Payday super delays threaten women’s retirement savings, SMC warns

The Super Members Council (SMC) has called on the government to urgently legislate payday super, warning that delays will further undermine the retirement savings of Australian women.

The SMC has pressed the government to urgently legislate payday super, warning any delay will undermine retirement security and erode the super balances of millions of Australian women.

The government has pledged to introduce payday super from 1 July 2026, but the legislation has not been brought forward in the first parliamentary sitting fortnight this month.

SMC has called on the government to act in the next sitting fortnight to ensure a smooth transition for the Australian Taxation Office, businesses, and super funds.

These calls for urgency from the super sector have been frequent over the past few months, with the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) also backing the reforms and called on Parliament to legislate without delay.

Chief executive Mary Delahunty warned that any delay would erode long-term savings, noting ASFA’s modelling shows a 30-year-old on average wages who misses a single year of contributions retires with $25,000 less.

Delahunty stressed that missed contributions early in a career can cause lasting damage to retirement balances because of the effects of compounding.

SMC chief executive Misha Schubert said women, particularly those in low-paid and insecure jobs, will be hit hardest if the reforms are delayed.

“The numbers are stark. Working women in Australia are already retiring with a quarter less super than men—and unpaid super is making it harder to close that gap,” Schubert said.

“Women in low-paid, insecure or part-time jobs are hit hardest by unpaid super, and they are often the same women who take time out of the workforce to care for others. They’re short-changed twice.

“Fixing this is not just about fairness – it’s about economic security for millions of Australian women.”

The urgency stems from new analysis by SMC showing one in four working women in Australia is underpaid super each year, with the typical worker missing out on an average of $1,300.

Collectively, Australian women have been underpaid $1.9 billion in super contributions in a single year, with the figure reaching $15.5 billion over the past decade.

The council warns these shortfalls compound the existing gender super gap, with women already retiring with a quarter less super than men due to time out of the workforce for caring responsibilities.

Young, low-income women are among the worst affected. About half of women in their 20s and 30s earning less than $25,000 have not received some or all of their super entitlements.

Half of those impacted by unpaid super are employed in community and personal service work, professional roles, and clerical and administrative positions – covering childcare workers, aged care workers, and nurses.

SMC argued payday super is a straightforward reform that would make super contributions payable at the same time as wages, instead of quarterly, providing a simpler and fairer system for both employers and employees.

The council said many employers already pay super this way.

Alongside urgent legislation, SMC has also called for stronger enforcement of super entitlements by the ATO and for the Fair Entitlements Guarantee to be extended to cover super when businesses collapse.