Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to begin by thanking my colleague, the member for Canberra, for moving this motion. Australian women are front and centre in the Albanese government's first budget—a budget that is delivering on our election commitment to make Australia a world leader in gender equality. I'm so proud that, after a decade of neglect, our government is unlocking and valuing the talent, potential and contribution of women in Australia. We know that policies which are good for women are also good for our economy, good for productivity and good for families.

The woman's budget statement sets out our government's commitments to delivering long-term change to advance gender equality, focusing on women's economic equality, ending violence against women, and gender equality in health and wellbeing. These themes are interconnected and they matter. Financial insecurity can impact a woman's ability to leave a violent relationship. Violence can have devastating health impacts and diminish a woman's capacity to participate in the workforce and progress her career. Time out of the workforce and the gender pay gap can have a long-term impact on women's lifetime earnings, especially impacting retirement incomes for older women including—and importantly—superannuation. That's why the Albanese government is leading the national push to close the gender pay gap.

The national gender pay gap in Australia is currently 14.1 per cent, which means that, on average, a woman working full-time earns $263.90 less per week than a man working full time. Over the past two decades the gender pay gap has persisted, decreasing by only 1.2 percentage points since May 2002, and by only 5.1 per cent since 1983. When we analyse the gap, based on both full-time and part-time workers, and include overtime payments, the gap is much larger, at a staggering 29.7 per cent.

This is unacceptable and it is why the Albanese government is providing $20.2 million in investment to the Fair Work Commission to establish two new expert panels—one on pay equity and the other on the care and community sector. This will strengthen the commission's capacity to determine applications from female dominated industries, where work is often undervalued and underpaid. Already, under the Albanese government, we have seen a 15 per cent increase in the wages of aged-care workers. We are also reforming the workplace relations system to make gender equity an objective of the Fair Work Act and legislate an equal remuneration principle.

We have also taken the first step to remove barriers that limit women's opportunities when they have caring responsibilities. That includes delivering a $531 million investment to expand the Paid Parental Leave scheme up to 26 weeks by July 2026. It is the biggest boost to Australia's Paid Parental Leave scheme since it was created by the former Labor government in 2011. It is something I am very proud of and have fought for. It will support parents to spend more time with their children and share caring responsibilities more equally.

The budget also invests $4.7 million across four years to make it easier and cheaper for parents to access early childhood education and care. To support the national plan to end violence against women and children and its ambition of an Australia free of gender based violence, the Commonwealth is making a record investment of over $1.7 billion. Of that, $1.3 billion will fund a range of targeted initiatives to address gender based violence and will fund 500 frontline service and community workers to support women and children experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence.

Crucially, $42 million will help implement all recommendations of the Respect@Work report. This includes $32 million to fund women's centres in all states and territories to provide free advice to assist women when they need it. There will also be money to support implementation of 10 days family violence leave. I am so proud of that. This is vital to the economy, to families and to the wellbeing and health of women, and I'm very proud to stand here in support of this motion.

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