has reduced administration fees for members with a retirement income account by up to 25 per cent and lowered the maximum annual fee. Read more
Superannuation
SuperAPI co-founder criticises Labor's superannuation tax as 'sneaky tax on young people'
The co-founder of SuperAPI has labelled Labor's proposed tax on superannuation balances above $3 million as a "sneaky tax on young people, tomorrow" disguised as a policy targeting wealthy retirees ...Read more
Superannuation
Election policies could reshape Australia's superannuation landscape, expert warns
Competing superannuation policies from Australia's major political parties could have significant implications for investors and retirees, according to a financial expert. Read more
Superannuation
Industry leaders weigh in on concessional super tax as Budget confirms $55bn investment
Changes to the taxation of superannuation earnings and contributions have drawn mixed responses from financial and payroll sector leaders, as the Federal Budget confirms over $55 billion in ...Read more
Superannuation
Call for indexation on super tax cap as $3m threshold draws criticism
A senior executive in the superannuation technology sector has criticised the Federal Government for failing to index the proposed $3 million superannuation tax cap, arguing the measure will unfairly ...Read more
Superannuation
Rest members back calls for fairer superannuation rules ahead of Federal Budget
Rest has called on the Federal Government to implement superannuation reforms aimed at improving fairness across the system, after member survey results showed strong support for a range of proposed ...Read more
Superannuation
Rest welcomes progress on ‘Payday Super’ reform
Rest, one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds, has welcomed the Australian Government’s release of draft ‘Payday Super’ legislation, which aims to align Superannuation ...Read more
Superannuation
SuperAPI and Humanforce partner to improve superannuation compliance for one million Australians
Superannuation engagement platform SuperAPI has partnered with human capital management provider Humanforce to streamline payroll and superannuation contributions for more than one million Australian ...Read more
Superannuation
Aware Super slashes admin fees for retirees by up to 25 per cent
Aware Super has reduced administration fees for members with a retirement income account by up to 25 per cent and lowered the maximum annual fee. Read more
Superannuation
SuperAPI co-founder criticises Labor's superannuation tax as 'sneaky tax on young people'
The co-founder of SuperAPI has labelled Labor's proposed tax on superannuation balances above $3 million as a "sneaky tax on young people, tomorrow" disguised as a policy targeting wealthy retirees ...Read more
Superannuation
Election policies could reshape Australia's superannuation landscape, expert warns
Competing superannuation policies from Australia's major political parties could have significant implications for investors and retirees, according to a financial expert. Read more
Superannuation
Industry leaders weigh in on concessional super tax as Budget confirms $55bn investment
Changes to the taxation of superannuation earnings and contributions have drawn mixed responses from financial and payroll sector leaders, as the Federal Budget confirms over $55 billion in ...Read more
Superannuation
Call for indexation on super tax cap as $3m threshold draws criticism
A senior executive in the superannuation technology sector has criticised the Federal Government for failing to index the proposed $3 million superannuation tax cap, arguing the measure will unfairly ...Read more
Superannuation
Rest members back calls for fairer superannuation rules ahead of Federal Budget
Rest has called on the Federal Government to implement superannuation reforms aimed at improving fairness across the system, after member survey results showed strong support for a range of proposed ...Read more
Superannuation
Rest welcomes progress on ‘Payday Super’ reform
Rest, one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds, has welcomed the Australian Government’s release of draft ‘Payday Super’ legislation, which aims to align Superannuation ...Read more
Superannuation
SuperAPI and Humanforce partner to improve superannuation compliance for one million Australians
Superannuation engagement platform SuperAPI has partnered with human capital management provider Humanforce to streamline payroll and superannuation contributions for more than one million Australian ...Read more
