Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Franklin. While I agree with some of the things that the member for Franklin spoke about, I also would like to say that there are many things that the government is doing. In my view, there is more that we can always do, but it is important to note the things that are being done and acknowledge them, because they are very important as a point to actually understand what has been already initiated. The first thing to say is that the Morrison government has responded to the COVID pandemic with JobKeeper, JobSeeker and the emerging JobMaker. Those economic cushionings are very, very important for the whole of the Australian economy, but of course they have also provided support for those industries that have been hard hit. As the member for Franklin said, those industries include healthcare, retail, and a whole variety of other food services and other sorts of industries. Women provide services in that area in greater proportions than men, but they are also receiving greater support and benefit through both JobKeeper and JobSeeker. We have seen also, most encouragingly, in the most recent analysis that there is a sign that the economy is already recovering.

So the good thing about what we've done with regard to our health response is that we've been able to contain the pandemic, outside of Victoria anyway, and this has meant the economy is now opening up. This is good for the jobs of Australia because it has meant that while there are now 1.3 million jobs that were lost, almost 700,000 are now back in the job situation. This is important because as the economy recovers so will women's jobs recover.

But what I want to talk about for the rest of my speech is the issue of the Women's Economic Security Statement. I'm proud to say that it was the previous member for Higgins, the honourable Kelly O'Dwyer, who championed the Women's Economic Security Statement. We understand, as a government, that women have been joining the workforce in greater numbers, and we understand that our economy does well when women join in greater numbers. One of the key planks of the Women's Economic Security Statement was increasing work force participation. Minister O'Dwyer oversaw the higher proportion of women in the workforce under her leadership. She's also worked very hard to ensure women's increased earning potential and economic independence. This statement highlights the challenges and barriers faced by women trying to achieve secure economic parity with men.

The statement includes $158.3 million of practical and tangible initiatives to provide economic security for women and girls. This will be refreshed later this year. One of the initiatives in this economic statement is the Academy For Enterprising Girls, an initiative that encourages women and girls to participate in STEM, a topic which is a very close to my heart. To ensure economic security for the women and girls of tomorrow we need to educate them for the jobs of the future today. That starts with being aware of the jobs that are going to become greater in number going forward, so that we can be ready to rebound after the COVID pandemic to make sure we're ready for the jobs of the future.

The statement builds on and will work in tandem with existing government programs that benefit women and helps them at every stage of their careers and family. This is just a number of those. The ParentsNext program helps parents re-entering the workforce after having children by helping them identify educational and career pathways. The Career Revive pilot assists and supports businesses to employ women after a career break. We all know women who have taken time out and have trouble getting back into the workforce without having the confidence and the skills to do so. The Mid-Career Checkpoint program will support 40,000 Australian women between the ages of 30 and 45 who are looking to return to the workforce. These are tangible, practical initiatives that are aimed at helping get women into the workforce that understand their workforce participation issues around being primary carers.

But further than that, we also understand that women struggle with the financial peaks and troughs of a woman's working life. As such, we have introduced the low-income superannuation tax offset, which will benefit over 1. 9 million women and has done so since July 2017. The government's superannuation payment of up to $500 to help low-income earners save for retirement has seen over $500 million in super contributions made to eligible women who earn less than $37,000 a year. The benefits for women are very clear in the initiatives we have rolled out. We understand that financial security, resilience and empowerment give women real opportunities and choices about their lives and the lives of their family.

See this speech in context