Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the gender pay gap still sits at an unacceptable 14.1 per cent;

(b) men earn an extra $263.90 per week more than women;

(c) the gender pay gap has only narrowed by 5.1 per cent since 1983; and

(d) work in female-dominated industries is disproportionately undervalued because of discriminatory assumptions about the value of the work; and

(2) commends the Government for amending the Fair Work Act 2009 and related legislation to improve job security and gender equity by:

(a) including in the Fair Work Act 2009: gender equity, secure work, an equal remuneration principle, and enhancing the enforcement and compliance framework;

(b) prohibiting pay secrecy clauses; and

(c) establishing new expert panels in the Fair Work Commission for pay equity and the care and community sector.

I'm pleased to move this motion today that notes the unacceptable gender pay gap that exists today and persists in Australia and commends the government on the work that they are doing to reform our industrial relations system to improve that.

We have known about the gender pay gap in Australia for quite some time, but, unfortunately, real movement on it has been agonisingly slow. Today the gender pay gap in Australia sits at an unacceptable 14.1 per cent. The average Australian man now earns $263.90 more per week than the average Australian woman. The Global Gender Gap Index ranks us 43 out of 156 countries, which is really very depressing for a country like Australia. We must be doing much better than that, and I'm proud that our new Albanese Labor government is getting that work underway.

In the previous financial year under the previous government, the gap actually increased by 0.3 per cent. That means that, on power bills, the average woman will pay two per cent of her salary, compared to 1.7 per cent for men. For rent, the average woman will pay 32 per cent of her salary, compared to 27.5 per cent for men. For groceries, the average woman will pay 9.4 per cent of her salary, compared to 8.1 per cent for men.

The gap persists in all industries but especially in highly feminised industries, which comes down largely to outdated and discriminatory assumptions about the value of work that women do, particularly women in our care economy. There should never have been any doubt about the importance of these industries and how important that work is for our society, for our community and for our economy, but it was really confirmed to us through the pandemic just how important these industries really are. I want to specifically reference those who care for our oldest Australians, our youngest Australians and Australians living with disability, as they are predominantly women. This is skilled work; it is physically, emotionally and mentally taxing work, and it should be better recognised. The importance of the work they do is clear, and it is unacceptable that their pay persists at such low levels today. I'm proud that this week we've seen the Fair Work Commission respond to submissions made by the government and the union movement to deliver a 15 per cent increase to the wages of aged-care workers, which is well deserved and well overdue. But the work is not done.

When you compare these industries with male dominated industries where workers are skilled at a similar level, the differences are stark and unacceptable. It's not good enough. Women should not be paid less than men in the year 2022, and we should close this gap. That's why on 29 August we recognised Equal Pay Day, which marked the extra 60 days that Australian women must work to earn the same annual salary as Australian men, and that's why our government is taking strong action through the introduction of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022, which introduces a number of measures to close the gap.

Some of the big changes being made in this are the inclusion of gender equity, secure work and equal renumeration as goals of the Fair Work Act. The bill also enhances the compliance framework and strengthens the ability of the commission to order pay increases for workers in low-paid, female dominated industries through the establishment of two new expert panels. In this bill the government is also prohibiting pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts. Alison Pennington from the Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work has said that pay secrecy is:

… popular with employers in Australia because it prevents the free sharing of information that employees need to know, to know where they stand in relation to each other and to effectively bargain to get a higher pay increase.

As described by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency:

Pay secrecy means that employees do not have full information about their colleagues' pay; such as formal base salary levels, salary structures, and informal remuneration salary components.

In effect, it allows employers to effectively discriminate against women in the workplace behind their backs. It's wrong and it must end.

In Australia women face barriers to working the hours they want, including access to affordable child care, access to flexible work, equal sharing of care and representation in leadership. In 2022, only 14 women are chief executives in the top 200 companies in Australia. I am proud that our government is up for the task of addressing these gaps in our society and economy and that the work has already begun under our new Albanese Labor government.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I second the motion, and I reserve my right to speak at a later time.

Sophie Scamps (Mackellar, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of this motion regarding rectifying the gender pay gap. Gender equality is something that most people in this country agree with in theory; however, in practice, it does not yet exist in Australia. Gender inequality is particularly evident in our workforce, which does not yet reflect the values of the Australia we want. This year, 2022, the gender pay gap is still over 14 per cent, meaning women need to work 60 days more each year to be on par with men. This pay gap, together with the reduced workplace participation of women, contributes to the superannuation gap, which sits at around 40 per cent less for women.

Women are also vastly underrepresented at board level, with only six per cent of ASX 300 companies having female CEOs. Outside of work hours, women also take on disproportionately more unpaid care work than men, often including the cognitive and emotional labour of managing the household and family. However, according to Deloitte Access Economics' latest report Breaking the norm, which was released only last week, a shocking one-third of Australian men still believe that gender inequality doesn't actually exist in this country. These statistics paint a clear picture of gender inequality—a picture that is reflected in the World Economic Forum's Global gender gap report 2022, where Australia is ranked a low 43rd. Our neighbour New Zealand is ranked number 4. At current rates of progress, it will take approximately 132 years to reach total gender parity.

This House must play a critical role in enacting legislation that will accelerate gender pay equality in workplaces across this country, including in this parliament. To do this effectively we need affirmative action. Some steps towards affirmative action are already underway, and I welcome the recent progress made. In particular, I welcome the amendments to the Fair Work Act that are the focus of this motion. These include prohibiting pay secrecy clauses and establishing a panel in the Fair Work Commission for pay equity in the care sector.

I would also like to recognise the recent budget measures that support greater female participation in the workplace through legislation for cheaper child care and the supporting of men to take paid parental leave. I also want to recognise the Respect@Work legislation currently before parliament, which places a positive duty on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment, and, additionally, the recent historic introduction in New South Wales of positive consent legislation and the decriminalising of abortion.

However, I would also like to highlight that even in our own parliamentary workplace we need to do a lot more. In the recent review of the MoP(S) Act regarding workplace conditions here in parliament, it was found that there was a significant impact on people with caring responsibilities. A number of current and former MoP(S) Act employees, especially women, said that their workload and work environment were wholly incompatible with any caring responsibilities they had or planned to have. I would like to say that, after just six months on the job, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. My staff are struggling as they work many extra days and hours of overtime each week. Our electorate office also relies heavily on volunteers, the vast majority of whom are women. They are performing core duties yet they are unpaid. The work culture here in parliament and in the electoral offices is not currently compatible with gender equality and must be addressed if this country is serious about encouraging equal participation of women in this parliament.

Parliament should set the standard for businesses and organisations around Australia. When parliament falls short of setting the standard for gender equality for the rest of the country, is it any wonder other workplaces also do not do enough? Discrimination against women and the devaluing of their work is pervasive and is even entrenched in our own parliamentary workplace. We must do more. I commend this motion to the House.

Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the motion of the member for Canberra and I thank her for moving it. Women in Australia currently face a gender pay gap of 14.1 per cent, and working women are still retiring with less superannuation than men. I have always fought for working people and I care deeply about helping working women, particularly working women in their care sector, who are undervalued and underpaid. These are workers who care for and educate our children, and who provide care support and social interaction for our elderly and people with a disability. They are passionate, hardworking and professional, and they deserve better. This motion commends the government for taking action to address these injustices we should all be concerned about. It is certainly something I have fought for during my time in the building and I'm really proud to be part of the solution.

To help close the gender pay gap, the government is amending the Fair Work Act to make gender equity a main objective. This will ensure that gender equity is at the heart of decisions made by the Fair Work Commission when determining pay increases. We are establishing two new Fair Work Commission panels: a pay equity expert panel and a care and community sector expert panel. These panels will give the commission the expertise needed to better understand both gender pay equity issues and the issues affecting the care and community sector.

The creation of a statutory equal remuneration principle will also make it easier for the Fair Work Commission to order pay increases for workers in female-dominated industries. This principle will remove the need for a male comparator when progressing equal pay claims. This requirement currently presents a significant obstacle for these claims. It will also ensure that, when assessing work value, gender based assumptions are not considered. These changes will help improve pay and conditions in the care sector and other female-dominated industries. These improvements are already happening under our government, with the Fair Work Commission on Friday confirming an increase to minimum wage of at least 15 per cent for aged-care workers in direct care roles on a number of different awards. Our actions will help encourage more workers into these sectors that are facing a workforce crisis. We need more aged-care workers, we need more early childhood educators and we need more disability support workers.

Thirty-seven per cent of early childhood educators told the United Workers Union that they did not intend to stay in the sector long-term; around 16 per cent of nursing and aged-care workers told the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation that they were planning to leave their profession; and 50 per cent of regional workers in disability care said that they would not be in the sector in five years. In order to attract and retain professional and caring support workers we need to pay them fairly. This is why we are empowering and enhancing the Fair Work Act and the commission to better deliver for these workers.

Many working women are not employed in female dominated industries. These women face different barriers to pay equity. Pay secrecy clauses prevent colleagues from discussing their salaries with each other. This reduces transparency and disadvantages workers who are seeking to negotiate individual pay rises. Our government's change to ban pay secrecy clauses is a win for workers, particularly working women. Now colleagues will be able to discuss their salaries with each other, improving their ability to ask for a pay rise. Women will be able to question why their male colleague who does the same work as them is earning more. It's a great change for workers and will help to drive up wages.

Finally, after a decade we have a government that is looking out for working people and addressing the injustices faced by working women. This motion rightfully recognises the plight faced by working women. It also rightfully recognises the benefits of the government's actions to benefit working women. For too long the previous government held back wages. For too long the previous government neglected working Australians, particularly those that got us through the pandemic—the cleaners, the nurses, the aged-care workers and all of our other frontline heroes, so many of whom are women.

I speak in favour of this motion because I know how important these changes are to women in my community. Just last week my colleague and friend Stephen Jones, the member for Whitlam, and I visited Big Fat Smile in Dapto. I met Kaitlin and her daughter Amelia. Kaitlin works in disability care and is looking forward to cheaper child care under the Albanese Labor government. Kaitlin has many more things to look forward to under our government, and the changes that this motion commends are some of them. Finally workers like Kaitlin will have a voice that can speak to their experiences in the Fair Work Commission and they will have a Fair Work Act that has gender equity as an objective.

Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canberra for moving this motion. Australia has a problem with gender equity when it comes to employment. The federal election made it very clear that women are sick and tired of putting up with being treated like second-class citizens in the workplace. Women's work, both at home and in the workplace, has been undervalued for far too long. Women do the bulk of unpaid work at home and in the community. According to statistics cited by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, the value of unpaid care work—and that includes cooking and cleaning, as well as caring for children, the disabled or the elderly—amounts to no less than $650 billion, the equivalent of more than 50 per cent of GDP. A decade ago the Grattan Institute found that a six per cent increase in women's participation in the workforce would add another $25 billion to GDP. Today the figure would have to be much greater.

As the mover of this motion noted, it is now 2022 and the gender pay gap still sits at 14.1 per cent.

An honourable member interjectin g—

We are sick of it. It has only narrowed by a miserable 5.1 per cent since 1983. I was 11 then. We are facing worker shortages of historic proportions. Women are not able to take up employment opportunities because they're the primary caregivers in their homes and the cost of child care guarantees that much of the income they take home will go towards paying for early childhood education and care while they work. It is a futile and demoralising exercise.

A survey by the University of New South Wales for the SDA found that 36 per cent of the 6,500 lower-paid retail workers they surveyed, who were overwhelmingly women, would be able and would like to work more hours if their rosters were more predictable. As I put at the Jobs and Skills Summit, these women—and thousands like them in other feminised industries—deserve roster justice. If their employers in retail, for example, can plan ahead when it comes to their inventory, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to do the same when it comes to their people and their rosters.

According to the University of New South Wales work and care survey, some staff who service in the supermarket can barely afford food themselves. 'When I get weeks with only a couple of shifts, it's hard to afford groceries,' says one. 'They would change the roster at 8 pm at night to have me scheduled on the next morning at 8 am and never contact me about the change and then act like I was a no-show,' says another. 'It's all over the place. Shifts get changed last minute, never get the same shifts every fortnight, extra contract hours, and they give you bare minimum but expect you to give up your weekends without notice,' says another.

Meanwhile, this cohort of up to 1.3 million people, all but powerless in the workplace, is also largely ignored in the national childcare debate, which is geared to middle-class professionals working nine to five Monday to Friday. Those seeking care early in the morning, in the evening, on weekends or on public holidays so they can staff a register or restock shelves come up empty. I could go on. There are tens of thousands of women out there facing similar predicaments.

As I'm pleased that women and work got on the agenda of the Jobs and Skills Summit, I'm also pleased that in the Jobs and Skills Australia legislation the government saw fit to incorporate a gender lens. As to the secure jobs, better pay legislation, I believe it would improve the bill, improve its prospects of actually getting more women into the workforce, if it made it clear that what we're seeking is gender equality in the workplace, not merely gender equity, as is currently stated. Equity merely sets the stage for equality, putting women and others who are behind the eight ball at the starting line, rather than requiring an outcome. The convention for the elimination of discrimination against women, the ILO in respect of its gender equality conventions and the Workplace Gender Equality Act all say gender equality means substantive equality between men and women, and that's the outcome we're looking for.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am delighted to rise on this motion moved by my friend and colleague the member for Canberra. Shifting this gender pay gap is serious business, and it should be serious business for this parliament. This week we're seeing the passage of the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill, and nothing highlights the need to start addressing some of these inequalities more than the reading of that first Kate Jenkins report and the subsequent reforms that need to be undertaken in workplaces across Australia now.

Whenever people ask me seriously what difference government makes, I remind them of the fact that, when the coalition government was first elected into office back in 2013, Australia sat 24th in the world gender equality rankings. When then Prime Minister Tony Abbott decided to make himself minister for women, a moment we were all somewhat surprised by, he decided we didn't need to do gendered-responsive budgeting in this nation anymore, a mechanism that Australia used to lead the world in. But, no, we didn't need that anymore, and that resulted in Australia plummeting to a record historical low of 50th place in those world gender equality rankings. We went from 24 to 50 within less than a decade. That's what happens when you drop the ball, when you don't want to monitor, when you aren't accountable. This is an absolutely unacceptable position for any government to take.

Women haven't been getting a fair deal for some time. We know this from the rankings, but the last decade has made things much worse. We've got a current gender pay gap of 14.1 per cent, and we know that means on average women are earning $263.90 less than the men working full-time. In other words, women must work 60 more days by the end of the financial year to just play catch up. The gender pay gap persists across all industries, and progress to slow the gender pay gap has been uneven and incrementally slow. That is not good enough. Women should not be paid less than men. It's that simple.

The Albanese Labor government hasn't wasted a day in trying to improve equality for women. In our short few months in government we've introduced 10 days paid domestic violence leave. We're acting on our commitment to build more affordable housing for women and kids fleeing violence, including $100 million in our budget for emergency housing. We've provided another 500 support workers for women fleeing violence. We've acted to provide cheaper child care and six months of paid parental leave. We've also introduced legislation to act on all of the recommendations from Kate Jenkins's Respect@Work report, which will strengthen laws that will prevent sexual harassment at work.

On the issue of closing the gender pay gap in Australia, the Albanese government has taken decisive action. We've introduced the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill. That bill, introduced in the last sitting period, will amend the Fair Work Act to provide fairer pay and conditions for working women and address those key drivers of gender pay inequality. This bill puts gender equity at the very heart of our fair work system by making gender equity and job security objects in the Fair Work Act. The bill also adds gender equality to the modern awards and minimum wages objectives and adds to the need to improve access to secure work on the modern awards objectives.

There's a clear expectation now that the Fair Work Commission must consider gender equality when performing its functions, when setting the minimum wage, when considering changes to awards and in all other decisions it makes. I'm very pleased to see those aspects on the up already, with the 15 per cent wage increase for aged-care workers and an increase to the minimum wage. These are good steps in the right direction.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency Director, Mary Wooldridge, spoke recently about the impact the gender pay gap has on women at a time of blooming inflation. I direct the House to her comments. I can assure you that her observations that 'sheflation' impacts all Australians are absolutely true. Addressing the gender pay gap is a serious issue. It requires leadership, and that's what we're doing.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canberra for bringing forward this important motion on gender pay equity. We know that, disappointingly, recent research from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that the gender pay gap in Australia is impacting women across every industry in every occupation and at every age or life stage. That is really depressing. When I talk to young women in Warringah, they're quite shocked to hear about the status quo, of where things are, when they're at that point of launching into their careers full of optimism. To know that the system is still so stacked against them is incredibly frustrating.

The overall national gender pay gap sits at 14.1 per cent, and, in fact, it's 0.3 percentage points higher than six months ago. Women on average earn $263 less per week than men. This difference, combined with cost-of-living pressures, is placing significant stress on Australian households, particularly for single parents. KPMG estimates that the unequal distribution of household and child-rearing labour is responsible for 39 per cent of this gap, something that a strong paid parental leave scheme can improve. Adding part-time workers widens the gender pay gap for all employees by some 29.7 per cent. Some of the largest gaps are in fact in the professional, scientific and technical services; health care; and financial and insurance services. These are some of the biggest employment services in Warringah.

Most disappointingly, despite all the rhetoric, all of the debates in this House and others, and policy interventions, the gap has only closed by five per cent since 1983. I find that so astounding. The global data shows the same picture. It's consistent. The International Labour Organization has noted that globally, despite substantial progress in women's employment, there had not been any meaningful narrowing of gender pay gaps at work for the past 20 years.

On average, the gender pay gap globally is approximately 20 per cent, and so for every dollar earnt by a man a woman will earn 80c. The gender pay gap contributes to long-term inequity and is one of the key reasons that women over 55 are the fastest-growing group experiencing homelessness. Low superannuation contributions are driven by low wages. Time out of the workforce for childcare and other reasons and for caring responsibilities all stall your superannuation and career progression. We know this; there are no secrets.

We also know that climate change will impact women disproportionately. The gender pay gap makes women more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change—70 per cent of people living in conditions of poverty globally are women, and across the world women have limited access to and control of their environmental goods and services, have negligible participation in decision-making and are often not involved in the distribution of environment management benefits. So women are less able to confront environmental impacts.

I welcome the government's commitment today in relation to improving gender pay equity, including the increased paid parental leave, which took some push, but it was great to see that announcement in the budget; improved affordability of childcare; and increased pay transparency elements of the Fair Work amendments. These are welcome. They aren't coming into effect for some time, though, and I have some concerns about the delay. I appreciate there are implementation issues, but the delay means that women continue to be on the back foot.

There is a strong economic case for these changes. Increasing paid parental leave entitlements to 26 weeks will cost the government some $600 million per year, but it will add $900 million to GDP per year as well as boosting a mother's lifetime earnings by $30,000. Australia has one of the least generous paid parental leave schemes in the world. It's highly gendered and discriminatory in considering only a woman's income in the calculation of eligibility. There are some improvements coming to the system, but I would urge the government to continue. It is not enough; 26 weeks should only be the starting point. We need to continue.

It's clear that childcare affordability is a major issue, and there has been a pledge by the government to improve that, but we need to recognise that the sector is a heavily feminised sector that has critical worker shortage. There were some 7,000 vacancies across the sector in September already and, with the proposed changes, demand will increase. We need to make sure that the government has a holistic view of the picture and increases support for women.

Kate Thwaites (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

THWAITES () (): Thank you to my friend the member for Canberra for moving this motion. The two of us share a keen interest and passion for working to close the gender pay gap, a passion that I know is shared by all my colleagues here and, in fact, by everyone in our government from the Prime Minister down. What's particularly exciting about speaking to this motion today is that I'm talking not just about a passion and an interest but about a government that is getting on with work that will close the gender pay gap.

At the moment, the gender pay gap sits at an unacceptable 14.1 per cent. It is so disappointing to see that figure. It translates to men earning almost $264 per week more than women. There are many women in our community—men as well—who are shocked when they hear that number. People tend to think that this is a problem we've already fixed. In fact, it's a problem that is taking far too long to address. I'm so pleased that, across a range of measures, our government is getting on with trying to close the gender pay gap seriously and as quickly as we can.

The gender pay gap persists across all industries, though we know that it's most felt in the sectors that are heavily dominated by women workers, such as aged care and early childhood education. It's in these spaces that government really can play a major difference, and it is these spaces that our government is focusing on to make a big difference. Our first budget last month demonstrated that, under our government, women up front and centre. We are committed to making Australia a world leader on gender equality. Our government is following through on our commitment to cheaper childcare, and I know what a difference that is going to make to women in my electorate and around the country, who will be able to afford more childcare and, therefore, be able to work more. It will make it easier for parents to get back into work, particularly mums who may want to work that extra day a week.

Another critical measure in our budget is our expansion of paid parental leave. I'm so proud of this achievement. It's something I've advocated for for a long time in this place. I've spoken about it a lot and I am so proud to be part of a government that is delivering it. We know there is a wealth of research out there that shows that a well-designed paid parental leave policy will deliver dividends in encouraging parents to share unpaid caring responsibilities. It has positive impacts on children's development and the wellbeing of parents and, in the context of what we're talking about now, is most likely to build women's workforce participation. So that means, again, that women have the chance to work more and it will, hopefully, have some impact on closing that gender pay gap. The gap in earnings that women face across their lifetime means too often, at the moment, that, when women get to the end of their working life, they are actually facing time in poverty. As we know, older women are the fastest-growing group facing homelessness. It should not be like this in our community.

Importantly, now, our government is amending the Fair Work Act to add gender equity to the heart of our Fair Work system. In doing so, we are setting a clear expectation that the Fair Work Commission must consider this aim when performing its functions. Whether it's setting the minimum wage, considering changes to awards or something else, this is a development that will make a real difference.

I mentioned aged-care and early-education workers before because both of these sectors are so important to our country. They helped carry us through the pandemic. I've said it before and I will say it again: the women who work in these sectors—and the men—are absolute legends. We rely on the people—mainly, women—who work in these sectors, and in fact we will do so more and more in the future. We know, again, that demand for aged care in our country is growing. We know that our reforms to child care will mean that demand for child care will grow. Yet these entire sectors are at risk, because we do often struggle to have a workforce. And one of the main reasons we struggle to have a workforce is that their work is still undervalued. What we might call the caring economy, or really what we see as 'women's work', has been underpaid for decades, and, despite the best previous efforts of unions and advocates, we have not secured these women the pay rises they should have. So I am proud to be part of a government that is now taking the action we need to close the gender pay gap, to take this issue seriously and to look out for the women of Australia.

James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I indeed rise to support the motion and commend the member for Canberra for bringing it to this place. I share in all the other comments that were made at the opening by other contributors to this debate—that of course it's completely unacceptable that we have a gender pay gap in our economy, and I'm sure it's a unanimous view of the parliament that we should be doing all we can to address that and getting that 14.1 per cent to at least zero. I've certainly worked with a lot of women who should've been paid a lot more than the men that they worked alongside in their workplace. So getting it to at least zero is something that we should all be working towards as a parliament together.

I was, equally, very happy to see the 15 per cent interim decision of the Fair Work Commission on Friday, and I note that that is, at this stage, a decision related to the direct care workforce in aged care. I join with the comments from others around the need for that to extend to all those who work in aged care, including those who do a whole range of other very important tasks that are not direct care in both residential and community settings. I hope that that decision is one of the best examples of a significant increase, in a workforce that is very predominantly female. When we're dealing with a figure of 14.1 per cent, a figure of 15 per cent higher than that in a sector is heading in the right direction.

It is in an environment, concerningly, of very high inflation. On the face of it, 15 per cent sounds like a lot of money, until you acknowledge that inflation at the moment is at 7.3 per cent, and the Reserve Bank, and the government in their own budget, are anticipating inflation being even higher. So, of course, 15 per cent in real terms is more like seven per cent. That is still a significant increase in real terms, but, obviously, if the purpose of the decision was to increase real wages by 15 per cent then they won't be achieving that if inflation keeps running as high as it is.

Obviously, we need to be always looking for opportunities to listen to women who are in a situation in their career where, for a variety of reasons, they're not earning the same amount of money as men; we need to understand from women what some of the challenges and barriers are that have been put in their way; and we need to figure out more ways in which we can do better.

I don't think that's always going to be at the government level. In many ways, significant cultural change is needed by employers in workplaces around the country. Certainly in my own experience as an employer before being in this place one of the things that I always sought to address, and always heard from the women that I worked with, was the need for a lot more flexibility, particularly if they were to have children and leave the workforce. They didn't want to be in a position where there was too much stringency around their ability to return to their career. Instead of leaving a full-time role and having to come back full time, they wanted ways in which there could be more flexibility.

The COVID period has made people a lot more open-minded about alternative work practices which would provide opportunities for women who do need to leave the workforce for a period of time to have a lot more flexibility about the way in which they can return, and not to have so many black-and-white situations around some of those challenges.

It's good that we're talking about this and it's good that we're making progress. It's not acceptable that the gap is what it is, and I hope we take every opportunity in this place to find new ways of improving the situation further and getting to a point where we have, at minimum, parity of wages between men and women in this nation. It's absolutely fundamental.

Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers the debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting