This document is based on work done by members of the Social Policy Committee in submissions to those inquiries, and in the Gender Budget document that has been prepared in response to the Federal Budget with additional material from eS4W and its member organisation FECCA. Relevant NFAW submissions are attached as appendices to this paper.
In Australia there are three pillars for retirement incomes – income support, superannuation and individual savings. This section addresses women and income support in the retirement incomes system.
NFAW and the Equality Rights Alliance submit that tax reform must be examined through a gendered lens to identify any impact that reform may have on women. Specifically, the economic impact on women are often the result of gender blindness that does not recognise the different effect that policies have on women because of the circumstances of women’s lives.
In recent consultations with women throughout Australia, women identified a range of issues as relevant in determining the extent to which they are able to engage in the work force.
NFAW believes the process of Reform of Australia’s Future Tax System, and the October 2011 Tax Forum are a key opportunities to introduce changes which will enhance gender equality in the work-place, together with the promotion of greater fiscal vertical equity.
The NFAW and WomenSpeak/ERA, with valuable input from Professor Patricia Apps, independently held meetings to discuss the Henry Report at the University of Sydney through the Women and Work Research group, and at the University of Melbourne (Taxation Studies, Law School)
This paper examines the experience of Australian women during recent recessions in order to construct a framework within which the policy response to the current recession can be assessed and improved. The recessions of the early 1980s and the early 1990s are examined and compared with the brief experience so far of the present recession.
In the early 1980’s Australia had a highly progressive, individual based income tax and families received support for dependent children in the form of universal family allowances.
Since the 1980s the introduction of income tests on family payments has transformed Australia’s progressive individual income tax into a system with strong elements of joint taxation and a rate scale that has an inverted U-shaped profile – the highest marginal tax rates apply across low to average incomes and to the incomes of married mothers as second earners.
