A Major Step for Gender Equality

We took a big step forward on gender equality in 2024 with the Government legislating to pay super on paid parental leave. Until this year, parental leave was the only form of leave which did not attract super. As the Chair of Women in Super, which has advocated for this change for many years, this is an incredibly important change beyond the additional estimated extra $20,000 in retirement savings for the average mother of two.  

By attaching more economic value to the hours worked in undertaking primary care of a couple’s children, we have done more than rectify an unfair and sexist policy setting for a type of leave which traditionally was only taken by women. 

The transformation of maternity leave into parental leave will have a compounding effect for gender equality. Everything that can be done to encourage more fathers to be involved in the primary care of their children will break down a structural impediment to women’s equality and to their participation in paid work and leadership roles.  

Indeed, WGEA data shows that paid parental leave is contributing to breaking down of gendered norms about the ideal worker and carer – in the last 5 years male utilisation of employer funded paid parental leave in Australia has increased from 6% to 17%. 

As a CEO, I am so proud of the additional parental leave benefits our workplace provides and have seen increased take up by men, including men in more senior roles, to be involved in the primary care of their children.  

A resource that has been valuable in my leadership journey is Breaking the Boss Bias by Catherine Fox – a must-read! 

Robbie Campo is the CEO of Emergency Services and State Super, a profit-to-member fund serving Victorian emergency services and state employees. ESSSuper has 125,000 members and around $37B in DB and accumulation assets. She has worked as an executive in the superannuation industry for over two decades.   

Robbie is passionate about the fundamental purpose of superannuation; to maximise the retirement outcomes of Australians and ensure that hard-earned contributions made throughout their working lives create financial security in their post-working years. A key priority for her is to see systemic improvements for women’s economic and retirement outcomes and women’s equal participation in the superannuation system.   

Robbie is also a Non-Executive Director and member of the Audit and Risk Committee at Victoria Legal Aid, and is the Chair of Women in Super.