media release
1 June 2022
HESTA welcomes new Parliament's gender equality focus as opportunity to improve superannuation outcomes for HESTA members
HESTA today welcomed Australia’s 47th Parliament and Ministry, including the new Minister with responsibility for superannuation, Stephen Jones, saying the next three years is an opportunity to put the country’s care economy on a more sustainable footing and address gender equity issues that have a real impact on women’s retirement outcomes.
HESTA CEO Debby Blakey said she was pleased to see during the federal election a focus on issues that matter for the Fund’s members, including gender equity, housing affordability, energy policy, a voice for First Nations people and challenges for those working in the care economy.
“What happened this election shows the women of Australia are keen to see real progress on gender equality measures now we have a new Parliament,” Ms Blakey said.
“Our members are mainly women and they tend to have low super balances because they work in lower paid roles like aged care and early childhood education and spend time out of the paid workforce caring for others.
“Improving our members’ financial security in retirement is a key priority for HESTA, and particularly reform to introduce the payment of super on parental leave pay.”
Recent HESTA research found nine in 10 of the more than 2300 members surveyed strongly agreed that changes to Australia’s super system were needed to boost women’s financial security in retirement.
Eighty-five per cent of members regardless of gender supported paying super on Commonwealth Parental Leave Pay, increasing to 91% for those under 35.
“We see paying super on paid parental leave as an important, practical next step in improving financial security for future generations of Australian women in retirement,” Ms Blakey said.
“This election has made it clear that improving gender equality is extremely important for our members and for the women of Australia and we look forward to working with the new Parliament to make women’s economic security in retirement a priority.”
Ends.