Submission to Superannuation: Assessing Efficiency and Competitiveness: Draft Report

This submission is being made by The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW).

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.

NFAW is concerned about the financial security of women, and the role of superannuation in achieving that security. To that end we have made a number of submissions to previous Parliamentary and Treasury enquiries into the superannuation system and to the Senate Inquiry into the Financial Security of Women in Retirement.

The superannuation guarantee is a key pillar of the retirement system, and for many women it is the primary source of their retirement savings. Women are overrepresented among lower paid, parttime and casual employees. These are among the groups of workers most likely to be affected by the erosion of superannuation balances due to inefficiencies in the superannuation system.

We have read the most recent report, and would like to comment on some of the recommendations and issues raised in the report.

 

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