What the budget means for women

This year’s Federal Budget had some good news for women. Funding has been allocated to various initiatives that could help support women’s financial wellbeing and close the gender gap in super savings. Announcements included payment of super on Paid Parental Leave, salary increases in caring professions and additional support for housing and education. When coupled with changes to superannuation, the budget announcements could make a positive difference to women’s retirement savings.

Payment of super on Paid Parental Leave

The current Paid Parental Leave scheme does not include superannuation. This means parents who take time off to care for a child or children are missing out on building their retirement savings during that period.

In the budget, the government announced that parents with babies born or adopted from 1 July 2025 will receive an extra 12% of their government-funded parental leave as payment to their super fund.

As the responsibility of childcare often falls to women, they can lose out financially. Research released in 2023 by the Australian Institute’s Centre for Future Work showed that women earn $1m less than men and $136,000 less in super over their working life.¹ The change is a win for many, who will be able to continue to save for their retirement while on parental leave.

Support for women in caring professions

In this budget, the government made a commitment to provide funding for a wage increase for the early childhood education and care workforce.² This will follow the process that is currently underway by the Fair Work Commission.³

There will also be Commonwealth Prac Payments to support teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students as they complete unpaid placements required in their course. This will amount to $319.50 per week for eligible students.⁴

Changes to superannuation

Several changes are being made to superannuation that will benefit many Australians. However, as women, on average, have significantly less money saved for their retirement, the changes will also help to close the gender pay gap in retirement savings.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency reports that women retire with, on average, half the superannuation of men. A consequence of this is that women in retirement are more likely to live in poverty than men.⁵ The following changes to super will enable women to grow their retirement savings faster and create greater financial security.

Increases to Super Guarantee

From 1 July 2024, Super Guarantee (SG) contributions will increase from 11 to 11.5%. SG contributions are the compulsory payments your employer pays to your super. The increase means all Australians will save more for their retirement.

SG contributions are scheduled to increase again at 1 July 2025 to 12%.

Preparing for payday super

Employers have until 1 July 2026 to start paying employees super alongside their pay cycle (if not already doing so). Additional support will be provided to help businesses prepare for the move to payday super, including initiatives to support cash flow and reduce payment times.

The change will ensure that employees are not waiting for their super payments and reduces the risk of missing payments altogether.

Other measures announced in the budget

Additional investment in housing

An extra $6.2 billion for social and affordable housing, including an additional $1 billion to States and Territories and $1.9 billion in new funding to deliver a 10% increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance.

The package aims to address Australia’s housing affordability crisis that worsened in 2023 from already challenging levels.⁶ Women over 55 have become the fastest-growing group to experience homelessness.⁷ In 2016, 49,017 women were reported to be homeless, which increased to 53,974 in 2021 (a 10 per cent increase compared to the 2 per cent increase in the number of homeless men).⁸

Ending violence against women

$8.5 million of funding has been allocated for initiatives aimed at early intervention to prevent domestic, family and sexual violence. It is estimated that 1 in 4 women (27%) in Australia experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15 years (ABS Personal Safety Survey 2021-22).⁹

Would you like to discuss your super?

If you would like to discuss how any of the recent budget announcements may impact your super, why not chat to one of our NGS Super Specialists?

Our Super Specialists are here to help. It's free, and they can answer your questions about superannuation, investments, insurance or transition to retirement. They can also help you decide the next steps, including deciding if meeting with an NGS financial planner is right for you.

Our financial planners can create strategies that aim to maximise your financial position and meet your objectives for the future. Financial advice can also involve protecting your lifestyle and assets through personal insurance and looking at what happens to your super when you die and the impact on your loved ones receiving your super.

Seeking advice is a way to plan for your future, to mitigate risks and make the most of your saving opportunities. Education is integral to the planning process — it's important that you feel confident and informed at all times.