National Women's Alliances - Tax Consultations

Australia's tax system makes women's decisions about their  workforce participation unnecessarily complex - that's the findings from a national report by ERA, Economic Security4 Women and National Foundation for Australian Women released today.  'Women's Voices' is a report on factors within the tax system that influence women's decisions on work-force participation. 

The Tax Project opened with consultations with women on tax related matters, followed up by technical analysis of the issues raised. The report released today includes a series of recommendations to address outstanding problems.

It is of some concern that the issues raised by women in this Tax Project are recurring matters that have been raised many times previously. Many of the recommendations in this report are based on previous findings. Implementing the recommendations of the report will help women to participate more fully in the workforce.

The overall picture emerging from consultations with women is...

• widespread under-employment, despite the wish to further engage in work
• surprisingly common reports of experience of sex, age and pregnancy discrimination in workplaces
• fear of financial insecurity in later life especially in the event of marriage breakdown
• lack of understanding of and dissatisfaction with superannuation
• lack of understanding of detailed tax and transfer interactions
• inability to easily access clear information on entitlements to child care benefits, together with worries about child care access and about appropriate quality standards in child care services
• minimal knowledge or information about the range of adult re-training programs available through Commonwealth and State funded systems.

The emphasis on availability, quality and costs of child care and out of school hours care affecting women is strong. So too is the clear line is established between time out of work (or in less demanding work) leading to lower pay, which in turn leads to lower superannuation savings.

In general, women's responses demonstrated under-capacity to analyse the solutions to their difficulties in engaging more effectively with work despite a desire to do so, and their dissatisfaction with the superannuation and tax and transfer systems. Women were adamant that the superannuation system in particular should be characterised by clarity, transparency, and simple communication.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations on 

• Child care services
• Family Tax Benefits (FTBs)
• Superannuation
• Affordable Housing
• Expansion and Better Promotion of Re-training Options
• Equal Opportunity

Background

During July - September 2011 consultations with women were held around Australia:

• Canberra - 22 July
• Brisbane - 28 July
• Toowoomba - 29 July
• Parramatta - 4 August
• Albury - 8 August
• Adelaide - 11 August
• Ashfield - 1 September

The consultations discussed issues such as:

• Women returning to work
• Barriers to pay equity for women
• The tax system
• Childcare subsidies and rebates
• Superannuation
• Women's workforce participation

Women also participated in the through an online survey.

Further Reading 

Women's Voices: Tax Project FINAL REPORT

womens_voices_21_september_final.pdf

Women's Voices: Tax Project FINAL PROJECT

womens_voices_21_september_final.doc