POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Timeframe shortens to achieve gender equality in super
The Financy Women’s Index (FWX) has revealed a new time frame to achieve gender equality in superannuation, down to 33 years.
According to recent figures from the Financy Women’s Index in the 2022 September quarter, the time frame to narrow the gender gap in superannuation continued to improve.
From previous predictions of 33 years at the start of the year, the FWX now estimated a 19-year time frame to gender equality in this area.
It also recommended superannuation payments be included as part of Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave changes.
The FWX measured the economic progress of women in Australia across seven key areas: superannuation, pay, board leadership, education, unpaid work, employment, and underemployment.
However, while women’s financial progress was tracking higher in 2022, it was still lower year-on-year and the index indicated it would take 23 years to achieve gender financial equality at its current pace.
The superannuation sub-index showed improvements after the gender gap in retirement savings narrowed at the start of the pandemic, as per ABS data released in April. Still, it has the third-highest time frame to economic gender equality after education (139 years) and unpaid work (59 years).
“There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that Australian women fully recover financially from the pandemic and aren’t economically penalised for the choices they make in areas such as education and employment,” noted Bianca Hartge-Hazelman, author of the FWX.
“While it is encouraging that the FWX is tracking stronger in 2022, up 0.2 points, it is still concerning that, in annual terms, the FWX remains 1.6 points lower than the record 75-points achieved in September 2021 and September 2020.”
The FWX area with the smallest time frame was board leadership at 6.1 years, down from 6.2 in the June quarter.
AUTHOR
Rhea Nath
Rhea L Nath is a journalist on Super Review and InvestorDaily, with a focus on funds management, superannuation, and institutional investment. Previously, she covered small business and entrepreneurship news at Dynamic Business and multicultural issues at Indian Link Media Group. In 2022, she was named Young Journalist of the Year at the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Communications Awards.
Recommended for you
In its pre-election policy document, the FSC highlighted 15 priority reforms, with superannuation featuring prominently, urging both major parties to avoid changing super taxes without a comprehensive tax review.
The Grattan Institute has labelled the Australian super system as “too complicated” and has proposed a three-pronged reform strategy to simplify superannuation in retirement.
Super funds delivered a strong 2024 result, with the median growth fund returning 11.4 per cent, driven by strong international sharemarket performance, new data has shown.
Australian Ethical has seen FUM growth of 27 per cent in the financial year to date.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI Second Close
36.43 3 y p.a(%)
2
Spire Oaktree Opportunities XI First Close USD
35.08 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
31.72 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
29.60 3 y p.a(%)
5
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
27.64 3 y p.a(%)
