STATEMENTS BY SENATORS
Senator HUME (Victoria) (13:36): I rise today to speak about something that every Australian mother has experienced: the motherhood penalty. This phenomenon is a significant driver of the gender pay gap and the gender super gap because, when a mother takes time away from her work to raise children, her superannuation savings often stall for years while her partner's can continue to grow.
On average, women retire with around 25 per cent less superannuation. That's a gap of around $53,000 at retirement. This disparity is the motherhood penalty in action.
As the Prime Minister himself has said, no mother should be penalised for taking time away from work to do the most important job that there is. I wholeheartedly agree with the Prime Minister on this issue. That's why I've introduced the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Tackling the Gender Super Gap) Bill into the parliament.
My bill goes to the heart of fairness. It goes to the heart of equity and is recognition of the sacrifices that are made in Australian families. It's a structural reform that gives spouses and couples the opportunity to split their collective superannuation balances between them.
Not every couple will take up this opportunity, and that is okay. It's only an option. It's a choice.
It'd be flexibility that we'd build into the system. It's about starting that conversation to recognise the unpaid labour, the broken work patterns and the professional sacrifices that so often fall to women. Families should have the option to share what they've built together.
Minister Gallagher has said that Labor does not believe women should be penalised with financial insecurity in retirement just because they take on these important caring roles. If that's the case and the government are truly serious about fairness, then they will back me in making super splitting a law. I look forward to debating the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Tackling the Gender Super Gap) Bill in this chamber and getting support from right around the chamber.
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