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

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released in June 2023 show that since, May 2022:

(a) women's total employment is up by 249,000;

(b) 233,500 more women have joined the labour force;

(c) women's part-time work has increased by 20,500

(d) women's full-time jobs have boomed, increasing by 228,600; and

(e) women have accounted for 59.3 per cent of the growth in full-time jobs;

(2) further notes that this comes off the back of recent Treasury analysis showing that the first 12 months of the Government have had the strongest jobs growth of any new Australian government in history; and

(3) recognises the Government is laying strong foundations for a better future for women in the workforce by delivering on its key election commitments of:

(a) cheaper child care;

(b) expanding paid parental leave;

(c) action to boost wages of the low paid through submissions to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review and aged care work value case;

(d) delivering the recommendations of the Respect@Work report; and

(e) delivering our Secure Jobs, Better Pay legislation which:

(i) has opened up bargaining to workers in low-paid industries which are most likely to be female dominated through the supported bargaining stream;

(ii) made gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act;

(iii) set up new expert panels in the Fair Work Commission focused on pay equity and the care and community sector, and introduced a statutory equal remuneration principle to address low wages and gender-based undervaluation of work;

(iv) made the right to request flexible working arrangements an enforceable right; and

(v) prohibited pay secrecy clauses.

I am very happy to rise to speak on this private member's motion in my name today—happy because we have good news to share on women's employment in this country. The Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures in June 2023 that showed that, since the Albanese Labor government came into power, women's total employment is up by 249,000, we have 233½ thousand more women who have joined the labour force and women's part-time work has increased by 20½ thousand. Women's full-time jobs have boomed, increasing by 228,600, and women have accounted for 59.3 per cent of the growth in full-time jobs. This is great news for Australian women.

Furthermore, the latest Global gender gap report from the World Economic Forum shows that, since the Albanese Labor government took office, Australia's world gender equality ranking has jumped up 17 places, from 43 to 26, the largest increase since that index began in 2006. At the election Labor promised to make Australia a world leader on gender equality, after a decade of stalled progress under the former coalition government, and these results show just how serious the Albanese government is about delivering on this promise and improving the lives of women right across this vast continent. The historic 17-place jump is a direct result of a conscious effort by Labor and of our commitment to equal representation in politics. It's as a result of this commitment that the government is now the first Australian Commonwealth government in history to be made up of a majority of women. Fifty-three per cent of this government are women, and 43 per cent of cabinet members are women—again, the largest number of women ever in an Australian federal cabinet.

We know that better gender representation delivers better outcomes. Women being 53 per cent of the Albanese Labor government ensures that gender equality is not some kind of add-on or afterthought for us. It sits very much front and centre of our policy thinking. We are embedding a gender lens in government on everything we do, from the NDIS and our social security system across to industrial relations and laws, and the budget more generally. I am proud to be part of a government that is delivering crucial gender equality reforms. Some, including me, would say they're long overdue, but let's get cracking.

Since coming to government, we've delivered cheaper child care, expanded and modernised the Paid Parental Leave scheme, expanded the single parenting payment and legislated Australia's first paid domestic violence leave. We're delivering on the recommendations of the Respect@Work report. We've made gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act. We've made the right to request flexible working arrangements an enforceable right, and increased transparency on gender pay gap reporting. Our secure jobs, better pay legislation has opened up bargaining to workers in low-paid industries, most of whom are generally women. We have set up new, expert panels for the Fair Work Commission, focused on pay equity in the care and community sector; and we've introduced a statutory equal new remuneration principle to address low wages and gender-based undervaluation of work. These reforms are laying some strong foundations now for a better future for women in the workforce. But we need to keep going. There's a lot more to do.

Australia's national gender pay gap is currently 13.3 per cent, and this means that, on average, a woman working full time earns $253.50 less per week than a man working full time. That is not okay by anybody's measure. We have had a persistent pay gap for some time. Australian women should not expect to be paid less than men in any job they do. It's that simple. After a decade of government inaction, of defunding services, of general disregard of and disrespect for women's calls for change, we in government are not wasting a single day.

I am so proud that we have managed to jump those 17 points on the global gender equality record. That's what happens when you insist on measuring and holding government to account. That's what we were doing each and every day.

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

Is the motion seconded?

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Russell Broadbent (Monash, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Well may you say that you have good news for all women in Australia and well may you say that 53 per cent representation in this government means a better outcome for women across this nation. That will be a scorecard for later on. But I do want those in government to take note of this. When they praise themselves for increasing the single parenting payment, they may be forgetting that the mover of this motion was in the parliament when the single parenting payment was reduced and that people like me railed against the single parenting payment being reduced, as it threw thousands of children into poverty. They said, 'It was a great success, removing that money from those women.' When I asked why, they said, 'Because then thousands of them moved into work straightaway.' So, under the Labor administration, they had to walk away from their children, who they were caring for up to that age, or put them into abject poverty. They had to find a job anywhere, any job—not a job they wanted; any job.

I would put to you that, yes, it's clear by the figures that we have more women in full-time work. But I would question whether that should be the evidence of success for women, families and, indeed, society as a whole. I would question instead, with the evidence of families struggling to make ends meet and the escalating cost of living occurring under the leadership of this government, whether it's forcing conversations in the household to say: 'Darling, we cannot survive with one of us working. We'll lose the house. We'll take the kids out of the private Catholic school and put them in the public school, which is going to save us $2,000 a year per child. We're going to have to make some decisions. What do we do?' And, if the interest rates go up any higher, what are they going to do then? They're not prepared for this. They're not prepared for these interest rate rises. They're not prepared for the power price rises. They're not prepared for the utility costs rising. I spoke to a woman the other day, and she said: 'I've stopped buying firewood. I'm sitting there with a small electric heater and a rug on.' She was taking extra shifts in the bar that she worked in in Gippsland—as much work as she could get—but she said, 'I cannot afford the firewood any more.' So she's not lighting the fire.

I would question the costs for mothers who have been forced back into the workforce long before they would have chosen to go back. They might want to go back into the workforce. In this inquiry we're doing on Workforce Australia at the moment, we're finding women that are out of work and do want to go back to work, but they have barriers. Some of those barriers are insurmountable and unseen. I would question the cost for families who have been forced to outsource the critically important role of caregiver for their children to ensure that they have enough money to put food on the table. We can reduce the cost of child care, as a government—you'd hope—but have you increased the opportunity for our society to be a lesser place? Indeed, I would question the cost for our society if we devalue and neglect the critical contribution that women make outside of full-time work, often in unpaid roles providing stability to thriving communities. These communities rely upon mums that are at home.

There's so much to say. I think the wellbeing report by the government, under the Treasurer, Mr Chalmers—I know what it's like to struggle in life, managing children. I see my children doing it every day, and they're working full time. There's got to be a lot accountability for people, Australia and the way that we work for women.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased to support this motion by the member for Newcastle. I think there's a reason, when you look around at my colleagues on the government benches, that you see so many women sitting there—it's 53 per cent, in fact, across our caucus—and it's that Labor does care about gender equality. We care about women's economic stability, and closing the wage gap will always be a focus for us. Of course, the more that women are represented on our side of politics, on the crossbenches and, hopefully, in the opposition, the deeper the commitment and the understanding of the complexities that affect women's employment and earnings should be.

While no-one thinks we can flick a switch and end the gender pay gap overnight, we can already see the actions of the Albanese Labor government having a real effect. The latest Global gender gap report from the World Economic Forum shows that Australia's world gender equality ranking jumped 17 places from 43 to 26, and that's in our first year of government. It's the biggest improvement since the index was created in 2006, and it means our nation is back on track, working towards ending the gender pay gap, which still sits at around 13 per cent.

Now, in practical terms, on average, an Australian woman working full time earns $253.50 per week less than a man working full time. This pay gap persists across all industries. The level of employment of women in full-time jobs has improved in the last year. The latest Bureau of Statistics employment figures show good progress for women, with 54 per cent of the new full-time jobs in the year to July being for women, leading to 228,600 more women working full time. Now, that's some of the strongest jobs growth that we've seen, and across the board, in fact, unemployment is at a historic low. In New South Wales it's got a '2' in front of it—2.9 per cent—for the first time in recorded history.

If that is creating more opportunities for women to have secure, full-time work, that is a good consequence, but we know that there are many doing casual and gig economy work where loopholes mean they're being undercut on their wages. So, while we're pleased with the progress we've made over the past year or so, we know it's not good enough. There is no excuse to justify women being paid less than men. Closing the gender pay gap and increasing women's participation in the workforce has been at the heart of our election promises and our actions in government. We've expanded paid parental leave by committing $346 million over five years to combine paid parental leave and dad-and-partner pay into one scheme. This will better support dads and second parents to share the parental leave payments. Recently, a mum who earns more than her husband expressed her thanks for the changes that we've made. She said that it means that, where a family income limit of $350,000 is applied, she can now have paid parental leave rather than it being based on her income alone. It's worth noting that we've also expanded employees entitlement to unpaid parental leave from six weeks to 20 weeks so that families can share work and caring responsibilities more easily. These are making a real difference on the ground for people.

Our cheaper childcare policy is another way we're trying to tackle that pay gap. Earlier this month, our cheaper child care came into effect, designed to make it cheaper for around 6,000 families in Macquarie and to increase women's participation in the workforce. It's not fixing the problem in one go, but it is the start of our commitment to improving childcare access and cost. We have the Productivity Commission on the case to look at how we can improve affordability and access for the long term. We want to see how we can make sure that we've got a universal early education system so every child gets a great start in life.

Lack of flexible working arrangements was flagged as a key barrier to women's workforce participation at our Jobs and Skills Summit last September. Women still do a larger proportion of unpaid caring work and are twice as likely to request flexible working arrangements. Unsupportive workplaces can lead to them taking lower-paid, less-senior positions and less-secure work. Our 'secure jobs, better pay' legislation has delivered stronger access to flexible working arrangements. Employers and employees must now come together. This, along with things like lifting the barriers for bargaining, means that we're making a difference in that gender pay gap.

Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion relating to women's employment and economic security. Women's participation in the workforce—their ability and opportunities to have choices and flexibility around how to best balance their family's needs with their own career aspirations—is one of the most important issues facing our country. Women's equality is essential for strengthening our economy, our society and our nation. The government must commit to ensuring that women's workforce participation continues to rise. This is essential to supporting economic growth and raising living standards for all Australians.

When Australian women do well, their families do well and our nation does well. However, we now have a growing cohort of Australian women who risk living in poverty at retirement. This can be linked directly to the massive differential in superannuation between Australian men and women. On average, Australian women retire on 47 per cent less superannuation than Australian men. This in turn can be related to the time women take out of the workforce for childbirth and child rearing.

We have now had a government paid parental leave scheme since 2011. It is extremely disappointing that this scheme, after 12 years, still does not attract the superannuation guarantee. The consequence of this is that it is not compulsory for any employer to pay superannuation while a new parent, usually the mother, is on paid parental leave. The Labor government's own Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, as well as the Workplace Gender Equality Agency and the Productivity Commission, have long advocated for compulsory payment of superannuation for parents on parental leave. It is, therefore, highly disappointing that, despite handing down two budgets over the last 12 months, Treasurer Chalmers has ignored all of this advice and has to date failed to make changes to the Paid Parental Leave scheme to assist Australian women.

The importance of the superannuation guarantee being applied to the Paid Parental Leave scheme is highlighted further as women commonly rejoin the workforce on a part-time basis after their parental leave has concluded and as a result their superannuation earnings will be lower because they earn less. According to data collected by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, even the annualised base salary for part-time employment of $54,000 is less when compared to the about $84,000 full-time average base salary. Consequently, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency concluded in its report:

… the current superannuation system in Australia, which is tied to paid work, creates significant inequalities in retirement incomes for those who provide unpaid care.

Most of these roles are filled by women. Women should not be financially punished in this manner for making choices about having and raising children. The government has the fiscal levers available to it to remedy this situation.

A further barrier for women is that part-time employment is also less likely to be available in senior management roles. In fact, availability is currently estimated at only around 10 per cent. This low percentage of part-time employment in management also limits women's capacity to take up or stay in senior leadership roles if they are a carer. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has also provided data showing that the gender pay gap is more significant in part-time than in full-time positions, contributing further to lower superannuation in general. Therefore, while the ABS statistics referred to in this motion are pleasing—women's workforce participation has been improving—there is still a major gap, particularly with superannuation and the lack of superannuation paid on paid parental leave, and that is contributing significantly to women facing retirement on far less money than Australian men.

Sally Sitou (Reid, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to make sure that gender equality remains at the heart of everything we do here. I'm pleased to say that the recent gender gap report from the World Economic Forum shows Australia's world gender equality ranking has risen from 43 to 26—a jump of 17 places. It is the largest increase since the index began in 2006. That is the difference a change of government can make. We have placed gender equality at the heart of what we do. It's not something that is just nice to have or something you can isolate to one department off to the side; it spans our entire government and we have set ourselves an ambitious goal—to make Australia one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. We've matched that goal with some key policies to help us get there, and we are starting to see the impact of that. The gender pay gap is closing and trending in the right direction. In the last six months, it's dropped from 14.1 per cent to 13.3 per cent, the smallest it's ever been.

Let me outline some of the critical policy changes we've made. We have put gender equity as an object of our industrial relations framework. It ensures the Fair Work Commission factors in gender equity when considering the minimum wage and changing awards. We have also made changes to reduce barriers to bargaining, including multi-enterprise bargaining, a change that will have a significant impact for women, who are more likely to work in industries like aged care and early childhood education—sectors that tend to pay lower and where workers often lack the resources to bargain effectively. We've ended pay secrecy, a practice that hides the true extent of gender pay discrimination in a workplace because it makes it harder for women to ask for pay increases. We have expanded paid parental leave and made it easier for both parents to access the leave. A hallmark announcement during the federal election was our commitment to make child care more affordable. It's good for parents, usually mums who are getting back into work, because it reduces the motherhood penalty many women face when having children. We've made significant inroads on gender inequality while we've had the country's first majority-female federal government. I don't think that is a coincidence. This is the most diverse government our country has ever had, which means it better reflects the community. It also means our policies are better at supporting our community.

The goal to make Australia one of the most gender equal countries in the world may seem like a lofty goal, but it's an important one not just for Australia but for our region. I recently visited Solomon Islands to see the development work being supported by NGOs and the Australian government. The gender inequality in the Solomon Islands is stark. Women earn little more than half of what men do. Two out of three women have reported experiencing physical violence from an intimate partner. These are deeply disturbing figures. I saw firsthand the conditions in which women were having to give birth, at birthing units which did not have electricity or lighting and were so basic that when I heard the maternal mortality rate was 114 out of every 100,000 live births, ranking Solomon Islands as 113th in the world, I was not surprised.

It's an important reminder of why Australia needs to be a beacon of gender equity in our region. An NGO specialising in women's reproductive health, MSI Reproductive Choices, reported that the overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States gave permission to authoritarian governments around the world to further restrict reproductive rights for women in their countries. Their argument is, 'If they can do it in the United States then we can do it here too.' We have seen a dangerous and dramatic backsliding of women's gender equality, and it's a reminder to us all that the rights that our mothers and grandmothers fought so hard for can be easily taken away if we do not actively and persistently fight for them. It has never been more important for Australia to stand as a beacon of hope for gender equality in our region.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) | Link to this | Hansard source

I will always support and advocate for the advancement of women in Australia. However, I think this motion needs to also reflect on and recognise the role of the previous coalition government in leading the pathway for the ongoing progression of female workforce participation and implementation of the Workplace Gender Equality Act review, amongst other very important initiatives. The House knows that the coalition government, from 2013 to 2022, had a strong record on jobs growth, with 1.9 million jobs created, 60 per cent of which were taken up by women. Female workforce participation rose by 3.5 per cent to a then record of 62.2 per cent, and this was despite a similar drop in the figures over the period of the previous Rudd and Gillard Labor governments.

I am really passionate about women's workforce participation, particularly amongst women who are from lower-socioeconomic situations, often due to no fault of their own. In a previous career, before politics, I worked in community housing, and I started a program called WISH, which was Women In Social Housing, to support these women—where there was often intergenerational welfare—into work through mentorship and support. We saw that employment literally changed lives.

The previous, coalition government delivered a review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act in 2021 and moved towards recommendation implementation with $18 million. The two most recent coalition budgets saw over $5 billion for women's initiatives across leadership, safety, workforce participation and health outcomes. During the last government we also saw 300,000 more children go into child care, which of course assisted working parents, and we saw a near doubling of support for families accessing child care, to $11 billion from $6.2 billion at the end of the second Rudd government.

The coalition's women's policy is now being led by our deputy leader, the honourable member for Farrer, as the shadow minister for women, and she has taken charge in ensuring that women's issues are at the forefront of policymaking. Recently it was my pleasure to lead, for the coalition, the consideration in detail of the recent appropriation bills debate on the women's portfolio under the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In that contribution, I noted the disappointment of business and of women who want to re-enter the workforce when this Labor government did not renew the Career Revive program in the previous budget. The program was in place from 2019 and ran out of funding at the end of the previous financial year. This is a shame, as it did support businesses in attracting and retaining women returning to work after a career break.

In the most recent budget, the Labor government have attempted to badge increased bulk-billing incentives and the Workplace Incentive Program as women's health measures. Women need more from this government. That's why the Leader of the Opposition, in his budget reply speech, announced $4 million for Ovarian Cancer Australia to continue its vital work. Further, the coalition announced that we would, if elected, allocate $5 million to review women-specific healthcare items on the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Our hope is that the review would identify what best practice women-specific medical services are not on the schedule, and ensure that clinically effective services and treatments remain affordable and accessible.

Something I am extremely passionate about as I go around the country speaking to people about mental health, particularly young women, is the Medicare subsidised psychology sessions, which were cut by this government from 20 to 10. This particularly impacts young woman. This is another policy aspect the coalition has taken a lead on. If we are returned to government—when we are returned to government—we will restore the 20 sessions for all Australians on a permanent basis.

One very unfortunate target the Labor government is not meeting is its commitment to create 500 additional frontline community roles for reducing domestic violence and providing safety for women. Despite progressing funding for this election commitment in the October budget with a pledge to ensure 200 workers on the ground in the previous financial year, we don't know how many are on the ground now. I did ask a question about that in a previous speech, and it would be fantastic to get an update. There are really high rates of domestic violence in my community of Western Sydney, and this is an issue that I see as being very important—keeping women safe across Australia.

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

I wish to thank the member for Newcastle for presenting this motion. It holds great personal significance to me as the mother of two young women and as a member of Australia's first female-majority Labor caucus. The issue of women's employment resonates deeply with me, as it reflects both the progress we have made and the challenges that still lie ahead.

When I first entered the workforce, the gender pay gap was a concerning 23 per cent, and maternity leave was a privilege reserved mainly for those in the Public Service and was unpaid and inconsistently offered across different industries. Domestic violence leave from the workplace was not even considered. However, under the leadership of the Albanese Labor government, we are achieving significant milestones.

We've successfully introduced 20 weeks of paid parental leave for all new mothers, and we've embedded enabling legislation that gives new fathers the ability to better share parenting responsibilities. We have created history by introducing 10-day workplace leave due to domestic and family violence—the first time ever. This will mean women can more readily escape family violence, get children to safety, and keep their job and their wage. The gender pay gap has decreased to 13.3 per cent, a testament to our commitment to narrowing this gap. Recent reports from the World Economic Forum indicate that our nation's world gender equality ranking has improved significantly, moving up 17 places from 43rd to 26th.

Whilst we take pride in these accomplishments, we are also aware that much remains to be done. The current national gender pay gap means that, on average, women working full time earn $253 less each week than their male counterparts. We know this disparity is not good enough, so we are acting to enhance women's economic security. Through the secure jobs, better pay legislation we've empowered the Fair Work Commission to order pay increases for workers in low-paid feminised industries, like aged care and child care. Additionally, we have included gender equality as an objective in the Fair Work Act 2009, prohibiting pay secrecy and establishing a statutory equal-remuneration principle.

Our commitment to women's economic empowerment is evident through various initiatives, including providing better access to flexible working arrangements, enabling families to share work and caregiving responsibilities; allocating $4 billion to government and community organisations for women's safety initiatives; investing $8.6 million in the Australian Skills Guarantee, to set national targets for women in apprenticeships, traineeships and cadetships; funding $91.3 million to strengthen the mental health care workforce, with 80 per cent of additional psychology placements dedicated to women; committing $72.4 million to support the early childhood education and care workforce, of which 92 per cent are women; and delivering fee-free TAFE, which is already having a positive impact, with women representing 60 per cent of all enrolments.

This is important work. These reforms mean more women can work if they want to, to earn more and grow their super. Superannuation is particularly important for women. We know that women over 55 are the most vulnerable group to homelessness, and this is unacceptable. The reforms have been driven by our Labor caucus, which, for the first time ever, proudly has a majority of women. Our Labor government is absolutely committed to advancing equity and opportunity for women. Let us remember that until 1972, around a decade before I entered the workforce, no major party had a women's policy. It was only under Labor, led by former prime minister Gough Whitlam and his women's adviser, Elizabeth Reid, that a revolution for women's rights began.

In closing, I urge all members to come together in supporting women's employment. Let us continue this journey with determination, creating a future where women's economic empowerment is not just an aspiration but a reality for all. We all know that when women do better, we as a nation do better.

Alicia Payne (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) | 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 day of sitting.

Sitting suspended from 13:28 to 16:00