WOMEN AND SUPERANNUATION

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question regarding superannuation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: Because of the historical barriers women have faced in accessing equal pay and job opportunities, they face unique challenges when it comes to retirement savings. Lower pay, time out of the workforce to raise children and running a single-parent household are some of the challenges faced when trying to build a reasonable amount of super. Can the minister inform the chamber about how the government is working with South Australian women to help them take charge of their superannuation through the Women and Super Project?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for her most important question and for her ongoing interest in these very important policy areas. Indeed, we would be well aware of the adversity women face in reaching equivalent super savings to their male counterparts. Along with the hurdles outlined by my honourable colleague are pay and equity, sole or primary responsibility for child care and other caring responsibilities, household duties, the lack of career advancement opportunities. We also know that women tend to live longer than men, making it even more essential for them to accumulate enough superannuation to last through retirement.

Further, given that more women are found in casual or part-time employment, we know that an understanding of how to consolidate multiple super accounts is vital to creating a healthy financial future. In fact, Australian women generally have significantly less superannuation savings than men, and this gap has led to many women, particularly single women, being forced to rely on the aged pension for their retirement income. The latest figures show that nearly 90 per cent of Australian women do not have enough super for retirement.

The historical repercussions of women's exclusion from equal access to the workforce and primary responsibility for domestic duties have resulted in generations of women who significantly trail their male counterparts in super. Workplace and cultural attitudes are such that women's access to career and financial opportunities is marginalised by those opposite with arguments about merit. It is a core reason why it has been so difficult to create the social change required to address this inequity.

I am advised that a 2008 report released by The Australia Institute highlighted that women more so than men often found super more confusing than men and that, along with young people and people on low incomes, women are less likely to be confident in their financial future. While super is primarily a federal responsibility, the South Australian government understands that information sharing is a crucial component of addressing issues facing women in taking control of and understanding how their super works for them.

I am pleased to announce the launch of the Women and Super Project. The Women and Super Project is a collaboration between the Women's Information Service via the Office for Women and the SafeWork SA Age Matters Project. The Women and Super Project seeks to assist older women by providing a basic understanding of superannuation, as well as offering assistance to find lost super and information required to consolidate super accounts.

The project comprises two separate initiatives. The first part is two free information sessions for older women held by the Women's Information Service. These sessions will include basic information on what super is and the key issues that older women need to consider such as what to do if they change jobs, if they separate from their partner and what to look for in a super provider. Held at the Office for Women on 20 and 27 November, they will be presented by the Chair of Women in Super, Thomay Gatis. Advertisements for these sessions have already begun via print and social media.

Following these sessions, the Women's Information Service will be providing in person or over the phone assistance to clients with information and steps on how to use the Australian Taxation Office SuperSeeker online tool. This resource enables people to source any lost super that they may have, consolidating super or combining small balances from several funds into a single fund, which can assist to make it easier for women to keep track of and maximise their super.

Staff and volunteers from the Women's Information Service will be trained in the steps to find lost super and what is required to consolidate super using the online tools. Clients can then book a one-on-one super help session at the service from November 2013. If the client requires further assistance, the staff and volunteers will be able to provide the client with contact information of financial advisers.

It is important not only for the equity of women but also to the economic future of a state that faces an increasingly ageing population so that nuances of superannuation are able to be communicated and understood by all of our community. Of course, that is where such a big difference between the Liberal Party and this Labor government occurs. This government has created and generated incredible changes and innovative policies that in the past 10 years or so have transformed this state from a joke punchline about our one-way expressway and suchlike to a top 10 city to visit worldwide—all because of a Labor government. Yet deafening silence is what we hear from Mr Steven Marshall and the Liberal opposition when their federal counterparts make decisions that are going to have a drastic impact, particularly on South Australian women, and a deafening silence also when it comes to their inability to promote gender equity in our community. They are prepared to sit there and accept one woman in the federal cabinet.

The recent announcement of the federal government's decision to scrap the proposed tax on tax earnings, benefiting those on high incomes, but dumping the low-income superannuation contribution will adversely impact on an estimated 3.8 million low-paid workers—basically taking from the poor to give to the rich. It is an absolute disgrace to leave those arrangements in place, an absolute disgrace.

Of those 3.8 million low-paid workers, 2.2 million are women. I am advised that the recent media reports state that approximately 129,000 of those are South Australian women. And what do we hear from Mr Steven Marshall? What do we hear from the Liberal opposition? What do we hear? Nothing. Silence, absolute stone silence. Mr Steven Marshall and the Liberal opposition are not prepared, or are not brave enough, to stand up to their federal counterparts and demand fair treatment for South Australians.