POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Calls for Budget policy impact assessments on women’s super
Women in Super (WIS) has called for a gender analysis of future Budget decisions to ensure that adverse impacts on women are assessed as part of policy design.
WIS’s 2022 Budget submission outlined several measures, including the proposal for super to be paid on Paid Parental Leave, with each measure designed to bridge the superannuation gender gap in which women retired with around a third less super than men on average.
WIS chair, Kara Keys, said: “The super gender gap challenge is like a ship with lots of leaking holes. We can and must plug as many of the holes as possible, such as the recent welcome abolition of the $450 income threshold for super payments.
“But the super gender gap will persist without broader policy reform. Super is tied to wages, and with women disproportionately in lower paid work and doing more unpaid caring, they receive less super. If we don’t fix this, women will continue to retire in poverty.”
WIS also called for the Government to address areas of the economy where super was not paid such as the gig economy, apply a Low-Income Super Tax Offset to wages up to $45,000 and commence work on a framework for a national carers’ credit as part of the retirement system.
Keys said putting a gender lens over policy making would ensure that adverse impacts on women were avoided.
“A Budget and policy gender impact analysis would have identified many recent problems before they existed.
“For example, it could have resulted in a better design of the early release of super to ensure protections for women in unsafe situations, prevented the $450 monthly income threshold for super payments, or ensured that paid parental leave is not the only form of leave where no super is paid.”
Recommended for you
Australia’s superannuation sector is being held back by overlapping and outdated regulation, ASFA says, with compliance costs almost doubling in seven years – a drain on member returns and the economy alike.
Two of Australia’s largest industry super funds have thrown their support behind an ASIC review into how stamp duty is disclosed in investment fee reporting, saying it could unlock more capital for housing projects.
The corporate watchdog is preparing to publish a progress report on private credit this September, following a comprehensive review of the rapidly expanding market.
The fund has appointed Fotine Kotsilas as its new chief risk officer, continuing a series of executive changes aimed at driving growth, but NGS Super’s CEO has assured the fund won’t pursue growth for growth’s sake.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
74.26 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
72.60 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
44.46 3 y p.a(%)
4
Pengana High Conviction Equities B
39.12 3 y p.a(%)
5
Pengana High Conviction Equities A
39.05 3 y p.a(%)
