super needs changes says Morrison

Superannuation system needs to change to address gender gap, Treasurer Scott Morrison says
By political reporter Eliza Borrello
Posted about 8 hours ago

"PHOTO: Scott Morrison said he was keenly aware of the need to address the gender superannuation gap. (AAP: Lukas Coch - file image)

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison says he is keenly aware of the need to address the gap between the superannuation savings of men and women.
"The system at the moment, it can be quite rigid," Mr Morrison told Macquarie Radio.
Numerous studies have revealed men retire with significantly more money in their superannuation accounts than women.
One of the factors behind the gap is that many women are not paid superannuation when they take time out of the workforce to raise children.
"People over the course of their working life can have their work patterns disrupted," Mr Morrison said.
"For women in particular, that's been known for a long time — but it's not just women, as you know, it's a lot of carers as well.
"We need to have a superannuation system that I think reflects that, those changes in people's lives.
"There's many different pathways to get to where we want to get to, which is independence in retirement and the system at the moment, it can be quite rigid."
Labor senator Jenny McAllister is on a parliamentary committee investigating the issue and has welcomed Mr Morrison's comments, but wanted to see a detailed plan addressing the causes of the superannuation gap.
"Some of the ideas that have been put before the committee include paying superannuation on maternity and paternity leave, having a look at the tax arrangements to make sure that people on low incomes are genuinely getting a tax concession when they put money into super," she said.
"And of course we have a long-term commitment to raising the overall level of superannuation contributions each year."

My observations: It will be interesting to see what Morrison comes up with. I also noticed in the article the following comments from a Deloitte Access Economics report.

"A Deloitte Access Economics report said a flat rate tax concession of 15 cents in the dollar for superannuation savings could raise about $6 billion in government revenue.
The report said existing concessions give big breaks to high-income earners while disadvantaging poor people.
Chris Richardson from Deloitte said the existing concessions are unfair and need to be simplified.
"You could give everyone the same tax advantage out of a dollar going into super a concession of 15 cents in the dollar whether you are a prince or a pauper, and at the same time doing that would generate a reform dividend of about $6 billion a year," he said."