Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 6) Bill 2021. I can confirm from the outset that Labor strongly supports the passage of this bill, particularly the superannuation family law elements in schedule 5, which I will talk about in more detail shortly.

Overall, this bill contains a number of relatively minor technical amendments. Schedule 1 clarifies the operation of income tax law in relation to the Renewable Energy Target, ensuring that generators are not taxed when they later rectify a failure to meet a target in a given year. Schedule 2 allows for increased penalties to be applied to breaches of industry codes prescribed by the Competition and Consumer Act. I note that increasing penalties for breaches of the franchising code was expressly recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services. Labor supports franchisees being protected by industry codes as recommended. Schedule 3 removes some minor red tape for self-managed superannuation funds and other small super funds. Schedule 4 makes a number of technical amendments to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to provide regulatory certainty for industry codes. These amendments primarily ensure that industry codes may confer functions and power appropriately.

But I turn now to schedule 5, which is the area in this bill that is of most interest for me personally. It amends the Taxation Administration Act and the Family Law Act to create a new mechanism for sharing superannuation information for family law proceedings. It sounds a little dry; I understand that. But Labor has been calling for this reform to be implemented for many years. It is long overdue. Of course, most things associated with women's policy in this government are long overdue, starting with Tony Abbott as the Minister for Women. The very least you could say about that is that it was an inauspicious start. We have had eight years during which Australian women's interests have been neglected, ignored, dismissed, ridiculed and mocked. Generally, there is very little this government can point to where it has made any ground at all for Australian women. It was only when tens of thousands of women all around the country marched on this parliament, marched in their cities and marched in little towns like Lismore that this government was dragged kicking and screaming to acknowledge that more than 50 per cent of the Australian population deserve a proper response to the issues that concern them.

Back to the specifics of this measure: this was first announced back in 2018 as part of the grandly titled Women's Economic Security Package. It promised $3.3 million for the Australian Taxation Office to develop an electronic information-sharing system to ensure that the family law courts have better visibility of parties' superannuation assets when making property orders. The then Attorney-General put out a media release—a big announcement—in 2018, and they said this electronic information-sharing system would commence on 1 July 2020. Well, that was not to be. When asked about it the Attorney-General's Department told me in an estimates hearing some time ago that it was because it really just wasn't a priority. Just now, a year later, the government's finally got around to legislating this critical measure, and it really isn't good enough. It is an indication this government cares so little about women's economic security and, as I'll also go on to argue, about their safety.

I want to talk about why this matters. I want to talk about the problem that this measure is trying to fix. Parties to family law proceedings are legally required to disclose all their assets to the court, including superannuation. However, in practice, parties may forget or—let's be honest about it—deliberately withhold information about their superannuation assets. Getting full visibility of superannuation in family law matters can be complex, time-consuming and costly. It often requires parties to use subpoenas and other formal court processes, and there is no guarantee of success. The nondisclosure of superannuation assets can often disproportionately disadvantage women due to a significant disparity in superannuation savings between men and women. There's a very well understood superannuation gap. What then happens is that that lack of financial disclosure by a former partner can result in women receiving a smaller share of property than they would otherwise be entitled to.

This scheme is designed to help all women access their share of superannuation assets, but it will especially impact on disadvantaged women and those experiencing family violence. Nondisclosure of assets in family law proceedings can also delay cases, and sometimes that is the main point of a nondisclosure. Stakeholders did terrific work laying the groundwork for this policy initiative, and their work began a very long time ago. In 2018, the Women's Legal Service Victoria put out a study titled 'Small claims, large battles'. It looked at a whole series of cases for clients they had assisted and it found that two-thirds of clients they surveyed faced delays caused by a former partner failing to make the necessary financial disclosure. Here is the kicker: in 87 per cent of those cases, the women surveyed reported that family violence was a factor in the relationship breakdown.

Let's be honest about what's happening here. There are controlling, abusive partners. They are controlling and abusive in the relationship and, when a woman decides to leave, they seek to further extend and perpetuate their abuse and their control through prolonging proceedings. They withhold information deliberately. It's described as 'systems abuse' and it means that women are stuck for years and years trying to extricate themselves from an abusive relationship and are unable to conclude the matter. These tactics also mean that women are deprived during this period of the financial resources they need to start a new life. These women are strong and resilient and they deserve support and, instead, they've been frustrated.

The government recognised this problem back in 2018, and here we are in the middle of 2021 finally getting around to a piece of legislation to actually address it. That's three years. Think about the women who might've benefited from these provisions in the three years that have elapsed since these issues were first acknowledged by the government. It is simply not good enough. It is disgraceful, in fact. One can't help wondering if the rush now is only because the women's safety summit is on Monday.

Superannuation is often one of the biggest assets in relationships, and nondisclosure of these assets just continues a cycle of crippling emotional and financial abuse as well as the economic control experienced by family violence victim-survivors. The failure to implement this scheme in a timely way has had serious financial implications for disadvantaged women, especially those suffering from violence. Instead of implementing much-needed reform, this government has prioritised other reforms. It's not as though there's been a shortage of bills on superannuation come before this chamber. We spend hours and hours debating superannuation in this chamber, but this is the one bill for which there's been no time made on the government program for three years. What did this government do? They did this for women: they asked women to raid their own superannuation balances to pay for their own costs during the pandemic, the very pandemic that crushed women's workforce opportunities. These policies also created an opportunity for perpetrators to exploit and financially abuse their partners. The government has done nothing to address the superannuation gap in retirement. Women continue to face homelessness and destitution. This is totally unacceptable.

I want to conclude by really thanking the advocates who've championed this issue—organisations like Women in Super and the Victorian Women's Legal Service and the organisations and individuals that contributed their stories to Small Claims, Large Battles. They were absolutely vital in securing this incredibly important reform. For eight years this government has ignored and neglected women's safety and their economic interests. It's not a surprise that this reform, like so many other reforms, is overdue. The government has time and time again been forced kicking and screaming into action, while on every occasion its action is too little too late.

The reforms contained in schedule 5 of this bill are welcome. They will make a difference to the lives of women, but it will take much more than one oft-repeated promise announced, re-announced and belatedly delivered for this Prime Minister and his government to win back the trust of Australian women.