Last Friday, SMC launched a new report Unfinished business: Fixing gaps in the Super Guarantee alongside Carers Australia, COTA, Women in Super and Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek. The event in Sydney highlighted the fact that more than one million Australians still miss out on super simply because of who they are or the work they do.
Carers is one group particularly excluded from super. SMC analysis showing a typical 45‑year‑old carer who pauses their career to provide 24/7 care for a loved one can miss out on around $45,000 by retirement.
This is not a gender-neutral issue. More than 70% of Carer Payment recipients are women, given women are far more likely to take on informal caring responsibilities across their lives. The result? Another structural driver of the gender super gap.
Paying the Super Guarantee on the Carer Payment would deliver more than $3,000 a year in super contributions to over 300,000 unpaid carers while they’re providing care. Thanks to the power of compound returns, those relatively small contributions today translate into much stronger retirement outcomes tomorrow.
We’ve seen this movie before. Ending the $450-a-month threshold and introducing super on paid parental leave showed how targeted reforms can close long-standing gaps in the system.
Extending super to carers is the next logical step.
This reform recognises the economic value of care — work that would otherwise fall back on already stretched health and aged care systems. It would improve retirement outcomes for some of the most vulnerable Australians. And over time, it would reduce pressure on the Age Pension.
SMC’s report also highlights gaps for under-18 workers and gig economy workers, warning many of this latter group of Australians in app-based and contractor roles continue to miss out on super because they fall outside traditional employment definitions.
Creating a pathway for super in gig work would mean around 184,000 gig workers would receive an average of $2,220 a year in super — supporting a typical young gig worker to retire with around $38,000 more in super.
Super works best when it is truly universal. Fixing the gaps isn’t just about fairness, It’s smart policy.
