Unpaid super costing women $26,000 in retirement savings
Unpaid super has been called out for its role in widening the gender superannuation gap according to new research from the Super Members Council (SMC), now costing the average working woman $26,000 in retirement savings.
The report, titled Mind the gap: How unpaid super is deepening retirement inequality for women, confirmed 25 per cent of working women in Australia were not paid their owed superannuation in 2022-23 and missed out on a total of $1.9 billion in Super Guarantee contributions.
The amount of unpaid super owed to Australian working women has accumulated to $15.5 billion over the last 10 years. According to the report, younger and lesser-paid women were the most affected: 50 per cent of women aged 20-39 were not paid superannuation in 2022-23 and 50 per cent of those in the same age cohort earning less than $25,000 a year also not paid some or all of the superannuation they were owed.
Super Members Council CEO, Misha Schubert, said this only exacerbates the existing gender gap in superannuation, with women entering retirement with around 25 per cent less super than men due to time out of the workforce for child-caring or other reasons.
“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,” she 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 research also renewed calls from the SMC to hasten the introduction of payday super, currently slated to commence from 1 July 2026, to better protect the retirement savings of Australians and streamline the system in place for employers and workers that currently only requires super to be paid at least quarterly.
The SMC stated it was concerned that, with the legislation only introduced in Parliament earlier this month, any delays would worsen the retirement savings for Australian women.
“SMC is calling on the Government to urgently legislate payday super by introducing the laws in the next sitting fortnight to enable a smooth transition by the ATO, businesses and super funds,” a statement from the peak body said.
“The Council is also pushing for more proactive compliance and stronger enforcement by the ATO – and wants to extend the Fair Entitlements Guarantee to include workers’ super after a business collapses.”
No biggie. By the time I’m 67 that will be the cost of a pair of Gucci shoes.