Commission recommends paying super on public sector parental leave

An Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) review of the Maternity Leave (Commonwealth Employees) Act has recommended super should be paid on all forms of parental leave for public sector employees.

The review, the first conducted in 40 years and released in June, examined parental leave eligibility and entitlements, health needs, superannuation issues, and ease of administration and received nearly 190 public submissions.

“Submissions called for equal provisions for all parents, greater flexibility, the payment of superannuation on all parental leave, and more modern and inclusive language,” it said.

As a result, one recommendation put forward by the commission was to pay super on paid and unpaid pregnancy and parental leave.

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“The employer component of superannuation is to be paid on all forms of paid and unpaid pregnancy and parental leave, regardless of superannuation scheme type or contribution method, to contribute to reducing the gender pay gap and improve women’s long-term economic equality,” it said.

The recommendation came as a snapshot of public sector employers by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) that found almost all pay super on parental leave for their staff.

Voluntary results in the 2022 Commonwealth Public Sector Gender Equality Snapshot, released in early July, examined companies on matters such as employment terms, remuneration, and workplace gender equality.

The WGEA invited Commonwealth public sector employers with 100 or more employees to participate in its voluntary reporting program and 52 employers reported data. Data covered the full 2021 year.

It found almost all public sector employers already pay super on parental leave.

The overwhelming majority (98 per cent) pay super for parents taking parental leave and 96 per cent pay super on employer-funded parental leave. 

Approximately two in five employers (39 per cent) pay super on government-funded parental leave and on periods of unpaid parental leave for the primary carer. 

However, 87 per cent reported there are qualifying periods to be eligible for employer-funded parental leave that is usually having worked for the firm for at least 12 months beforehand to access primary carer leave. 

All employers surveyed offer paid parental leave as well as government-funded parental leave.

Earlier this year, the omission of paid parental leave from the 2023-24 Budget was seen as a missed opportunity by numerous super bodies.

Aware Super CEO, Deanne Stewart, stated that paying superannuation guarantee contributions on paid parental leave was “overdue.”

She said: “Women still shoulder a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities in families and often take time out of the workforce to do so. This is one of the key reasons the gender super gap is so much bigger than the gender pay gap, and super on paid parental leave will help with this.”

Additionally, bodies like Industry Super Australia (ISA), HESTA, and Mercer have come out in strong support for the measure.