Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

More than 11,000 women in Goldstein have received Commonwealth parental leave pay since the scheme began, in 2011, and they've lost out as a result of superannuation not being paid on the scheme. A fair paid parental leave system has the potential to be a game changer for families, the economy and women's economic security in this country.

It's a bold statement, but not many policy levers have the power to bring about the sort of cultural change that's needed to elevate Australia's recent poor record on gender equality. Women don't start out behind. Australian women are among the most highly educated in the world and have similar levels of labour force participation to men, until they have children. This triggers a pattern of unequal care and work during prime working years for both parents, with the responsibility of care falling more heavily on women. This results in women's participation in the workforce sitting well below that of men.

When mothers take time out of the workforce to care for their children, they not only struggle to maintain a meaningful connection to work but also can go years without receiving any super. Unpaid care, part-time and casual employment, and the gender pay gap—these are the drivers of the gender super gap. Leading up to retirement, the median superannuation balance for women is a third less that of men. That translates to around $50,000 less. The super gap becomes evident around the age of 30, when women take time out of work and reduce their hours to have and care for children. The gap continues to increase until women are in their early 50s, when it's common to care for ageing family members. Women at this stage in their life are often caring for their own children and their parents, a life stage referred to as the sandwich generation.

Progress in closing the gender super gap has been slow. Australian Taxation Office statistics show that, over the eight years to 2021-22, the gap in average balances for those aged 18 to 59 has only narrowed by five percentage points, from 28 per cent to 23 per cent across all ages. However, for women in their 30s, the gap has failed to narrow, remaining around a stubborn 20 per cent. Paying super on paid parental leave is one way to reduce the super gap and reduce the impact of parental leave on retirement incomes.

The Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024 is another step towards a fairer system, and I commend the government for building on the changes to paid parental leave that came into effect last year, including expanding the payment to six months by 2026. Eligible parents with babies born or adopted from July next year will receive an extra 12 per cent of their government funded paid parental leave as an annual lump sum payment to their super fund. This will benefit about 180,000 families annually. Super Members Council analysis shows that paying super on the government scheme could boost a mother of two's retirement savings by about $14½ thousand.

Paying super on PPL was one of the recommendations of the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce. Central to this recommendation is a recognition of the value of care work and the need to better share caring responsibilities. While the number of men taking primary carer parental leave increased by 0.6 per cent in 2022-23, women still make up 86 per cent of employees taking the carer leave option, according to the HILDA Survey of Australian households. The use of parental leave by fathers in Australia is very low by global standards. Because caring patterns are established in the first year of a child's life, that entrenches stereotypical gender roles. We should be encouraging men to take up parental leave to normalise flexible work and shared care responsibilities and to strengthen women's workforce participation and financial security. But it's not only good for women; it's healthy for men. When fathers take parental leave, fathers, their children and their partners all benefit from stronger relationships. This is why I've strongly pushed for super on paid parental leave in this place and in my many conversations with families in Goldstein.

As I've said before, it's time we stop punishing women for the burden of unpaid care work that they carry. Taking time out of the paid workforce to care for a child should be part of the usual course of life and work for both parents. The evidence is clear: accessible and well-funded paid parental leave is crucial if we want people to stay connected to the workforce. It's also vital to support the health and wellbeing of women, men and children and to improve wider gender equality outcomes.

I commend the government for adding super to paid parental leave, but there are also other things the government can do to reduce the super gap. The low income superannuation tax offset, or LISTO, is not indexed. It has not kept pace with increases in the super guarantee rate and current tax brackets. The current cap means workers earning up to $45,000 are paying more tax on their super than they should be. Low-income women would be the biggest beneficiaries of updating the LISTO. Another policy area of potential benefit to women is adjusting the rules around catch-up contributions to allow women to put more money into super as they're approaching retirement.

The Goldstein community elected me on a platform of gender equality, and at every opportunity I'll continue to work with the government to improve women's economic security. Adding super to paid parental leave goes some way to achieving that. Consider the more than 11,000 women living in Goldstein who've received Commonwealth parental leave pay since the scheme began in 2011. They've missed out on a combined $13.1 million in superannuation. About 850 women in Goldstein per year are set to benefit from the government's commitment to pay super on parental leave each year. It's long overdue, and I commend this bill to the House.

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