Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the Government's commitment to driving economic equality for Australian women, from closing the gender pay gap and lifting wages for women, to investing in women's health and expanding paid parental leave;

(2) notes that on 1 July 2025 women in Australia benefited from key changes delivered by the Government, including:

(a) expanding paid parental leave to 24 weeks and paying superannuation on it;

(b) lifting the minimum wage by 3.5 per cent; and

(c) commencing the Commonwealth Prac Payment scheme for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students; and

(3) welcomes the Government continuing to deliver a better future for Australian women.

As a young girl growing up next door to my grandparents, I saw my matriarchal grandmother use her organisational, diplomatic and empathy skills to be the bedrock of our family and our community. My mum wanted to become a teacher but didn't get the opportunity. However, every day she organised meals for at least 10 people, made hundreds of stage-ready costumes, decorated wedding cakes and organised and joined various social justice causes. Then there were our friends the Hahnes, who lived up the road. Mum babysat a few of the grandkids because both parents wanted to pursue a career—one a paramedic and the other a nurse educator. In addition, Mum did countless hours of babysitting for my kids and other grandkids.

This is not an unfamiliar story. I'm telling you this story because women throughout the ages have been held back from fully participating in our economy in the way they want to. Child care and family care have always been two of the biggest hurdles facing women entering the workforce and, importantly, keeping them there. Child care was just too costly on the family budget, and wages weren't high enough, especially in women dominated sectors, for it to be worthwhile for both parents to work. It wasn't just wages and career losses for the mums, who were the ones who predominantly lost out; it's a loss of long-term financial stability and economic empowerment, not to mention economic growth. In fact, it's estimated that the Australian economy would be $128 billion better off by purposely removing the persistent and pervasive barriers to women's full and equal participation in the economy.

When Labor introduced paid paternity leave almost 15 years ago, the dinner conversations changed. It gave families an option for both parents to work. This was a significant step to bring more women into the workforce and nibble away at the gender pay gap, but the data showed slow progress. At the time of the 2022 federal election, the gender pay gap was still 14.1 percent—exactly where it had been four years earlier. For over a decade, I have participated in discussions across organisations like the OECD, the World Economic Forum and the B20 on what is needed to close the gap, and the discussions always highlighted a few consistent challenges: the burden of family care falling predominantly on women; the undervaluing of the career choices of many women, which is reflected in comparatively very low wages—and unpaid prac placements, of course; and discrimination in hiring. Now, 51 per cent of the workforce are women, and we can't afford to leave them behind.

This is why I'm so pleased to speak to this motion today, which recognises what the Labor government is doing to support women with fairer wages and long-term financial stability. Since 1 July, the Albanese Labor government has kicked off billions of dollars worth of responsible support. The national minimum wage and award wages have increased by 3½ per cent. Paid parental leave has increased to 24 weeks. Super is now paid on all government paid parental leave. Commonwealth prac placements have started with nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work students—professions where women dominate the work. This comes on top of 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave, stronger rules for company reporting on their gender gaps and stronger laws to combat sexual harassment in the workforce.

The second point I wanted to touch upon was the comparatively huge cost of health care that women face—contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies and endometriosis, just to name three. When I was doorknocking during the campaign, I spoke to a few ladies who told me a very similar story. They were scared and embarrassed to go out because of the physical and emotional symptoms that they experience because of menopause. This is why I stand here today to support Labor's actions on implementing a promise to deliver $790 million towards women's health. From 1 March, some of the most commonly used contraceptive pills were listed on the PBS. Contraceptive devices became cheaper. From 1 July, a new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments was introduced. After more than 20 years, three new menopausal hormone therapies were listed on the PBS. From 1 July, two new Medicare Benefits Schedule items were introduced for gynaecological consultations of 45 minutes or longer, helping those facing complex conditions such as endometriosis and pelvic pain, and there will be more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics treating more conditions thanks to the Albanese Labor government. Women will also benefit from the cheaper PBS prescriptions, our bulk-billing, our urgent care clinics et cetera.

I'm really proud of the steps this government has taken to enable more women to work, but a lot more remains to be done to close that gender gap. I look forward to working with the government to continue to do this and make it fairer for women across our country.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion this morning. As the shadow minister for women, I am committed, as we all are in the coalition, to ensuring we are delivering economic equality for women. But, just as importantly, we must deliver essential services and tackle the issues that are hurting so many women and children—indeed, all Australian families.

Instead of driving economic growth and bettering our lives, the Albanese Labor government's out-of-control spending spree is actually failing Australians. With nearly 51 per cent of the population being women, you can consider their efforts an epic fail. We have and continue to experience the sharpest fall in living standards in the developed world. Living standards in Australia have declined by more than six per cent under Labor. Interest rates have gone up 12 times, with families still being punished with extra mortgage repayments of up to $1,800 a month. Let's face it, the cost of everything is up. Electricity bills are up 32 per cent, gas bills are up 30 per cent, rents are up 20 per cent, food is up 14 per cent, health costs are up 15 per cent—and don't get me started on only needing to use your Medicare card, not your credit card. When families are skipping meals to keep the lights and heating on, it is clear this government has got its priorities all wrong.

Australia's housing crisis is in freefall. Rents are skyrocketing right across the country, having risen 20 to 80 per cent in our capital cities since 2022, which means they are rising up to five times faster than wages. More and more Australians are accepting that owning their own home may never be a reality while prices remain so high and supply continues to dwindle. Homelessness is a reality for too many. Earlier this month was Homelessness Week, an important week dedicated to highlighting the homelessness crisis here in Australia. Homelessness Australia said that, of the people assisted by specialist services, six in 10 are women, one in three are single parents and nearly 10 per cent are women aged 55 or over. Nearly 40 per cent of clients have experienced family and domestic violence.

Family and domestic violence continues to be one of the biggest challenge in our communities. One in four women have experienced violence by an intimate partner. That's around 2.3 million women in this country—your sister, your relative, your friend, your neighbour. The same number have experienced emotional abuse, and one in five have experienced sexual violence. These issues matter. They are important, and we must do more to stop them now, not later.

When it comes to the gender pay gap, as the member for Brisbane highlighted, we are seeing an improvement. Last week, the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher, said in a media release that Australia's gender pay gap is at the lowest ever level since records began, at 11.5 per cent. I appreciate that this allows a media release to be issued; however, according to the ABS, it reached 11.5 per cent last August, before rising again to 11.9 per cent in February. Despite this seemingly low number, the government's own Workplace Gender Equality Agency reports this data quite differently, because it includes overtime, superannuation and other payments that are received. Their reporting states the gender pay gap is still much higher, at 21.8 per cent. These two datasets far from align, though both show an improvement over the last decade.

When this data was first reported in 2015, the gap sat at 28.6 per cent. Year on year, this percentage has fallen by around one percentage point—that is, until the Albanese Labor government was elected. In 2022, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency reported the gap at 22.8 per cent. In the 3½ years since they came to office, this has shifted just 0.4 per cent. That's an average reduction of 0.1 per cent each year. As important as each of these issues are, what is more important is that we do not apply a technicolour lens to data and evidence to paint the situation as something more palatable. If it's broke, let's fix it, but we must not sugarcoat it.

Ash Ambihaipahar (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When women thrive, Australia thrives, and that has always been Labor's vision. Under this Albanese Labor government we are making historic investments to deliver real economic equality for Australian women. For too long, women have been left behind in our economy, being underpaid, undervalued and unsupported, but change is happening. It's happening because this Albanese Labor government believes that every woman deserves safety, security, opportunity and a fair share in our nation's prosperity.

More than 8,000 community and personal service workers call Barton home. We know a larger share of these workers are women. They are nurses in our hospitals, caring for our elderly relatives in aged-care homes, supporting at-risk youth as social workers, and teaching our kids in early child care. We rely on them to keep our community safe, healthy and educated. There are more than 8,000 households relying on them to keep food on the table.

One of the first things I did as the member for Barton was visit some of these workers in training at Kogarah TAFE alongside Minister Giles. We visited three classes, the majority of which were filled with women and who were all taught by women. They had already begun their placements at St George Hospital and were eager to join local health services full time. One young student, Quinn, told me how excited they were to start work so they could give back to the community that had already given so much to them. These are the people benefiting from our work in this House—generous, kind, tough and diligent women in Barton. It is far overdue that we celebrate, protect and support their work.

We are absolutely rewriting the story of care in this country. We are expanding paid parental leave to six months by 2026, paying super on that leave from July this year and investing $1 billion to build more childcare centres. These changes mean families will be almost $12,000 better off than they were before Labor's reforms. We're also delivering on long-overdue pay rises in aged care and early childhood education, which are industries overwhelmingly dominated by women, and we extended the parenting payment until the child turns 14, supporting single mums to stay afloat.

During the last federal election campaign I doorknocked the entire electorate of Barton. I did that because I know that the conversations that dominate the media cycle here in Canberra and in the papers in Sydney are not necessarily the conversations that are happening around the dinner tables in Earlwood and Wolli Creek. Instead, parents wanted to talk about pay rises, the changes to early education and access to health care. Mums wanted to know how our government was supporting them and their family. Students wanted to know that their work would be rewarded once they finish their studies. The results speak for themselves: under Labor the gender pay gap is at record lows of just 11.9 per cent; women are earning $217 more per week than in May 2022; and women's workforce participation is at record highs of 63.4 per cent, with more than 600,000 new jobs for women created since Labor came to office. We've made gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act, we've required large employers to report their gender pay gaps and we're funding the Fair Work Commission to fix undervaluation in women-dominated industries.

We're not stopping there. We're investing in women's futures through fee-free TAFE, through practical placement payments for teaching, nursing and midwifery and social work students, and by cutting and reforming HECS and HELP debts, which disproportionately impacts women, who hold almost 60 per cent of student debt. Women's health is front and centre too. This government invested $792 million in women's health, open 22 dedicated endometriosis clinics, expanded care for menopause and tripled the bulk-billing incentives. Do you know why? Because women's health should never be treated as an afterthought.

To all those people I spoke to at their doorsteps, this is the work that is supporting you and helping you get ahead, and this is only the beginning. We are breaking barriers in leadership here in Australia. Now we have a gender-equal parliament for the first time in history, with Labor women driving their achievements. We also have a gender-equal cabinet, with 12 of 23 ministers being women. This is not symbolic; it is structural change. Let me be very clear: economic equality for women is not a side issue. It's not an afterthought. It is core nation-building work.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Labor motion is about a better future for Australian women, but let me tell you about one woman, Wendy, from Donald in my electorate of Mallee. Her future is not looking better under this government. For more than three years now the Prime Minister has repeated the mantra 'nobody held back, nobody left behind'. But Wendy has been utterly left behind by the combination of state and federal Labor governments in regional Victoria.

Wendy is a 75-year-old pensioner who lives in Donald, 277 kilometres from Melbourne. Wendy contracted the superbug Stenotrophomonas maltophilia during spinal surgery at Royal Melbourne Hospital in March 2024. In Wendy's own words:

After attending rehab, where my surgery site split open, I was rushed back to the Royal Melbourne Hospital and subsequently had 3 washouts and drains inserted by the plastic surgery team. A number of other patients in my ward also suffered a similar fate although the spine is unique in that the metalware cannot be removed until fusion occurs.

This bug attaches to and hides on metal and other surgical items.

She goes on to say that it:

… is aerobic and anaerobic forming a covering and when opportunity arises, it may jump out, attach to the atrium valve of the heart and eat it until it turns to mush or may move to other organs causing death.

There is only ONE antibiotic medication that can suppress it, namely Bactrim/Resprim Forte.

Wendy believes that a person who has caught this bug has a 54 per cent chance of survival, diminishing with age and other comorbidities. She goes on:

My condition has been managed by an Infectious Disease consultant from Switzerland as well as the orthopaedic team, but this causes some grief as there is little opportunity to use public transport in Donald—

Now, if anyone doesn't know where Donald is, I invite you to look it up on a map—

no taxi and a better resourced ambulance is at least 45 minutes away.

Wendy goes on to explain that her medical consultant has encouraged her to move closer to Royal Melbourne Hospital in case the bug causes a life-threatening infection. So, with regret, she told me last week in a mobile office in Donald that she has sold her home and is moving to Melbourne. Remembering the Prime Minister's slogan, let's call that part of her story the 'nobody held back part'.

It gets worse. Wendy has also been left behind. Again in Wendy's own words:

Recently I suffered a heart condition which meant being taken by ambulance to Bendigo hospital. It took 45 minutes' wait time for the ambulance to arrive and a 2 hour bumpy journey to Bendigo hospital and a further wait to see a doctor—such are the issues with living remotely, suffering from a potential life-threatening condition. There was no GP doctor working that evening.

This is a story I have heard all too often as the member for Mallee and in my previous shadow ministry role in regional health. I remain passionate about giving a voice to the people of Mallee and ensuring that they receive better health care. So when this motion speaks about the Albanese Labor government 'investing in women's health', I ask: What about Wendy? What about everyone like her? What about the women in Donald? What about the women in Buloke Shire? What about all the women in Mallee, and all the women in regional Australia?

Mallee women certainly feel invisible to the Albanese Labor government. I am giving people like Wendy a voice today because all Australian women deserve better.

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

I am delighted to rise in support of this motion moved by my friend and colleague the member for Brisbane to reaffirm Labor's unwavering commitment to driving economic equality for Australian women.

The World Economic Forum 's Global gender gap report 2025 has seen Australia jump 11 places in the global rankings in the last 12 months, to 13th position out of 148 countries, for gender equality. This is Australia's highest ranking since the index began back in 2008. For Labor, gender equality is not an optional extra. It's fundamental to fairness, to prosperity and to building a stronger nation. From day one, this government has placed women's social and economic equality at the centre of everything it does.

Over the past decade of coalition government, women were left behind. Under the coalition, Australia's gender equality ranking collapsed to 50th place on that list of 148 countries. That was, I shouldn't have to say, the lowest Australia has ever been. Thanks to Labor, we are now up to 13th. As I said, that's the highest we have ever been. But don't, for one moment, think we're resting on our laurels. Why shouldn't we be No. 1? That's the ambition of all of us on this side of the House.

The Labor government spent its first term delivering major reform to improve the lives of Australian women. This includes expanding paid parental leave to 24 weeks and, for the first time, adding superannuation to that paid parental leave, strengthening retiring incomes and recognising the value of care work. Families accessing paid parental leave are now nearly $12,000 better off compared to how they were prior to us coming to office. It includes three consecutive increases to the minimum wage, lifting the pay rates of nearly three million Australians—and guess what? The majority of those on minimum wage are women in sectors like care, retail and early education. Backing in those wage increases is critical to lifting the economic security of women. It includes commencing the Commonwealth paid prac payment scheme for student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers, who are overwhelmingly women. Easing that financial pressure during mandatory placements is critical. We're investing in the professions that all of our communities rely on. These reforms are already making a difference in communities like mine in Newcastle, where thousands of students and young families stand to benefit, but that's just part of Labor's agenda.

Since 2022, we have delivered record lows for the gender pay gap. Just last week the ABS released data that women in full-time work are earning more than $250 more each week than they were three years ago. That's a good thing. Encouragingly, that data shows that women's workforce participation has also hit a record high, growing to 63.5 per cent—the first time for Australia. We've delivered cheaper child care for over a million families, because affordability is key to women's workforce participation. We've delivered historic economic investments in women's health, including cheaper contraception. Let's put contraception that women should have been able to access on the PBS. For the first time in 30 years, there are two of those new listings on the PBS. That is a good thing. There are new Medicare items for menopause care and for expanded endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. We've delivered more than $4 billion in women's safety, because true equality is impossible while violence against women persists, and an historic parliament and cabinet. It's the first time for a cabinet to have a majority of women, proving that representation matters. We've also delivered Australia's first national gender equality strategy, Working for Women, setting out a 10-year road map across safety, economic security, health, leadership and care.

We know that challenges remain for Australian women. There is not a single woman on this side of the House—and, I suspect, across the House, to be frank—that thinks that we can just say 'job done' and move on. We know that these challenges remain. Rates of gendered violence, for example, remain far too high. Too many women still do not feel the full benefit of these reforms in their daily lives, and that's why delivering for Australian women remains very much the focus of our second term. We're auditing the Commonwealth systems to prevent financial abuse, embedding a gender lens in housing and industry policy and continuing to strengthen women's leadership and representation. This government remains steadfast in its commitment to ensuring that all women, in every part of the nation, have the fundamental rights of safety, equality, dignity and opportunity. That's what this motion seeks to do. I'm proud to support it. (Time expired)

Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Brisbane for this motion which raises the importance of economic equality for Australian women. In recent decades we've seen greater workforce participation, higher levels of educational attainment for Australian women, a reduction in the gender pay gap and the narrowing of the retirement income gap. Achievements of the Albanese government that I advocated for and supported in the 47th parliament included expansion of paid parental leave, superannuation on PPL and increased wages in female dominated workforces. All of these were really significant moves towards gender equity in our workforce.

There are, however, persisting and significant gender inequities in the Commonwealth Prac Payment scheme. This initiative, which was announced earlier this year, was a welcome recognition of the financial hardship faced by students undertaking mandatory unpaid placements in teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work. These students will now receive $331 per week during those placements, and that support is long overdue. However, the scheme continues to exclude students in other care-sector disciplines—medicine, allied health and veterinary science—even though those students face the same, if not even greater, burdens of unpaid placements. Those students also have to complete hundreds—sometimes thousands—of hours of practical training, often in rural or remote locations and often at the expense of their paid work at home. They too have to pay the cost of insurance, registration, equipment, accommodation and transport to their prac placements, while still often having to pay rent in the city, pay the cost of their child care and sort out the care of their dependents.

This exclusion is not an oversight by the Albanese government. It was deliberate, and it perpetuates structural inequities in our workforce. The fact is that fields like physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and veterinary science are female dominated. Women make up 74 per cent of students in health related degrees in Australia. These are the very students who are being asked to work for free—to train for free—for months on end, while they have to juggle their rent, their cost of living, and sometimes their care of children or other dependents. I've heard their stories time and time again. They are stories of anxiety and sadness, of worry and of frustration—stories which reflect the chilling effect of placement poverty.

Unpaid placements push women into debt. They can delay their graduation and they can limit their career choices. They worsen gender inequities before women even have the opportunity to enter the workforce. This fact has been recognised time and time again. In fact, the government's own Women's Economic Equality Taskforce found that women are more likely to study or train in areas that attract debt or that require unpaid placements to qualify and that this creates inequality from the start of their careers. That inequality can have lifelong implications. It can include an inability to escape or recover from violence, homelessness or housing insecurity. It can result in lower superannuation balances and less security in retirement. The WEET suggested that the government should support equitable access to education and skills building. It suggested that the government should remove those disincentives and inequities that perpetuate occupational gender segregation and sustained pay and wealth gaps. The current settings for paid prac placements do not do that.

This is not just a matter of fairness for women; it is a matter of national interest. Australia faces critical shortages in its healthcare and veterinary services. We need more graduate in these fields, not fewer, but we continue to ask students to pay for the privilege of being, effectively, exploited. While we do that, we will drive them away from their studies or slow their progression. We will lose talented individuals who can't afford to work for free and who have to defer their studies, go part time or fail to complete their studies. This is a short-sighted, tragic false economy. I call on the government to expand the Commonwealth Prac Payment scheme to include all care-sector students, regardless of their discipline. Let us recognise the value of students' work and the cost of their training, and let's build a system that supports every student who chooses to care for others.

Zhi Soon (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Brisbane's motion. The Labor government is absolutely committed to driving economic equality for women. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of welcoming the Prime Minister and the Minister for Social Services to the suburb of East Hills in my great electorate of Banks, where we announced not only that paid parental leave would be extended to 24 weeks as of 1 July this year but also that, from next year, paid parental leave would be extended further, to 26 weeks, to ensure that Australian families can access a full six months of paid parental leave. Additionally, it was announced that, from 1 July this year, the Albanese government would deliver superannuation on paid parental leave for the very first time, ensuring that working women are not penalised in their retirement savings for having a family. It was a great morning, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Julia, Stefan and their little boy, Artie, for welcoming the three of us as well as my partner, Bridget, and our little girl, Dorothy, to their home to make this very important announcement.

This government's agenda to deliver for Australian women is substantial, with lifting wages and closing pay gaps at its very core. Women's participation in the workforce has never been higher, and the gender pay gap in Australia has never been smaller, with women earning $217.40 a week more on average than in May 2022, when Labor came into government. Working women are earning more and keeping more of what they earn, with Labor's program of tax cuts for every taxpayer leaving 90 per cent of women taxpayers better off. The Labor government has integrated gender equality into the Fair Work Act, supported the Fair Work Commission's gender based undervaluation review and funded pay increases in industries with female dominated workforces.

The government's agenda is not just about economics; it is about government treating Australian women with respect. It's investing in keeping Australian women safe, with $4 billion to combat gender based violence through prevention initiatives, improving consent education, making justice more accessible for victims-survivors and putting $1 billion towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence.

It's about valuing the work women do. This government funded pay increases for sectors that do some of the hardest yet most undervalued work in our economy, including in aged care and early childhood education, to ensure that recognition is not just in its rhetoric but actually in the pay packets of people and women across this country.

It's about taking women's health seriously, with a $792 million package of investments. That includes 22 endometriosis clinics opened, with a further 11 to come, and expanding their scope to provide menopause care; new PBS listings to provide more choice and cheaper medicines; and adjusting the Medicare Benefits Schedule to include extended consultation times and increased rebates for specialist care. That's in addition to the government's record investment in Medicare to restore bulk-billing in our communities and open more urgent care clinics.

And it's about ensuring Australian women are represented in seats across this House and across decision-making tables, with historic representation in this parliament of 49.5 per cent across both houses and a gender-equal cabinet, both driven by many fantastic Labor women.

The government is delivering on its commitment to relieve the cost-of-living pressures and their impact on Australian women. Since 1 July this year, award wages increased by 3.5 per cent, benefitting up to 2.9 million Australians on low wages, including many women and young people, who are more likely to be reliant on such wages. Legislation passed to cut student debt by 20 per cent, benefitting millions of Australians but particularly women, who hold the majority of student loans, and the Commonwealth paid prac payment commenced for students of nursing, midwifery, teaching and social work. This continues the long tradition of Labor delivering for women's economic equality, and I look forward to spending my time in this great House working with fantastic Labor women of the federal caucus to continue to deliver on economic reforms and demonstrate to Australian women that their government will treat them with respect and recognise that their issues matter.

Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Economic equality for Australian women is a matter close to my heart. In many ways, I've been extremely fortunate—I had a good education, I have a supportive husband and I was able to work part time for 16 years while my kids were young. I'm also lucky enough to have two parents who are still healthy. But even with a relatively fortunate parenting and career journey, I'm aware of the subtle differences in expectations and structures that drive significantly different economic outcomes for women. When I had my first child, it made sense for me to take time off because I earned slightly less than my husband, who was a few years further into his career than me. I took 18 months off after each of my three children, which put me 4½ years behind my husband in terms of superannuation contributions. We endeavoured to share the parenting joys and burdens, but like so many other mums I ended up carrying much of the mental load. I was the one who thought ahead to the school holidays, organised the costumes, the play dates and the extracurricular activities, and constantly cleaned up after them. There's also the discretionary caring—supporting other family members or friends when they need it. We just expect women to take on these tasks, and it has an impact. The reality is that despite decades of progress women in Australia continue to face systemic barriers that limit their economic security, independence and opportunity.

This government has taken some steps towards addressing economic inequality. Expanding paid parental leave to 24 weeks and paying superannuation on it is a step in the right direction—so is increasing wages in feminised professions. But there's more to be done. I want to talk about four things: the rising 'sandwich generation', the gender pay gap, superannuation and cultural norms.

I recently met with constituent Josephine Muir, who is part of the 1.5-million-strong 'sandwich generation', which is largely made up of mothers, daughters and professionals who are simultaneously raising children and caring for ageing parents. They are the backbones of our families, yet too often they are invisible in our policy conversations. Jo told me about the impracticality of the aged-care system. Her mother, who has vascular dementia, has just moved in with Jo and her family, and Jo says it's a privilege to care for her mother but points out that even with a level 4 package the hours of support will go nowhere near covering her work hours. Jo's start-up health business is exactly the sort of thing that the recent productivity roundtable wants to encourage.

Women make up 91 per cent of 'sandwich' carers, and nearly half of them also hold jobs, like Jo. They are stretched thin—financially, emotionally and physically. Many are forced to choose between their careers and caregiving, sacrificing superannuation, promotions and personal wellbeing. We must remove structural disincentives to women's workforce participation and ensure our caring structures are suitable for women playing multiple caring roles.

Then there's the gender pay gap. The WGEA shows that, when you look at total renumeration, women earn nearly 22 per cent less than men. Over the course of the year, that difference adds up to more than $28,000. This includes the annualised full-time equivalent salaries of casual and part-time workers, so it's not explained by women working fewer hours. It's largely driven by subconscious biases, including how we value different types of work. We must appropriately value feminised industries like child care, health care, education and social assistance. These sectors are critical to our society and economy, yet they remain underpaid and undervalued.

Third is superannuation. Women retire with significantly less super than men. At retirement age, nearly one in four women have no superannuation at all. This is the result of lower pay, interrupted careers, unpaid care work and undervalued professions—economic inequality that compounds over a woman's lifetime. Aware Super shows that women aged 45-59 have a median super balance that's $46,000 lower than men's. It's a gap that leaves older women vulnerable to poverty, housing insecurity and homelessness. In fact, older women are the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness in Australia.

Lastly, we all have a role to play in how we think about gender. Gender norms are internalised from childhood and reinforced through media, education and workplace culture. We all bear responsibility for this, and it's often so ingrained that we don't even realise it. A few months ago, I was fairly criticised by Gruen on ABC for doing a social media post while washing the dishes. We can all do more to be aware of how we're reinforcing stereotypes and to promote role models who challenge those stereotypes. Economic equality for women is not a niche issue, and I urge the government to keep this in mind in all policy development.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) 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.