Summary
In Australia, women typically reach retirement with 20–40% less super than men, due to pay gaps, career breaks, part-time work, and system design. Recent changes like super on Paid Parental Leave help, but targeted contributions, smart fund choices, and settlement decisions in separations remain essential to narrowing the gap.
Women's Super Gap Snapshot and Action Plan. Download Free Guide.
Introduction
For women in the Sutherland Shire and Sydney CBD, the superannuation system applies the same rules to everyone, but outcomes differ markedly by gender. Lower lifetime earnings, unpaid care, and career breaks translate into systematically lower balances by retirement.
This article explains what the gender super gap is, why it persists, and which levers women can realistically use in 2025–26 to improve retirement outcomes. It is general information only, not personal advice or legal guidance.
It connects with:
- What is Superannuation and How Does It Work? (system and tax settings)
- How to Grow Your Super Balance (contribution and investment strategy)
- Super Contribution Rules 2025 and Tax Benefits of Super Contributions (caps and tax treatment)
- Super for the Self-Employed (for women running businesses or contracting)
- Super and Divorce / Relationship Splits (super in property settlements)
- Ethical & Sustainable Super Funds (aligning values and retirement planning)
James Hayes is an ASIC-licensed financial planner (opens in a new tab) based in Caringbah, advising clients across the Sutherland Shire and Sydney CBD on super, retirement, and SMSFs. He does not assist with Centrelink Jobseeker support, debt consolidation using super, or schemes aimed at early access.
What Is the Gender Super Gap?
The gender superannuation gap is the difference between the super balances of women and men at a given age. It reflects differences in pay, hours worked, time out of the workforce, and use of the system over many years.
Recent figures show:
- ASFA analysis of ATO data to June 2023 (opens in a new tab) estimates average balances of $192,119 for men and $154,641 for women, a gap of around 19.5% across all ages.
- KPMG reports median balances (opens in a new tab) for men aged 60–64 at $204,107 and women at $146,900, a gap of 28% in the years just before retirement.
- Other studies summarised by ANZ (opens in a new tab) suggest women close to retirement typically hold 20–25% less super than men.
The gap varies by industry, income level, and relationship history, but it is consistently present.
If you’re unsure how your own balance compares, the
Women's Super Gap Snapshot and Action Plan. Download Free Guide.
includes a simple snapshot tool to check whether your super is roughly on track for your age group.
Why Does the Super Gap Exist?
The gap is not caused by a single factor. It accumulates from multiple structural elements across a working life.
The 2025 Status of Women Report Card (opens in a new tab) notes that the national median gender pay gap in 2025 is 11.9%, meaning women earn about 88.1 cents for each dollar earned by men. Superannuation is tied to employment income, so this pay gap directly influences contributions.
WGEA’s paper on Women’s Economic Security In Retirement (opens in a new tab) highlights that the super system assumes continuous, full-time work over many years, which often does not match women’s actual work patterns.
Drivers include:
- Lower average pay in many female-dominated industries
- More part-time or casual work
- Longer and more frequent breaks for unpaid caring
- Lower access to bonuses and variable pay that attract additional super
- Relationship breakdowns where super is not considered carefully in settlements
Each driver can be managed in different ways, which the rest of this article addresses.
If you want help identifying the main drivers behind your own gap, download the
Women's Super Gap Snapshot and Action Plan. Download Free Guide.
. It includes a checklist to identify which factors—like pay, work pattern, or life events—have influenced your balance the most.
Pay, Hours, and the Design of the Super System
Superannuation contributions are generally a percentage of ordinary time earnings (opens in a new tab). That means lower pay and fewer hours flow directly into lower contributions.
The WGEA 2025 Employer Gender Pay Gaps (opens in a new tab) report confirms:
- A national median gender pay gap of 18.6%
- 72.2% of employers reporting a pay gap favouring men
- Significant gaps in finance, mining, and construction, sectors that also pay higher super amounts in dollar terms
Super law itself is neutral, but when the contribution formula is applied to unequal pay patterns, the outcome is unequal balances.
Women working part-time also accumulate less super, even if their hourly rates match men’s. Previous rules excluding workers earning under $450 per month from Super Guarantee contributions were abolished from 1 July 2022 (opens in a new tab), which improved coverage for low-income and casual workers, particularly women.
Career Breaks, Parental Leave, and Unpaid Care
Unpaid care is one of the largest contributors to the gender super gap.
WGEA notes that women are more likely to take extended time out of paid work (opens in a new tab) for child-rearing and other care responsibilities, often during years when earnings would otherwise be rising most strongly. During breaks from paid work, Super Guarantee contributions typically stop unless employers or partners make specific arrangements.
From 1 July 2025, the Australian Government will pay super contributions on its Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme (opens in a new tab). Eligible parents with babies born or adopted on or after that date will receive an additional super contribution equal to 12% of their PPL payment, paid into their nominated fund.
This measure is expected to add around $5,100 in super per child, or about $14,500 for a mother of two by retirement, depending on returns. It helps, but it does not address periods of unpaid care beyond the PPL scheme, nor differences in pay or hours.
For women planning time out of the workforce, contribution strategies and partner arrangements become critical. These are covered later and in more depth in How to Grow Your Super Balance.
Divorce, Separation, and the Super Gap
Relationship breakdown can widen the super gap if super is overlooked in negotiations. Super is property under the Family Law Act 1975 (opens in a new tab) and can be split between spouses or de facto partners via agreement or court order.
If one partner has spent more time in unpaid care and holds much less super, a settlement that ignores super can entrench the disparity. Conversely, appropriate super splits or offsets can rebalance retirement resources between partners.
Mechanics, time frames, and SMSF issues are handled in Super and Divorce / Relationship Splits. Here, the key point is that super needs explicit attention when negotiating property settlements.
Women, Longevity, and Retirement Adequacy
Australian women live longer on average than men, which increases the number of years that retirement savings must support. ABS and industry data show women have higher life expectancy (opens in a new tab) and are more likely to spend the later stages of life alone (opens in a new tab).
At the same time:
- KPMG (opens in a new tab) reports that women aged 60–64 have median balances around $146,900, compared with $204,107 for men.
- The Status of Women Report Card 2024 (opens in a new tab) put 60–64-year-old women’s pre-retirement balances at 25.1% below men’s.
- For all working ages (18–59), the average balance gap narrowed (opens in a new tab) by only 4 percentage points over seven years (from 28% to 24% by 2020–21).
- However, for women in their 30s, the gap has not narrowed at all (opens in a new tab), remaining stagnant at approximately 20%.
Longer life expectancy and smaller balances create a straightforward mathematical challenge. Bridging even part of the gap can have a material effect on sustainable retirement income, especially for women aged 55–65.
Retirement income strategies and drawdown planning are explained in Accessing Your Super (Before & After Retirement) and Superannuation Death Benefits.
Checking Your Own Position
Gap awareness starts with accurate information. For women in their late 30s through to their 60s, an objective stocktake is the first step.
Useful actions include:
- Using myGov linked to the ATO to view all super accounts, including any lost (opens in a new tab) or ATO-held super (opens in a new tab)
- Reviewing balances, fees, investment options, and insurance for each fund
- Confirming Super Guarantee is being paid correctly for each role, particularly for contractors who may be treated as employees for super purposes
You can then decide whether to consolidate multiple accounts, once you have checked the insurance implications and any legacy features. The mechanics and risks of consolidation are explained in Rolling Over Super Funds.
Investment risk settings and ethical preferences can be reviewed with the help of How to Grow Your Super Balance and Ethical & Sustainable Super Funds.
Contribution Strategies That Target the Super Gap
The super rules themselves do not differ by gender, but some strategies are particularly relevant for women due to income patterns, career breaks, and family arrangements.
Key levers, all subject to contribution caps and eligibility rules in Super Contribution Rules 2025, include:
- Personal concessional contributions: Extra before-tax contributions (including salary sacrifice) up to the concessional cap, usually taxed at 15% in the fund.
- Catch-up concessional contributions: Using unused cap amounts from the previous five years if your total super balance is below the relevant threshold.
- Non-concessional contributions: After-tax contributions to boost balances where cashflow allows.
- Government co-contribution: For eligible low and middle-income earners who make personal (non-deducted) contributions.
- Low Income Super Tax Offset (LISTO): A refund of contributions tax, up to a capped amount, for low-income earners.
- Spouse contributions and contribution splitting:– A higher-earning partner boosts, or redirects, contributions to the lower-balance partner
The tax mechanics and numerical comparisons are covered in Tax Benefits of Super Contributions. Here, the focus is on the fact that contribution splitting and spouse contributions can directly narrow the gap between partners’ balances.
If you’d like a structured way to choose which contribution levers suit your situation, the
Women's Super Gap Snapshot and Action Plan. Download Free Guide.
provides a list of options and helps you narrow it down to a few realistic next steps.
Women Who Are Self-employed or Contracting
Many women in the Sutherland Shire and Sydney CBD run businesses or work as contractors. When you are genuinely self-employed, there is no employer required to pay Super Guarantee for you. You are responsible for organising contributions from business or contracting income.
The ATO confirms that since 1 July 2022, Super Guarantee applies to most employees regardless of monthly earnings, but this does not cover genuine sole traders or partners unless specific arrangements are in place.
For self-employed women, helpful steps often include:
- Setting a baseline percentage of business profit to contribute to super each quarter
- Using personal deductible contributions to manage tax and build balances
- Employing catch-up concessional contributions in stronger years
These patterns, and how they interact with company or trust structures and SMSFs, are covered in Super for the Self-Employed and Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSFs) Explained.
SMSFs, Business Property, and the Super Gap
Self-managed super funds can be used by women who want more control over investments, including business real property, direct shares, or particular ethical strategies. For some couples, moving to an SMSF can also highlight balance differences and prompt more deliberate contribution sharing.
At the same time, SMSFs introduce:
- Higher administrative and compliance responsibilities
- Strict rules on sole purpose, related-party transactions, and in-house assets
- Additional complexity if relationships later end, especially where property or private assets are involved
These topics are handled in SMSF Investment Rules 2025 and SMSF Compliance & Administration. SMSFs are a tool. They do not automatically solve the gender gap and can introduce extra risk if governance is weak.
Strategies by Life Stage
The same rules apply at every age, but priorities differ.
Ages 35–50
For women in their peak earning years, the focus is usually on:
- Ensuring Super Guarantee is correct for all roles
- Minimising the number of low-balance accounts and unnecessary fees
- Using salary sacrifice or personal concessional contributions where cashflow permits
- Planning contributions around expected career breaks or part-time periods
- Considering spouse contributions or contribution splitting in households with uneven incomes
These ideas sit within the broader accumulation frameworks in How to Grow Your Super Balance.
Ages 55–65
For women closer to retirement, priority tends to shift to:
- Assessing whether current balances support a desired retirement income
- Considering targeted catch-up contributions, if eligibility criteria are met
- Reviewing investment risk ahead of moving into pension phase
- Re-examining estate planning, death benefit nominations, and insurance
This is also where the consequences of earlier decisions – including any super splits from relationship breakdowns – become fully visible. Detailed retirement income planning is covered in Accessing Your Super (Before & After Retirement) and Superannuation Death Benefits.
How James Hayes Works with Women on Super Gap Issues
Within this broader legal and policy environment, James focuses on:
- Mapping current super balances, income patterns, and contribution history.
- Identifying gaps between current trajectory and retirement income needs.
- Structuring contribution and investment strategies consistent with Super Contribution Rules 2025 and Tax Benefits of Super Contributions.
- Coordinating advice for women who are self-employed, in SMSFs, or affected by relationship splits, using the related cluster articles as reference frameworks
He does not provide services related to Centrelink Jobseeker support, debt consolidation via super, or early-release schemes. Book a complimentary 15-minute call with him (opens in a new tab).
FAQs
How big is the gender super gap in Australia?
Estimates vary by data source and age group, but studies commonly show women near retirement having around 20–30% less super than men. For example, KPMG reports median balances of $204,107 for men and $146,900 for women aged 60–64, a gap of 28%, based on recent Australian data.
Why do women retire with less super than men?
Key reasons include lower average pay, more part-time or casual work, longer career breaks for caring, and fewer years in senior roles. Super is tied to employment income and assumes near-continuous full-time work, which often does not match women’s work patterns. Relationship breakdowns and longer life expectancy can widen the gap further.
Will super on government Paid Parental Leave close the super gap?
Super on government Paid Parental Leave from 1 July 2025 will help, but only partially. Eligible parents receive a 12% super contribution on their PPL payments, which may add roughly $5,000–7,000 per child by retirement. This improves outcomes, yet does not fully offset extended periods of unpaid or part-time care.
What can couples do to reduce differences between their super balances?
Couples can consider strategies such as spouse contributions, contribution splitting from the higher earner to the lower-balance partner, and deliberate sharing of voluntary contributions. In separation, super should be explicitly valued and included in property settlements. Formal legal documents and independent advice are important when implementing super splits or offsets.
I work part-time. Does my employer still have to pay super?
In most cases, yes. Since 1 July 2022, the $450-per-month threshold has been removed, so eligible employees should receive Super Guarantee contributions regardless of monthly earnings. Exceptions can apply for very young workers or contractors, so it is important to check ATO guidance and your specific contract.
How can a woman in her 50s catch up on super?
Options may include maximising concessional contributions up to the cap, using catch-up concessional amounts if eligible, making non-concessional contributions, and reviewing investment settings. The right combination depends on income, total super balance, and time to retirement. Modelling can show how these strategies interact with tax and Age Pension considerations.
Does using an SMSF help close the gender super gap?
An SMSF provides control over investments and contribution decisions but does not automatically reduce the gap. The effect depends on how contributions are shared, how investments are chosen, and how relationship and estate issues are managed. SMSFs also introduce additional compliance duties and costs, which must be weighed carefully.
Should I focus on paying off the home or building my super if I am behind?
Both housing security and super are important. The right balance depends on age, mortgage size, interest rates, and current super levels. Many people prioritise essential housing costs, then use surplus cashflow for tax-effective super contributions. Scenario modelling can help quantify trade-offs between faster debt reduction and higher retirement income.