Rest outlines 10 recommendations to make superannuation fairer and encourage new investment opportunities

Rest, one of Australia’s largest profit-to-member superannuation funds, is calling on the Australian Government to implement critical reforms to make the super system work more fairly for all Australians, particularly young workers, women and part-time and casual workers.

Rest today released its 2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission, which outlines 10 key recommendations for Government that aim to provide fairer and more equitable retirement outcomes for the fund’s members and have a positive impact on the world they will retire into.

Rest’s priority recommendation is that the Government extend the Superannuation Guarantee to all under-18 workers, including those working less than 30 hours per week, with an appropriate transition period for businesses.

The fund is also calling for urgent progress on reforms to financial advice and retirement, as well as a review into the introduction of ‘Superannuation Carer Credits’ for periods of unpaid caring work.

Rest Chief Executive Officer Vicki Doyle says most Australians believe it’s unfair that under-18 workers are not eligible for the Superannuation Guarantee, and the law must change.¹

“We represent over 1 million young members under the age of 30, and we want all young workers to have a fair start with super. The change we propose will provide that fair start and financially benefit countless young workers right from the start of their working lives,” says Ms Doyle.

“All workers should be eligible for super. Imagine 2 teenage casual workers, one aged 17 and the other 19, each working 20 hours per week. It doesn’t make sense that one is eligible for the Superannuation Guarantee, and the other is not.

“Modelling by the Super Members Council has shown that the average under-18 worker could boost their balance at retirement by around $10,000 if they earned super regardless of how many hours they work.²

“We are calling for the Government to commit to this change in this year’s Budget and include a thorough consultation process and multi-year staged approach to implementation, to consider the impact to employers.

“We are also calling for the Government to act on financial advice and retirement reforms, including urgently passing the second tranche of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms to make it easier for funds to provide affordable, accessible, clear and easy-to-understand financial advice to our members.

“These reforms can provide a pathway for super funds to cost-effectively increase the scope and reach of financial advice, while also maintaining strong consumer protection for members.”

Ms Doyle adds that, with super contributions set to be included on the Parental Leave Pay scheme from July 2025, it is important that the Government consider ways to help others engaged in unpaid caring work reach fairer financial outcomes at retirement.

“Women are disproportionately impacted financially at retirement due to periods of unpaid caring working. We’ve made significant progress that will benefit many thousands of new parents from the middle of this year, but we have significantly more work to do to close the gender super gap,” says Ms Doyle.

“The Government should commence a review to assess ways to introduce ‘Superannuation Carer Credits’, which would compensate workers for superannuation they’ve missed out while they’ve been out the workforce doing unpaid caring work.

“Many countries incorporate credits for carers into their pension and retirement income systems. We should investigate how such a scheme could lead to better outcomes for Australian workers and help to close the gender super gap.”

Rest made a number of other important recommendations in its submission, calling for the Government to:

• update the Low Income Super Tax Offset (LISTO) policy settings to give a fairer deal to low-income earners
• fund and develop a framework for data sharing between government agencies and super funds to uplift data integrity, and support efficiencies across the system
• reform the law so family violence perpetrators are not able to inherit their victim’s superannuation benefits
• co-design with First Nations peoples the development of a holistic ‘First Nations Retirement Strategy’
• establish an ambitious, Paris-aligned and scientifically backed 2035 Australian Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in order to ensure a swift and orderly transition to a Net Zero economy, and prioritise the release of the Net Zero Plan and robust sectoral decarbonisation plans in order to give investors the certainty needed to allocate capital to the transition
• accelerate current work with State and Territory Governments to prioritise policy changes to encourage institutional investment in housing supply, and
• outline a more detailed roadmap and provide appropriate resourcing for the next phase of the sustainable finance agenda, including a focus on decent work and social and economic inequality.