A few weeks ago, HACSU and the United Firefighters Union Tasmania commissioned the Australia Institute to investigate how adequate superannuation is for paramedics and firefighters right now.
In short, it’s not.
Now, we’re kicking off our campaign to lobby the Federal Government for compulsory superannuation contributions to be increased to 15% for all paramedics and firefighters.
The fact is that paramedics, firefighters and emergency workers like communications staff often leave paid work earlier because of how stress, trauma and the physicality of their jobs affect their health – and even if they keep working, they often find it hard to transition into other work that properly recognises their specialised skills and education.
What it means is that emergency services workers retire earlier, and in turn with less super than other workers.
To launch our campaign, earlier this week we held an event at Parliament House in Canberra to take these issues to politicians and tell them what we’re fighting for.
Greg Sullivan, a paramedic based on the north west coast, came along with me to Canberra, and together we had many valuable conversations with politicians and their advisors – and the responses so far have been promising.
The full report from the Australia Institute will be out next month and we’ll be out talking to you about it more as we begin to step up our campaign.
In the meantime, make sure you check out our petition here for better super, and pass it on to your family and friends to sign!