Women and superannuation

Women need to be able to provide for their retirement during their working lives. Research has shown that superannuation savings are considerably lower for women than for men. Strategies to overcome this imbalance include policies which support superannuation savings for women. It also means ensuring that superannuation information is conveyed well to women during different stages of their life cycle.

The Australian Government’s Office for Women in partnership with the Australian Taxation Office has developed the brochure Women and Superannuation – taking control of your future.

The brochure will assist women in understanding the Australian Government’s superannuation initiatives (including the Better Super reforms) through effective communication of basic superannuation messages to women during their different life stages.

The topics in the brochure are often relevant to women under 40 years of age, such as: superannuation splitting; co-contributions; salary sacrificing; starting a new job; taking time off work to raise children; separation and divorce; planning for retirement; and finding lost superannuation.

If you would like a hard copy of the brochure please call National Mailing and Marketing on 1800 050 009 or alternatively call the Australian Taxation Office on 1300 720 092.

Effectively communicating superannuation and financial literacy messages to women

Women have very different financial needs than men and are more likely to require financial intervention or life stage financial advice. In addition, women access information differently to men and can respond differently to the same information.

The Commonwealth, States, Territories and New Zealand Ministers’ Conference on the Status of Women (MINCO) has developed the discussion paper Effectively communicating superannuation and financial literacy messages to women during their different life-stages and an accompanying summary guide Your guide to effectively communicating superannuation and financial literacy messages to women.

These documents aim to assist a wide range of organisations developing information about superannuation, including policy makers, community organisations and financial institutions with best-practice advice on how to better develop financial information specifically targeted at women.

If you would like to request a hard copy of the summary guide please call National Mail and Marketing on 1800 050 009.

Useful links

• SuperGuru
  A consumer guide to superannuation issues and resources, from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.
• ASFA Dictionary of Superannuation
  The ASFA has a range of resources on superannuation including statistics and information on fund management and investment decisions.
• Australian Tax Office - Superannuation
  A website providing information on superannuation. Topics include: choice of superannuation fund, lost superannuation, self-managed funds, better super and general superannuation information. The website includes fact sheets, calculators and online services.
• Smarter Super
  This site from the Australian Bankers Association has a number of booklets dealing with a broad range of financial issues.
• Superannuation Complaints Tribunal
  The Tribunal is an independent dispute resolution body which deals with a diverse range of superannuation-related complaints and offers a free, 'user-friendly' alternative to the court system.  They also have a large collection of brochures on this topic which can be downloaded from their website.