The SMSF Association (SMSFA) and Financial Services Council (FSC) were proud to host the Women, Super and Wealth Summit in Sydney today. The Summit brought together a range of thought leaders from across government and financial services, placing the spotlight back on the need to ensure that the gender gap in superannuation is closed so that men and women can both have the opportunity for a secure and dignified retirement.
The Summit discussed and debated key issues relating to the causes of the gender gap in superannuation and solutions that can close the gap and improve retirement and wealth outcomes for women. The gender pay gap, further legislative reform, the need to empower girls and women for financial decision making and broader change to workplace and societal attitudes to women’s work emerged as key themes.
The SMSF Association (SMSFA) and Financial Services Council (FSC) were proud to host the Women, Super and Wealth Summit in Sydney today. The Summit brought together a range of thought leaders from across government and financial services, placing the spotlight back on the need to ensure that the gender gap in superannuation is closed so that men and women can both have the opportunity for a secure and dignified retirement.
The Summit discussed and debated key issues relating to the causes of the gender gap in superannuation and solutions that can close the gap and improve retirement and wealth outcomes for women. The gender pay gap, further legislative reform, the need to empower girls and women for financial decision making and broader change to workplace and societal attitudes to women’s work emerged as key themes.
Legislative reform
The SMSFA and FSC welcome the Government’s recent changes to the superannuation laws that have increased the flexibility of superannuation, allowing greater opportunities to make contributions to build retirement savings. Although these changes are an important step in the right direction there is still scope for more legislative reform to improve retirement outcomes for women.
A bipartisan approach to advancing legislative solutions should be pursued. Focussing on pursuing the recommendations from the Senate Inquiry into the Economic Security for Women in Retirement should be a priority for the Parliament.
While legislative reform must be a foundation of closing the gender gap in superannuation, the SMSFA and FSC acknowledge that it is only part of the solution and broader workplace and cultural changes are required.
Empowering women and girls
An ongoing need to give girls and women the confidence to make financial decisions and to empower them to take control of their financial future is critical to closing the gender gap in superannuation.
Improving financial literacy of women has been recognised and is still a key to improving their superannuation and wealth outcomes. However, the Summit rightly acknowledged that information and education must nurture girls and women who are empowered and confident in financial decision making to make informed and educated financial choices that will make a real difference to women’s retirement outcomes.
The superannuation and financial services industries have an important role in empowering girls and women in financial decision making, but there is need for the broader community and families to be engaged to ensure that our daughters are given the confidence to take control of their financial futures.
Cultural change
The Summit acknowledged that while legislative change to decrease structural barriers to reducing the gender superannuation gap is needed, broader workplace and cultural change is essential. Cultural changes and strategies inside and outside of the workplace are needed to provide women with greater opportunities to earn equivalent incomes to men and have the same opportunities to save for their retirement.
How our community values the work traditionally undertaken by women – both paid and unpaid – must be revaluated so that industrial segregation and caring for families do not continue to be underlying causes of the gender pay gap that causes the gender gap in superannuation.
Increasingly, encouraging flexible work practices throughout the economy for both men and women is essential to allow greater opportunities for families to find a work-life balance that will allow women to earn and save for retirement.
Leadership is needed
Finally, the SMSFA and FSC call upon the superannuation and financial services industries to lead the wider Australian community in taking steps that will improve the superannuation and wealth outcomes for Australian women and advocating for ongoing change to close the gender gap in superannuation. The superannuation and financial services industries have the knowledge, capacity and opportunities to make a real difference to closing this gap.
The SMSFA and FSC will continue to advocate for ongoing policy change and proactive industry practices and innovation to closing the gender gap in superannuation.
Andrea Slattery, CEO, SMSF Association & Sally Loane, CEO, Financial Services Council
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About the Financial Services Council
The Financial Services Council (FSC) has over 100 members representing Australia's retail and wholesale funds management businesses, superannuation funds, life insurers, financial advisory networks and licensed trustee companies. The industry is responsible for investing more than $2.7 trillion on behalf of 13 million Australians. The pool of funds under management is larger than Australia’s GDP and the capitalisation of the Australian Securities Exchange and is the fourth largest pool of managed funds in the world. The FSC promotes best practice for the financial services industry by setting mandatory Standards for its members and providing Guidance Notes to assist in operational efficiency.
About the SMSF Association
The SMSF Association is the authoritative voice for the self-managed superannuation fund sector. The Association, which represents professionals providing a range of services across various disciplines in the complex area of SMSFs as well as directly engaging trustees to become better educated and informed. The SMSF Association is an advocate for the highest professional standards and competence of professionals to ensure SMSF trustees always receive the best possible advice for their future retirement plans.