Gender super gap narrows with incoming PPL reform from 1 July

The gender superannuation gap is set to narrow by approximately 25 per cent as the reforms legislating super paid on Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave (PPL) come into effect from 1 July, according to new analysis from the Super Members Council (SMC).

As of the start of the new financial year, superannuation will be paid on the Commonwealth PPL scheme and is estimated to benefit over 200,000 Australian mothers each year by injecting on average around $15,000 into women’s retirement savings.

Modelling completed by the SMC shows that Australian women have between 22 and 31 per cent less super than men as they approach the average age most exit the workforce to raise children and again at retirement.

SMC chief executive, Misha Schubert, said the introduction of super on paid parental leave was an “historic achievement that would deliver compound investment returns throughout parent’s lives”.

“We’re not talking baby steps here – this is a huge stride forward to tackle women’s retirement inequity,” she said.

“This reform will make millions of women thousands of dollars better off in retirement, helping to narrow the gender super gap. It’s going to be transformative to start to tackle gender inequity in retirement.”

The gender super gap also varies by Australian state and territory according to SMC data, which found the gap is at its widest in Western Australia at $24,400 (34 per cent), followed by Queensland at $16,200 (23 per cent), and Victoria at $12,400 (19 per cent). The smallest gaps were in the Australian Capital Territory ($5,700 or six per cent) and South Australia ($10,200 or 14 per cent).

The SMC said with the success of its advocacy for the payment of superannuation on Commonwealth paid parental leave, it will now turn to campaigning for reforms to boost the Low-Income Super Tax Offset (LISTO) and further close the gender super gap.

“There is more work to do to reverse the financial ‘motherhood penalty’ women experience in the early years of having children, which adds up over their working lives,” Schubert said.

“Lifting the Low-Income Super Tax Offset is the next logical step for the Government to tackle women’s retirement poverty and help more than 700,000 low-income women to have more financial independence and security when they retire.”