When people talk about tax reform, it’s usually framed as dry economics. But for women, Australia’s tax system isn’t abstract. It shapes whether we can afford a home, leave an unsafe relationship, retire with dignity, or build real independence.
On paper, our tax laws might appear gender-neutral. But in reality, they subsidise the rich in ways that favour men and leave women picking up the tab.
Right now, billions of dollars of tax revenue that would otherwise be available for our public services, are redirected back to people who make money from selling assets like property. The “capital gains tax discount” means that if you have enough spare cash to buy a house you don’t live in, you can pay less tax on the profit than someone who works for their income.
This public subsidy for the already-wealthy was introduced by the Howard Government in 1999. Before that, investor profits were taxed more like other income.
Since this skewing of the tax rules, housing has become dramatically less affordable, wealth has become more concentrated, and home ownership has fallen for younger Australians.
Because women are still paid less on average (thanks, gender pay gap), are more likely to work part-time, and contribute most of the unpaid care, we are less likely to benefit most from these tax breaks. We are less likely to own multiple properties. And when billions of dollars flow to investors instead of public services, there is less left for the things women rely on – affordable homes, childcare, health care, domestic and sexual violence services.
Research from The Australia Institute has found that 82 per cent of the benefit flows to high-income households. And those reporting the highest incomes (top 10 per cent) collect almost three-quarters of the benefit, and overwhelmingly, that group is men.
Howard’s rules biasing the system to investors have turned housing into a wealth-building tool first and a place to live second. Together, these tax settings incentivise anyone with wealth to spend it buying property. This feeds competition for first homebuyers and pushes up prices, making the property that investors already own worth even more, and perpetuating the cycle.
In short: If you already own, you’re rewarded. If you’re trying to buy your first home, or just afford the rent, you’re competing in a system tilted against you.
Women feel this acutely. They are more likely than men to report struggling to save a deposit, afford rising prices, or secure a loan. Men are still more likely to own investment properties. The benefits flow one way, the costs flow the other.
That’s a rigged system.
The consequences are even harsher for women already facing disadvantage: single mothers, older women, women escaping violence, migrant and refugee women, women with disability. They are the least likely to own assets and the most likely to rely on public services.
Every dollar the capital gains tax discount allows property investors to avoid contributing to our budget is a dollar not spent on public and community housing, crisis accommodation, childcare, or frontline services. Revenue that could fund women’s safety is instead subsidising property portfolios.
For women leaving violent relationships, housing security is economic security. If you know you won’t find somewhere else safe or secure to live; it’s harder to escape. Yet our tax settings inflate housing costs while rewarding those who have houses to spare.
This is intergenerational and gendered unfairness.
Investor tax breaks like the capital gains tax discount are not some sacred fixture of the Australian economy. They are political choices made a quarter of a century ago. And the housing crisis that followed is the result of political choices too.
As the Federal Government once again considers changes to these tax settings, it faces a simple choice.
They can keep lining the pockets of investors who already own property.
Or they can ensure everyone is contributing fairly to our community and its services, and build homes people can actually afford to live in.
Tax reform shouldn’t just be about balancing budgets. It has the potential to support people who have been left behind.
If the government is serious about gender equality, it cannot keep rules that distort the system in favour of the wealthy and lock too many women out of housing and economic security.
Ending the unfair capital gains tax discount is an overlooked step toward gender justice.
Capital Gains Tax is a feminist issue. Right now women are getting a poor deal
