This submission is being made on behalf of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) and the Equality Rights Alliance (ERA).

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. 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.

As we have noted in previous submissions to Treasury and Senate Parliamentary Inquiries, the current superannuation system, being based on earnings, is inherently gender biased as it does not recognise the effect that gendered workforce participation patterns have on lifetime earnings. Interrupted work patterns affect the amount of superannuation that is accumulated by women through the compulsory superannuation guarantee contribution, and many women do not have the resources to make additional contributions. Accordingly the average superannuation balances of women aged 60 to 64 are about 58% of men of the same age (Clare 2017).

 

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