When Tammy Lashko, who is 18 weeks pregnant, goes on maternity leave later this year, she is confident that she will not be left financially worse off in the long term.

Key points: A Victorian Government submission to a national review argues companies should be allowed to make higher super contributions for female employees

A Victorian Government submission to a national review argues companies should be allowed to make higher super contributions for female employees The submission also calls for mandatory employer super contributions to rise more quickly to 12 per cent and eventually to 15 per cent

The submission also calls for mandatory employer super contributions to rise more quickly to 12 per cent and eventually to 15 per cent The Sex Discrimination Act would need to be changed to allow companies to make larger super payments for female employees

Women generally retire with much less superannuation than their male counterparts — at least in part because they more often take time off work to have children.

However, Ms Lashko works at financial services consultancy Rice Warner, one of the few companies that has tackled the issue.

The company pays female staff an extra 2 per cent superannuation on top of the compulsory employer contribution.

Rice Warner also continues to pay superannuation contributions while staff are on maternity leave and counts maternity leave towards long service leave.

"The company I work for has thought about where they see women going in the future and what the outcomes look like for them," Ms Lashko said.

"My superannuation balance won't be impacted by me taking a break from work to look after a child."

The Victorian Government has argued in a submission to a current federal review of Australia's retirement system that all employers should be allowed to make higher super contributions for their female workers to help bridge the gap in super balances between men and women.

The submission also argues for a more rapid increase in the mandatory employer superannuation contributions from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent, and eventually 15 per cent.

The super guarantee rate is currently set to rise to 10 per cent in July 2021 and to 12 per cent from 2025.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) rated Australia as one of the worst-performing countries for minimum mandatory superannuation.

Tim Pallas said employers should not face legal barriers when taking positive steps to increase superannuation payments for female staff. ( ABC News )

He said the current system does not produce fair or adequate outcomes for certain women, carers and people in insecure work such as the gig economy.

"When [women] retire in their early to mid-60s, [they] end up about 42 per cent or $110,000 worse off than your male counterparts," he told ABC News Breakfast.

One of more than a dozen recommendations in the submission includes a proposal to allow employers to pay their female workers more in super to address the structural inequities.

Victoria's recommendations That carer payments should include 12 per cent super contributions

That carer payments should include 12 per cent super contributions Super should be paid on Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave

Super should be paid on Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Couples should be able to have a joint super account to combine their funds

Couples should be able to have a joint super account to combine their funds Extra support should be provided for low-income earners

But Mr Pallas will not introduce the policy for tens of thousands of public sector workers in his own state, until the federal review has been fully discussed.

"It's a Commonwealth responsibility, and it's not about the Victorian public service," Mr Pallas said.

"It's about the very heart and soul and the provision for adequate retirement incomes for Australia."

To allow employers to make higher contributions for women the Sex Discrimination Act would need to be changed.

The submission uses the example of Rice Warner, which had to apply to the Australian Human Rights Commission for a special exemption under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, a process which took 18 months and could be challenged in court.

"[We need] to make sure that employers, at their discretion, have the right to pay women more for superannuation, recognising that systemically they're already substantially disadvantaged," Mr Pallas said.

The submission said the Commonwealth should follow the practice of some Australian banks and pay super on paid parental leave.

"Australia has the third-least generous paid parental leave scheme in the OECD," the submission said.

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) recently asked the State Government to boost super payments to 12 per cent for Victoria's public sector — where most workers are paid 9.5 per cent — over the next four years as part of the workplace agreement negotiations. The Government refused.

CPSU secretary Karen Batt said the Government was engaging in "hyperbole and hubris" in his commentary on superannuation.