Australia's retirement income system will continue to be a failure to future generations of women if there is no substantial structural reform, Industry Super Australia (ISA) believes.
Women's lower earnings and disrupted work patterns compound into a much larger gap of 47 per cent, ISA's chief executive, David Whiteley said referring to the Australian Bureau of Statistics latest figures for the year 2013/14 on super savings.
"Without substantial structural reform in a number of areas, our retirement income system will continue to fail future generations of women. In a relatively wealthy country like Australia, this is unacceptable," Whiteley said.
"The government is to be congratulated on its preparedness to consider re-balancing super tax concessions. This would be a significant step in increasing the super savings of millions of Australian women."
Whiteley noted the lowest paid, mainly women, receive no tax concessions and effectively suffer a 14 per cent reduction in their super income due to the fact they pay more tax on super than on their income.
ISA said it hopes the government will review recent changes to the age pension asset test, the abolition of the Low Income Super Contribution, and the freeze in the scheduled increase of the super guarantee.
The Future Fund’s CIO Ben Samild has announced his resignation, with his deputy to assume the role of interim CIO.
The fund has unveiled reforms to streamline death benefit payments, cut processing times, and reduce complexity.
A ratings firm has placed more prominence on governance in its fund ratings, highlighting that it’s not just about how much money a fund makes today, but whether the people running it are trustworthy, disciplined, and able to deliver for members in the future.
AMP has reached an agreement in principle to settle a landmark class action over fees charged to members of its superannuation funds, with $120 million earmarked for affected members.