Superannuation on paid parental leave needed to close gender gap

The Women's Economic Equality Taskforce chair Sam Mostyn is urging for systemic changes to close the gender pay gap including adding superannuation to paid parental leave.

Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce chairwoman Sam Mostyn. Picture: Richard Dobson

The Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce has handed its final report to government, with its chairwoman, Sam Mostyn, urging systemic changes to close the gender pay gap including adding superannuation to paid parental leave and providing affordable, universal childcare.

While adopting some of the recommendations put forward by the WEET ahead of the May budget – including abolishing the Parents Next program and increasing rent assistance – Labor failed to act on the taskforce’s call to pay super on PPL or abolish the childcare activity test.

Ms Mostyn confirmed on Wednesday the WEET had handed its final report to the government and, while refusing to pre-empt its recommendations, signalled adding super to PPL was still urgently needed.

“Superannuation on paid parental leave is of course one of the systemic changes required, along with affordable universal childcare, along with a number of other economic measures and policies that are designed with a gender lens and not left to a society to work out, when most of those policies are designed with … a man as the driver of our economy, which has not been relevant in this country for over 30 years,” she said. “So all of those things are in contention and recommendations to government.”

The government would not confirm when it would respond to the WEET’s report, which was still being considered by cabinet.

Ms Mostyn said the report had been written with “a series of horizons” and timelines for change, with some reforms needing to be implemented urgently while others needed to be rolled out across the next decade.

Labor has come under increased pressure in recent months to add super to PPL, which it committed to making a “priority reform” at national conference in Brisbane last month.

The Greens have since threatened to “hold up” the government’s proposed $2.3bn tax hike on super balances for wealthy retirees until it makes its promised changes to the parenting payment. Greens spokeswoman for women Larissa Waters said the handing down of the WEET report only increased the urgency of adding super to PPL.

“Labor are making women wait for minor measures like paying super on PPL that would immediately improve economic equality, but can somehow find $313bn for the stage three tax cuts,” she said.

“Given the government has now received the final WEET report, the Greens will be pushing to ensure they act promptly on it, and to ensure Labor actually listen to their advisory body, rather than cherrypicking recommendations as they did with the interim report.”

But Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth slammed the minor party for playing politics with such significant policies.

“We’ve already been clear for some time that we intend to pay super on paid parental leave when budget circumstances permit,” she said.

“If the Greens support tax reform to make tax concessions less generous for people with millions of dollars in superannuation then they should vote for it and stop conflating issues. The Greens should stop playing their usual political games and stop siding with the opposition.”

Opposition spokeswoman for women Sussan Ley said the Coalition supported the intention of the WEET but had questions for government about how the taskforce’s membership was chosen.