a super system that works for everyone

We're fighting for changes to make the super system work better for you — our members — and everyone who works in health and community services.

In the retirement phase, when it's time to use your hard-earned super, the system can be inflexible and doesn't reflect how people experience retirement today.

Also, because many of our members work part-time or retire early to care for loved ones, they often end up with less super than they deserve.

We want to work with the government to:

1. Make retirement simpler

Currently, many members miss out on tax-free benefits when they retire because the system is too complicated. Our research shows that if you move your super into a retirement account (such as the HESTA Retirement Income Stream) as soon as you're eligible, you could get up to 12% more money in retirement¹. But many people don't know this or find it too hard to do.

We're asking the government to remove certain regulatory barriers so that:

• funds can help members move from accumulation accounts into tax-free retirement accounts as soon as they become eligible
• members can add money to their retirement accounts if they keep working after reaching retirement age  
• people who receive the Age Pension can work more without losing their entitlements.

2. Make super fairer for women and carers. 

We know that:

• women retire on average with 25% less super than men, which is a product of lower wages and higher rates of part-time work due to caring
• 42% of our members spend about 38 hours each week caring for others without pay² 
• taking time off work to care for others can reduce our members’ retirement savings by 16%³.

To improve fairness in the super system and to boost balances for women and carers, we're asking the government to introduce an income tax offset for people returning to work after time spent caring.

We've also told the government that we'll be making future recommendations on a model for crediting people's super accounts during times when their work is interrupted because of caring responsibilities. 

Here's why this matters

Many of our members take time away from paid work to care for children, elderly parents, or family members who are sick. Right now, the super system doesn't recognise this important work. We think it should.

We also know that many of our members want or need to keep working part-time after they reach retirement age. But current rules can make this difficult — sometimes people end up losing most of their extra earnings through taxes and reduced Aged Pension payments.

While Australia has one of the best retirement systems in the world, it needs to change to better match how people really live and work today. We believe that people who spend their lives caring for others deserve a super system that cares for them too.

We're working hard to convince the government to make these changes. We'll keep standing up for our members to get the fair treatment they deserve.

These changes won't happen overnight, but we're committed to making the super system work better for you.

Want to know more?
 

Read our 2026-27 Pre-Budget submission (PDF) >

¹ Laneway Analytics for HESTA, 2025. Note: eligible Australians includes members in APRA regulated funds and excludes members of SMSFs.

² HESTA Work & Life Survey 2024, based on a representative sample of HESTA members (n=2475). 

³ Laneway Analytics, HESTA Unpaid Care Work Findings Report, September 2024.