Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

ORGANAS () (): Today is International Women's Day, and I'd like to wish everyone a happy International Women's Day. I want to mark this occasion by acknowledging all the women in my electorate and around the world. Today is not about recognising those women who, despite the inequality that still exists, have managed to become leaders in their fields, as commendable as these achievements are. Today is about recognising all women and girls and reflecting on what we need to do to create real gender equality.

This government is the first majority-women federal government in Australia. The fact that this is seen as a great achievement in itself tells us there is still a long way to go. But progress is not inevitable; it takes work and commitment. This government has made it a priority to tackle gender inequality. We've recently introduced a bill which will publish gender pay gaps of employees of companies with 100 or more workers, to drive transparency and action towards closing the gender pay gap. We've increased paid parental leave, made childcare cheaper and increased paid leave for people facing domestic violence. But we know there is still significant inequality facing women.

One in two women have experienced harassment in their lifetime, compared to one in four men. Women over 55 are the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness. Women do more unpaid work than men, even when they're the primary breadwinners. Thirty per cent of Australian men don't believe that gender inequality exists—and that's sad, because that's more than the global average of 21 per cent.

Clearly, there's much more to be done. To achieve real change, we must listen to women, and this is why we released the survey so that women can share their experiences, their thoughts and their feedback and inform the National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality.

This is why, today, we are releasing the Status of women report card, which will highlight the reality of life for women in Australia and remind us of the progress that we still need to achieve in this country. The report card will come out annually, to show what progress is being made and what challenges women and girls in Australia are still facing. This is an area where we can only really achieve change if we all work together. That starts by recognising that there is a problem and listening to women.

So, today, I want to use International Women's Day to acknowledge all the women and girls. I pledge to do all I can to listen and act.