advocating for equality
HESTA stands up for all Australians and advocates for an equal future.
Join uswhy we advocate for equality
We use our collective voice to help address inequities impacting our members, those we see falling behind, and all Australians. HESTA advocates to advance fair financial outcomes for Australians in their retirement and throughout their working life, by addressing systemic issues that risk financial security.
when the pay gap creates a super gap, it takes a super fund with impact to help shrink it
That's why HESTA is standing up for all Australians and advocating for an equal future.
advocating for real-world change
Equity in super
Why it matters
The super system should allow our members, and all Australians, to retire with confidence. But some face inequitable outcomes. Low-income earners, for example, receive fewer super tax concessions than high income earners, and continue to pay more tax on their super contributions than their wages.
The low-income super tax offset (LISTO) is a federal government tax rebate of up to $500 to eligible low-income earners (on less than $37,000 per year). The LISTO was designed so that low-income earners do not pay more tax on their super contributions than on their take-home pay.
What we're advocating for
- Extending the LISTO eligibility to those earning up to the top of the second tax bracket of $45,000 per year, so that lower-paid workers would have higher super savings, especially women and workers in regional and rural areas.
- Introducing an additional payment, equal to 15% of concessional contributions, for individuals with taxable incomes below the effective tax-free threshold.
40:40 Vision
Why it matters
40:40 Vision is an initiative led by HESTA, supported by industry partners, to pursue diversity in executive leadership in ASX300 companies.
40:40 Vision will see ASX300 companies pledging their commitment and putting plans in place to drive and embed structural change across their organisation and the ASX300. To support this goal, 40:40 Vision will track gender split across all companies and against the 40:40:20 target and recognise signatories and how they are tracking against their pathway targets. 40:40 Vision seeks to move beyond tokenism and is encouraging companies to set and publicly report on progress against composition targets for executive leadership.
What we're advocating for
- ASX300 companies to set medium and long-term targets for their executive leadership teams, with a pledge to achieve gender balance by 2030.
Super on paid parental leave
Why it matters
Paying super on the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme will help our members add much-needed dollars to their retirement accounts, narrowing the gender super gap and making Australia’s super system fairer.
We believe all parents should be confident their super can keep growing as their families grow. Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave is the only commonly taken form of paid leave that currently doesn’t include super payments. Women take 86%1 of paid primary carers' leave, and this important equity measure will give Australian women's retirement savings a much-needed boost, helping to close the gender super gap.
Progress for super on paid parental leave
- After more than 13 years of tireless campaigning, we are delighted that the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024 has been passed by parliament. This means super will be paid on the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme from 1 July 2025.
- By paying super on the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme, the government has committed to making real progress on boosting women’s financial security in retirement.
how we advocate for real world change
We take a stand to address systemic issues that risk financial security for Australians and seek relevant changes or development of laws, regulations, standards or guidelines that aim to advance broad improvements across the economy or sectors of the economy.
We engage with decision makers and contribute to applicable policy debates directly and through our membership of collective organisations including the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia and the Super Members Council of Australia, and we contribute to public policy as part of our advocacy work.
super with impact™
At HESTA, we invest in and for people who make our world better.
Super with impact™ is the positive outcome we create by supporting our members to face the future with confidence, being a gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community, and delivering investment excellence with impact.
Facing the future
with confidence
We use our deep understanding of our members to design information, tools and support to make a meaningful impact on their confidence about the future.
Gutsy advocate for a fair and healthy community
We use our collective voice to help address inequities impacting our members and those we see falling behind.
Investment excellence with impact
We use our expertise and influence to deliver strong long-term returns while accelerating our contribution to a more sustainable world.
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1 WGEA Scorecard 2022-23: ‘The state of gender equality in Australia’, p6.
* SuperRatings 10 Year Platinum Performance 2014-2024 (MySuper).