Emily Millane at Paperchain Manuka

Join us at Paperchain to hear Emily Millane, author of Super: The Policy History of Australia's Retirement Savings Scheme, in conversation with Frank Bongiorno and Michael Read

'I wanted individual workers to have something more than wages alone, an opportunity to access markets. To invest beside the likes of Warren Buffett and not simply be left with a house and a car only, as the Liberal Party always left them.' (Paul Keating)


Super tells the improbable origins of Australia's multi-trillion-dollar superannuation system, one of the world's largest private pension schemes. It explores super's nineteenth-century beginnings, dissects its triumphs and failures, and exposes the fierce political battles that created mum-and-dad investors.

Compulsory superannuation is one of Australia's boldest economic and social reforms along with Medicare. It is a masterclass in systemic change amid political turbulence, demonstrating how industrial action filled a space where political activity failed. Over thirty years on, has superannuation achieved the promised retirement security for all, or has it widened divides by gender, race and class? Who pays for superannuation, and who gets left behind?

Super draws on interviews with the key players behind this big economic reform - including former prime minister Paul Keating and former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty - and their ambition to transform Australia's system into one of the best in the world.


'The decision to make superannuation compulsory for Australian workers was one of the most consequential policy innovations in the nation's history. It changed the economy and changed lives. In Super, one of the country's foremost experts on the subject, Emily Millane, explains how we ended up married to super, for better and for worse. She has set a brilliant new standard for Australian policy history.' (Frank Bongiorno)

'An illuminating history of Australia's compulsory defined contribution superannuation regime: why we have it; how it has changed; its problems and who falls through the gaps. I learnt a lot.' (Judith Brett)

'This is the definitive account of one of Australia's most far-reaching - and least understood - policy reforms. Essential reading for all who are interested in how this country is run.' (George Megaolgenis)

Emily Millane is a lawyer, policy analyst and researcher. She has worked in research and analysis across the public and private sectors, think tanks and academia. She is a senior fellow at Melbourne Law School.

Frank Bongiorno AM is Donald Horne Professor of History and Public Ideas at the University of Canberra and President of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Whitlam Institute Distinguished Fellow at Western Sydney University. His most recent book is Dreamers and Schemers: A Political History of Australia.

Michael Read is Deputy Economics Editor at The Australian Financial Review, based in Parliament House, Canberra. He has also covered federal politics, foreign affairs and superannuation for the AFR. Before becoming a journalist, he spent five years as an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

This event is free but as space is limited please book to secure your place.