Breaking the bias for female fund members

Updated 9 March 2022

We want to help all our members build a better future through their superannuation.

As a members-first fund, we commit to working with our members to understand their goals and the challenges they may face on the road to retirement.

For the female members of our fund, we know these challenges are unique and often place them at a distinctive disadvantage when it comes to their financial futures. The costs of unpaid labour as a parent, together with the impact of pay inequality, amount to women retiring with less than their male counterparts.

Our fund’s strong representation of women in leadership positions allows us to understand the challenges women face and suggest strategies our members can implement to address the financial inequalities they face. 

Super Essentials for Women webinar

In celebration of International Women’s Day and this year’s theme of #BreakTheBias, we held a Super Essentials for Women webinar on 8 March 2022 to discuss the unique characteristics of women’s superannuation accounts. 

The webinar was hosted by our CEO Kate Farrar, who was joined by some of our fund's female leaders to discuss the challenges that many women face with superannuation, and what can be done to overcome them.

What makes us different

Breaking down the barriers that women face on the road to retirement begins in the boardroom of financial service companies, says LGIAsuper and Energy Super CEO Kate Farrar. 

The latest available data from the Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows less than one third (28.9%) of key management personnel in the financial sector are female, which is 1.6% lower than the average across all industries.

Ms Farrar said that outperforming industry averages for gender inclusion in senior leadership roles enables our fund to better understand the unique challenges women face when saving for retirement.

“More than one third of our executive team and our Board are women, which is an achievement we are incredibly proud of,” she said.

“We want to help all of our members build a better future, and we know that in the case of women’s superannuation this requires a different way of thinking.”

“By ensuring we have women in leadership positions, we can champion a diversity of voices to better understand our member’s varied life experiences,” Ms Farrar said.

Why does this matter now more than ever?

Ms Farrar said it was especially important to consider women’s financial futures post-COVID-19.

“Since April 2020, data shows* Australian women have withdrawn a total of $13 billion from their retirement savings, with over 300,000 of these women having completely emptied their accounts,” she said.

“What we don’t want to see happen is these women reaching retirement age and having to work or rely on the age pension to avoid experiencing poverty.” 

We’re here to help

We offer a range of services and resources to help our members understand how they can make the most out of their super.

These include our educational seminars and webinars, online tutorials such as Women and Superannuation, financial advice and no-cost Super Health Checks   

For superannuation advice, information and assistance, please contact us on 1800 444 396.

* Data from https://aifs.gov.au/publications/covid-19-early-release-superannuation-through-family-lens