Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Every dollar saved for retirement matters. I'm proud that our government is delivering more help to low-income workers with changes to the low-income superannuation tax offset, or LISTO. The government is raising the eligibility threshold from $37,000 to $45,000 from 1 July 2027 and boosting the maximum payment to $810. We are ensuring that the superannuation system is stronger and fairer for low-income workers, many of whom are women and young people. This change will ensure that low-income workers receive a fairer tax concession on their super contribution. The average increase in the LISTO payment will be $410 for affected workers, and workers could receive a potential benefit of around $15,000, depending on the individual's income over their career.

In 2027-28, more than 770,000 Australians will be eligible for the LISTO, and 490,000 Australians will receive a higher LISTO contribution. These changes are meaningful. I meet with women in my electorate of Tangney who work as sales assistants or in the care sector as aged and disability carers. I speak with young people who are balancing work and study. These changes mean that a total of 3.1 million Australians will be eligible for the LISTO. Around 60 per cent of these Australians are women.

The gender super gap is an issue my constituents regularly raise with me. According to research by the Super Members Council, the gender super gap between men and women in my electorate of Tangney is the worst in Western Australia and also in the whole of Australia. As people near retirement, the median super balance of women in Tangney is 41 per cent less than the median super balance of men. The Super Members Council estimates that more than 9,300 people in Tangney will benefit from the LISTO payment. In my electorate of Tangney, 62 per cent of the beneficiaries will be women. The Albanese Labor government is focused on women's economic equality, including action to promote better and greater equity in women's superannuation. Since July, parents have been eligible to receive superannuation on their government funded paid parental leave, a change I'm very proud to have supported. Paying super on government funded paid parental leave will benefit around 180,000 Australian mothers each year. Families in Tangney, including my own, have told me about how important this change is to reduce the super gender gap.

I also want to briefly touch on the legislation the government passed to deliver pay day super. This legislation will be of particular benefit to women who are overrepresented in paid, casual and insecure work. It will also benefit people in Tangney, which has some of the highest rates of unpaid super in Western Australia. The Super Members Council estimated that almost $40 million in super went unpaid in 2020-21.

The Albanese Labor government is working at every point across women's lives to make sure they are earning more and keeping more of what they earn. This is working. The gender pay gap is the lowest on record, and we continue to invest in increased wages, support increases to the minimum wage and deliver tax breaks and important reforms to superannuation.

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