Industry fund HESTA has called on the government for superannuation reforms to benefit all women, not only a wealthy minority.
Commenting on the Treasurer Scott Morrison’s focus on the gender gap in super, HESTA chief executive, Debby Blakey, said super is for every Australian and the conversation needs to start including low income earners and women.
Morrison said on Tuesday the government was considering raising the $30,000 cap on concessional super contributions for mothers returning to work to address the disruption women face during their working life.
“They [modest wage earners], along with many other working women, won’t benefit from these tax concessions, as they simply don’t earn enough to top up their super by tens of thousands of dollars a year,” Blakey said.
“The gap in super savings women experience is not due to the choices they make — the main causes are the gender pay gap that sees women earning less than their male counterparts and unpaid time out of the workforce.”
Blakey noted the super system was designed to reward those with unbroken careers.
“Women typically move in and out of the workforce, face wage discrimination, and live around five years longer than men — leaving a stark gender gap in retirement incomes,” she said.
The fund said it would be submitting to the Senate Inquiry to address women’s super adequacy issues.
HESTA’s recommendations include retaining the low income super contribution (LISC), and the removal of the $450 monthly super threshold for employer super guarantee contributions.
Blakey also called for the government to consider successful overseas models that recognise and value the social and economic contribution that carers make.
“Almost all European Union members and many South American countries have reformed their pension and retirement systems to address gender equity challenges resulting from women taking unpaid time out of the workforce. Australia is lagging behind many other countries in this regard,” she said.
