Westpac To Start Making Super Contributions For Female Staff On Unpaid Maternity

As many as 200 employees of Australian banking major Westpac could stand to benefit from a plan which proposes to pay super on unpaid parental leave to the lenders permanent staff.

The first such measure to be adopted by an Australian bank would affect all group companies of Westpac, which include St. George, Westpac Bank and BT Wrap and would see the group pay as many as 39 weeks in employee superannuation contributions in addition to existing parental leave entitlements almost immediately.

The initiative is the first of its kind to be adopted by an Australian private sector company, and is thought to worth approximately $72,000 in extra retirement cash to an employee who earns $55,000 annually and has had two periods of parental leave starting at the age of 28.

Gail Kelly chief executive of Westpac says the proposal was inspired in part by her own unpaid leave.

“When the idea was first put to me, there was no question that because I’d had children, and periods of unpaid leave throughout my career, I recognised how so very important it was,” Mrs Kelly told The Australian yesterday.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia estimates that the average woman holds as little as $45,000 in super account by the time she reaches retirement, compared with $130,000 for the average male.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick yesterday congratulated Westpac on “such an important initiative”.

“For the businesses that have the capacity to pay, I think there is no question this should become the accepted scheme,” she said.

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