This submission is being made jointly by The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) and Economic Security 4 Women.

NFAW is dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of Australian women, including intellectual, cultural, political, social, economic, legal, industrial and domestic spheres, and ensuring that the aims and ideals of the women’s movement and its collective wisdom are handed on to new generations of women. NFAW is a feminist organisation, independent of party politics and working in partnership with other women’s organisations, including the National Women’s Alliances Equality Rights Alliance and economic Security 4 Women. These organisations include those committed to increasing support for women in Australia as well as those with a special interest in women’s history.

Economic Security 4 Women is an alliance of women’s organisations united in the belief that economic wellbeing and financial security are essential for women and will enable women of all ages to have an equal place in society.

NFAW and ES4W welcome the opportunity to comment on the objective of the superannuation system. In 2015 NFAW made submissions on retirement income to the 2015 Tax Discussion Paper and to the Senate Committee Inquiry into Economic Security for Women in Retirement. This document is based on work done by members of the NFAW Social Policy Committee in submissions to those inquiries and Gender Budget analysis of the 2014-15 and 2015-16 budgets. These submissions are attached as appendices. We restate here that two significant shortcomings in the superannuation system, from a gender equity perspective, are the absence of superannuation guarantee payments on paid parental leave and other carer payments, and the legislated removal of the Low Income Superannuation Contribution. These shortcomings contribute to the gender superannuation gap between male and female retirement savings.

READ FULL PAPER