Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill to get superannuation on paid parental leave. One of the reasons I entered politics was because I wanted to support the economic empowerment of women. It's something that, to be honest, I have grown up with. It's probably my mum's greatest legacy to me personally.

If women don't fight for women, then it's not going to happen. We need to fight for women. This is about getting women to make their great contribution to this country, and the economic empowerment of women is absolutely critical to that. You are not going to get women with this economic empowerment if you don't have women in the room, and this is a lesson from this parliament. This is the first parliament to have over 45 per cent women in the room, compared with 36 per cent in the last parliament and around 30 per cent in the last three or four parliaments before this. Women are in the room, and this is making a huge difference to women's economic empowerment, including the bill that is here today in front of the House.

Why is the bill important? Women retire with around 30 per cent less super, and we know one of the greatest risks to poverty in old age is that lack of super, that lack of security. Some of the people experiencing the fastest-growing economic distress, including homelessness, are older women without significant resources and with not enough super. So this bill is absolutely important. Frankly, when you're taking time off to have and look after your child—and we know that women still do the vast majority of that child rearing, particularly in those early days—it's absolutely critical that you're still contributing to your retirement so you have those resources.

I want to briefly acknowledge the other changes that have happened in this parliament around women's economic empowerment, because they're absolutely critical. We have seen an increase in paid parental leave, which is important. What is particularly important about the increase in paid parental leave is that it includes more 'use it or lose it' for the second parent, which is typically a man in most families, so that we have more men taking part in raising their children. We're also seeing evidence of a closing wage gap between men and women. We've seen significant investments in child care to make it more accessible to more people in the country. Access to and the affordability of child care is still a real issue in my community, but we have made strides in this parliament. The final piece, I think, has been super on paid parental leave. These are all changes that I certainly welcome and that I think are really powerful.

Other changes are things like increased leave for domestic violence and raising the age of children for which single parents—again, typically women—are supported when they are raising children on their own. These are all improvements for women in this parliament and that is because women are finally in the room. However, I want to acknowledge that there is so much more to do in relation to women's economic empowerment.

Let's specifically talk to the bill, because the bill in itself will go some way to addressing women's economic empowerment. It means that superannuation contributions of 12 per cent will be paid on top of payments already made to parents under the government's Paid Parental Leave scheme. This will bring the government's Paid Parental Leave scheme in line with most of the private sector schemes. This is important. However, by Treasury's own admission, superannuation contributions on paid parental leave will only marginally reduce the retirement income gender gap. Treasury modelling predicts that the median female earner will receive a 0.17 per cent increase in annual retirement income as a result of this scheme. It makes a difference but it doesn't close the gap that we know is there. While it is closing, it is still substantial.

I'd like to come now to what will close the gap, to where we need to continue to fight and to some of the areas in which I will continue to fight now that this bill looks like it will go through the House and, hopefully, will get support in the Senate. I will continue to fight, particularly around the sharing of caring. That's because, when you look at the economic empowerment of women and why there is a continued gender gap, a significant part of it comes down to who does the caring. It's absolutely typical that women do more of the caring in so many situations. Eighty-eight per cent of primary care leave continues to be utilised by women, with only 12 per cent of primary carers leave taken up by men. This makes Australia unusual. Most other countries around the world—our compatriots in the OECD—do much better in terms of sharing the caring. We need to change the culture in this country around this. This is where I think paid parental leave needs further evolution and, honestly, in my mind, revolution.

Back in 2021 the Grattan Institute modelled a 26-week paid parental leave scheme, which is similar to the length of the current ambition on paid parental leave, but with an even greater proportion of time allocated to both parents under a 'use it or lose it' system. The economic benefits, primarily from increased workforce participation, outweighed the costs 1½ times. We know that, if we continue to further tilt the balance so that caring is really shared, this will do even more for women's economic empowerment.

However, there are also significant impacts both on men and on children. For men and male partners, if they take up more leave, there's evidence to suggest that they end up having stronger mental health and a better bond with their children. One of the issues that we face as a country is that men's suicide rates are three times those of female suicides. We know that men suffer from mental ill-health. Those strong connections with family are some of the factors that can help improve men's mental health. That is why this would be good for men. There's also evidence to show that this is better for kids. They're more likely to have strong and enduring relationships with both parents and also more likely to have a stronger sense of wellbeing from better sharing the caring. So this is—and has to be, in my mind—where we need to continue to push as a parliament. We need to better share the caring. This is about the economic empowerment of women, this is about the mental health and connection of our men, and this is about raising our kids better.

To sum up, the introduction of super on paid parental leave today is a necessary and very positive step to achieving true gender economic equity in this country. It is an important step, it's one that I'm proud to have fought for, and I'm proud to be speaking on it. However, we as a parliament need to keep the pressure on, because the gaps are still there, and there's much more that we can do across this parliament to make real changes.

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