Sharing Super with Your Partner

Splitting money can feel weird. Whether it’s going Dutch at dinner, sharing petrol costs on a road trip or going ‘halvies’ at the supermarket — it sometimes just feels a bit awks.

But here’s the kicker: one of the biggest reasons women retire with less super than men is time out of paid work. In Australia, women make up almost 70% of the part-time workforce and around 84% of stay at home parents are women.

There are many reasons women end up working less or stepping back from the workforce – raising children, caring for elderly parents, or running a busy household. But none of that should mean you’re penalised for doing vital work.

If you’re out of the workforce (or your partner is), there are a couple of options to manage super.

1.     Contribution splitting. When before-tax superannuation contributions made by your partner’s employer, are directly transferred from your partner’s super account into yours. Your partner is essentially splitting their super with you. 

2.     Spouse contributions. Your partner makes a personal after-tax contribution to your super account. 

It’s not just about fairness – splitting can help close the retirement gap many women face.

It’ll also reduce your future reliance on your partner’s income, giving you a stronger, more independent financial foundation. Plus, there can be tax benefits too.

You may feel awkward chatting with your partner about this. But if you’re building a shared future together, it’s worth having a tough conversation now. Splitting super isn’t about divorce. It’s about equality, respect, capitalising on compound interest and building security for both of you.

• You don’t actually need to be married – couples who are de facto or in a legally recognised relationship can also split super.

• The partner doing the splitting of contributions must submit a contribution splitting form  to their superannuation fund.

• The maximum amount that the partner splitting their contributions can split is the lesser of:

  • 85% of their concessional (before tax) contributions for the financial year; or

  • the concessional contributions cap for one financial year.

Learn more about concessional contributions and caps

• You can only apply to split contributions once per financial year, per super fund.

• The contributions to be split must have been made during the previous financial year. So if your partner makes an application during the 2026–27 financial year, the super contributions to be split must have been made between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026.

• Some super funds don’t offer contribution splitting, so check with your partner’s super fund to confirm they will allow it.

• The receiving partner must be below their preservation age (the age you can access your super) or between preservation age and 65, and not permanently retired. The age of the partner splitting their super isn’t relevant.

Keen to know more? Check out ATO’s explanation of sharing super.

If every couple in Australia sits down with their partner tonight to chat about sharing super, we’d soon have a much fairer system. It may feel awkward – or you may be with a progressive, supportive partner who’s totally up for it. But why not have a chat about it?

Sharing super isn’t the only tool. The government-backed co-contribution scheme is designed to help low-income earners.

• The Super Co-contribution. If you earn less than $64,293 a year (before tax) you might be eligible for a super co-contribution from the government. Co-contributions are a way to boost retirement savings. Under this scheme, when you make a personal (after-tax) contribution into your super, the government may also make a co-contribution, up to a maximum of $500. When you lodge your tax return, the ATO’s will work out if you’re eligible. As long as your super fund has your TFN, the ATO will pay the co-contribution directly into your super account.

These options can add extra fuel to your future lifestyle – especially useful if you’ve worked irregular hours, part-time, or taken career breaks.