Structural issues create super inequality not SG

Around 240,000 women and 160,000 men are affected by the $450 superannuation threshold and the industry needs to tackle structural issues directly to redress the imbalance between men ad women in average retirement balances, according to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).

ASFA chief executive, Martin Fahy, said it was not the rate of the superannuation guarantee (SG) that created inequality in women’s super but broken working patterns, part-time work, and the tendency to be lower paid.

“Structural issues such as the $450 per month threshold for SG, not receiving super during paid parental leave, practical difficulties with family law and super splitting and no compulsory super for the self-employed, all serve to leave women worse off in retirement,” Fahy said.

“ASFA has advocated for a number of changes to address these issues, including that the $450-a-month threshold for SG should be abolished, SG should apply whenever there is an entitlement to receive income replacement and that compulsory superannuation should be extended to the self-employed.”

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ASFA pointed to Treasury data that estimated around 240,000 women and 160,000 men were affected by the $450 threshold and that 40% of those affected were under the age of 25 and two-thirds aged under 35.