Female ANZ customers with less than $50,000 in superannuation will be offered free superannuation advice as part of a series of gender equality initiatives announced by the bank.
ANZ said the initiatives have been developed to help women better engage with their financial futures, and to address the structural bias and subsequent financial disadvantage women face in the workplace and retirement.
The measures include:
- Parental leave will be paid for up to 24 months, up from 12 months, for Australian based employees on their return to work
- Top-up superannuation payments of $500 per annum to ANZ’s permanent and fixed-term female employees in Australia to address the gap in retirement savings
- Free superannuation advice for customers with less than $50,000 in superannuation to help them grow their knowledge and confidence to support their financial decisions
- Specialist financial planners trained in the needs and preferences of women.
“Promoting diversity and gender equality is a priority in our business. This includes pay equality and an equal representation of women in leadership roles,” said ANZ CEO, Mike Smith.
“Much more still needs to be done though to achieve full gender equality in the workplace and while we recognise we’re not there yet, today’s announcement is about rethinking how we address the imbalances women face in the workplace and in retirement,” he said.
The announcement follows the release of new research commissioned by ANZ, which found that Australian women earn, on average, $700,000 less than men over their lifetime. The report also revealed women earn approximately 18.8% less than men, and 90% of women retire with inadequate savings to fund a comfortable lifestyle. Nearly 15% of women are likely to experience poverty in retirement.
ANZ CEO Global Wealth, Joyce Phillips, said: “We know women are at a financial disadvantage, however this research also confirms what’s really restricting the financial future of women is the inherent structural bias in the way the workplace, education, social and legal systems are established.
“There is an opportunity for us to address these imbalances at ANZ and to work to redesign the systems within both business and the community to support women’s success and financial wellbeing for the future.”
