Media release | Thursday, March 7 2024
ACOSS has today welcomed the Albanese government’s decision to pay superannuation on government-funded paid parental leave as an important step towards a fairer superannuation system for women.
ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie said:
“Paying superannuation on government-funded paid parental leave will contribute to tackling gender inequality in our retirement income system,” she said.
“Women still take on the bulk of caring responsibilities, both paid and unpaid, and take significant time out of the paid workforce.
“Every single dollar added to someone’s superannuation account matters. Ensuring women can accumulate more superannuation helps close the gap that leaves them with a quarter less retirement savings than men, on average.
“It is essential to safeguarding women’s financial security in later life.
“This policy will particularly benefit women in low-paid and highly feminised industries who are less likely to have access to employer-funded paid parental leave . They often cannot afford to retire or spend their retirement in poverty.
“Policies that bolster women’s financial security make social and economic sense. ACOSS commends the Albanese government for taking this next step towards greater gender equality in retirement.
“Closing the superannuation gap will require much broader reform, including overhauling existing concessional arrangements which provide little or no benefit to women or those on low-incomes yet come at a hefty cost to the budget.”
ACOSS proposes replacing existing concessions with a fairer and simpler annual rebate, that provides the same or greater support for each dollar of contributions for people with low incomes as that provided to middle- and high-income-earners.
