Outdated super exclusion costing cleaners, housekeepers and nannies $150 million each year

Super Members Council

The Super Members Council (SMC) is calling on the Government to scrap an outdated and discriminatory law denying domestic workers in private homes - cleaners, housekeepers and nannies, the majority of which are women - to be guaranteed superannuation.

The Senate Economics Legislation Committee is inquiring into the laws that give rise to the exclusion of part-time domestic workers. The Council urges Government to remove this exclusion.

Under current laws, domestic workers employed in private homes who work less than 30 hours a week for the same employer would continue to be excluded from guaranteed super — an omission that can no longer be justified.

New Council analysis shows around 37,000 domestic workers would be affected in 2026‑27, with 86 per cent of the workforce being women.

On average, each worker misses out on almost $4,000 a year in super contributions, amounting to nearly $150 million nationwide, with women missing out on about $126 million in that single year alone.

This exclusion entrenches the gender super gap and undermines the universality that underpins Australia’s retirement system.

The outdated exclusion was originally made to prevent fees eroding low-balance super accounts, but that reason no longer stacks up now there are fee protections on small super balances.

The Council recommends the Government amend the regulations to remove the exclusion for domestic cleaners, housekeepers and nannies who work fewer than 30 hours a week, ensuring domestic work is treated the same as other forms of employment.

Modelling shows that removing the exclusion could mean a typical part‑time domestic cleaner retiring with more than $130,000 extra in super, increasing retirement income by around $4,500 a year, while also reducing reliance on the Age Pension.

The Council has previously advocated for this same law to be scrapped in relation to under-18s, who are also excluded if they work less than 30 hours a week with the same employer, after its analysis found 515,000 teen workers nationally will be denied a combined $405 million this financial year.

A recent report by the Council found axing the 30-hour threshold would help close the gender super gap.

The current age-based minimum-hours rule means most teenage workers, especially young women who are more likely to work part-time, are not yet paid super on their wages. Women currently retire with 25 per cent less super than men, and the gap can start from their very first day at work.

The report found that if all under-18s were guaranteed super, a typical teenage girl could have nearly $2,500 more in her super by age 18, which could grow into $11,000 more by retirement with investment returns.

“Cleaners. housekeepers and nannies are doing essential, paid work, yet the law still treats them as second‑class citizens when it comes to super — and that burden falls overwhelmingly on women,” says the Council’s CEO Misha Schubert.

“When something is outdated, you fix it. Fixing these outdated laws would help close the gender super gap and boost the retirement savings of thousands of hardworking Australians.”