According to statistics revealed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the female NT population retire with almost a third less superannuation than men, and sometimes conclude their working life with no super balance at all (2016 Senate report).

Council on the Ageing NT (COTA NT) CEO Sue Shearer, attributes the severe imbalance to job security, availability and the fact women typically take on the role of carer, often forfeiting the opportunity to work.

"There's a whole cycle of issues that affect women," Ms Shearer said.

"Women do the bulk of the caring, it's about time that people who care for a loved one get paid appropriately.

"Quite a few women look after a disabled child or their parents, they give up work to care full-time. They're looking after a loved one and when you do that, you're on a minimum carers allowance, you don't get any super, you don't get anything.

"When you try and get back into the workforce, there's also ageism. Women over 50 to 55 find it very difficult to get back into the workforce, all they can take is the lower paying jobs.

"Most of our women, unfortunately, are casual employees. They don't have job security and they don't get paid as much. They are mostly in the hospitality industry, but you'll also find a lot in the caring industry like aged care which is, as we know, an underpaid sector of employment."

Ms Shearer added that with no affordable retirement villages available to the NT community, this puts women further behind, leaving them to draw on super savings to pay for necessities.

"Even though when they retire, they might get Commonwealth assistance, there's not a lot to live on when you're on the pension so they dip into their super," she said.

"They can't afford private health insurance. Older people should not have to go into their super to pay for things like that."

Another contributing factor to the lack of super for NT women, according to Ms Shearer, is that often during a divorce, super is not split.

"More men than women will have the earning capacity to put a roof over their head when there's a marital split, therefore she's not only homeless, she's poorer," Ms Shearer said.

"The super assets aren't often divided up. Unfortunately, a lot of women just go and go with nothing.

"A lot of women undersell themselves as well, especially if it's a very serious domestic violence situation, they just want to get out and don't want that particular person to have any hold over them whatsoever."

What comes as a victory for the nation, especially women, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced that the Federal Government has axed the $450 a month threshold for compulsory super in the 2021 federal budget.

However, as revealed in the budget, the government has stayed put on their decision to not pay super on every dollar earned, including on Commonwealth paid parental leave.

Further findings from the ATO reveal NT women have 17 per cent less super balance than the median, women typically spend 12 years less in full-time positions than men, and the gender gap in super rises to 40 per cent during the 40s.

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