SMC calls to scrap ‘outdated’ domestic worker super exclusion rule

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist

16 April 2026

A Senate inquiry has paved the way for renewed calls from the Super Members Council (SMC) to dump an ‘outdated’ law excluding part-time domestic workers in private homes from earning guaranteed superannuation.

Currently, domestic workers in private homes – such as cleaners, housekeepers and nannies – who work less than 30 hours a week for the same employer are ineligible to earn guaranteed super.

New modelling conducted by the council found approximately 37,000 domestic workers would be affected by this rule in 2026-27, with each missing out on around $4,000 a year to total nearly $150 million.

The council also found that women account for approximately 86 per cent of the domestic workforce, leaving them a total of $126 million worse off just in one year.

While the exclusion rule was originally introduced to ensure fees didn’t eat through low superannuation balances, the council has emphasised that it now contributes significantly to the pressing issue of the gender super gap.

The council is urging the Government to remove the legislated 30-hour threshold for domestic workers, which could give back approximately $130,000 more to the average worker by the time they retire and would minimise reliance on the Age Pension.

“Cleaners. housekeepers and nannies are doing essential, paid work, yet the law still treats them as second‑class citizens when it comes to super — and that burden falls overwhelmingly on women,” SMC chief executive, Misha Schubert, said.

“When something is outdated, you fix it. Fixing these outdated laws would help close the gender super gap and boost the retirement savings of thousands of hardworking Australians.”

The SMC has also previously called on the Government to scrap the same ‘threshold exclusion’ law in relation to workers under the age of 18, after a report found 515,000 teenage workers who work for less than 30 hours a week for the same employer will not earn a combined $405 million in superannuation this financial year and that it also widens the gender super gap by more than $2,500 by the time women workers turn 18.