Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and on behalf Senator Waters, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that the 2020 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Scorecard found that:

(i) gender pay gaps continue to favour men across all industries and occupations, with men earning 20.1% ($25,534) more than women each year on average,

(ii) while more companies are reporting their gender pay gap, fewer companies are acting to reduce the gap,

(iii) more than 50% of employers now offer paid parental leave,

(iv) more than 66% of employers have domestic and family violence policies, and 35% offer paid leave, and

(v) 75.9% of workplaces have flexible working policies, but only 2.2% set targets for men's engagement in flexible work;

(b) further notes that, on current rates, gender pay equity will not be achieved for 29 years; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) expand WGEA's coverage to include the public sector,

(ii) strengthen WGEA's powers to sanction employers who fail to report or address pay gaps, including by making companies ineligible for government grants and tenders,

(iii) require superannuation contributions to continue during paid parental leave,

(iv) set gender pay equality as an objective of awards and the Fair Work Act 2009, and

(v) legislate for 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave for employees.