As Coalition struggles with women, Hume pitches plan to fix super gap

Prominent Liberal moderate Jane Hume is pitching a new plan to make the Coalition relevant to Australian women, proposing to make it easier for more spouses with big superannuation balances to transfer retirement income to their partners.

Women retire with super balances 20 per cent lower than men, fuelling disadvantage among older women, many of whom took time out of the workforce when caring for children or elderly parents.

In her first major policy move since being dumped from the shadow cabinet, Hume, a former minister for superannuation, will use her freedom as a backbencher to put a spotlight on a pro-women policy as the opposition searches for fresh ideas after their election drubbing.

Current rules – including allowing tax offsets only when a spouse’s income is below $40,000 – make it difficult to transfer superannuation into a spouses’ account. Only 1 per cent of Australians transferred superannuation to spouses in 2021-22.

Hume said loosening the rules would, for example, make it easier to top up a partner’s super as they took time out of the workforce, allowing their balance to keep compounding at a healthy level until retirement.

“The goal here is not to penalise men or privilege women. It is about acknowledging the value of caregiving and ensuring that those who take on these vital responsibilities are not financially disadvantaged in retirement,” Hume was due to say in a speech on Thursday introducing a private members’ bill into the Senate.

“A more equitable superannuation system benefits not just women, but families, communities and the economy as a whole.”

“The gender super gap isn’t going to close on its own. It requires deliberate, equitable policy interventions like the one set out in this bill.”

The gender gap in average weekly earnings closed from 18.5 per cent in 2014 to 11.5 per cent in 2025, but the superannuation gap has shrunk much more slowly.

Joining up balances would not have a major effect on the combined balance of the couple, assuming they generated the same investment returns, but Hume’s proposal would remove tax disincentives for transfers and also help lower-earning spouses in the case of divorce.

Hume was shifted out of the shadow cabinet after the election, in part over her campaign blunders over work-from-home policies and an inaccurate remark about Chinese spies that was weaponised by Labor in the final week. She was also a part of the opposition’s economic team as finance spokeswoman.

Despite that, a significant number of Hume’s colleagues in both factions believe she should have remained in a senior role due to her appeal to city voters.

Hume has emerged as arguably the most outspoken Liberal moderate in the party after several of her factional colleagues, including David Coleman and Keith Wolahan, lost their seats.

Hume has engaged in arguments with conservative MPs over the net zero target in party room meetings, in which she has argued in favour of the Coalition retaining the policy.

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