Senate debates
Thursday, 23 March 2023
Bills
Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023; Second Reading
12:54 pm
Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
As I was saying earlier: in Australia, women earn 87c for every dollar that men earn. Full-time working women also earn $253.50 less than every man every single week. There is no justifiable reason for this—no rationale as to why this is the case—except to say that women's contributions are severely undervalued alongside their male counterparts in workplaces across Australia. It's certainly not about our skills or our capability; it is about systemic barriers. We shouldn't have to wait three decades to achieve pay parity. Through these reforms, we are taking serious action to speed up the processes and close the gender pay gap.
For First Nations women, women of colour, women with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ women, migrant and refugee women, and women from all culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds there is a gap within the gender pay gap. For First Nations women, the gender pay gap compared to non-Aboriginal men is a mammoth 32.7 per cent, more than double the statistics we so often hear. The gap between First Nations women and non-Aboriginal women is roughly 19.7 per cent.
Currently, these statistics aren't readily available. The new reporting requirements we are discussing here today will go a significant way towards remedying this lack of information. As I've said, we will be able to develop stronger and more effective solutions to these disparities when we understand the problem properly. We must place front and centre the experiences of black women and women of colour in all that we do. We have a collective responsibility to leave no woman behind. We need to ensure not only there is understanding but that First Nations women and women of colour are given the tools and opportunities to maintain a seat at the table and make decisions on an equal playing field.
The gender pay gap is not just a conversation. It has real and often life-altering implications for women. It can be the difference in our career choices and influence our decision to have a family, our financial futures and our ability to retire. For First Nations women and women of colour, these decisions become even more profound. We are so fortunate to live in a nation home to many culturally and linguistically diverse women. What a wonderful thing that is. We are much better for it. Our government is committed to ensuring that women have economic autonomy and opportunity and that we continue to close the gender pay gap for all Australian women.
12:57 pm
Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I thank other senators for their contribution on this bill. When I introduced the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 earlier this year, projections showed that it would take another 26 years to close the gender pay gap. Women have waited long enough for the pay gap to close, and they shouldn't have to wait another quarter of a century to see their work equally valued. Today, with the passing of this bill, we are taking action to close that gap. This bill will be a key driver for employer action, transparency and accountability and it will help speed up progress towards gender equality in the workplace. It will do this by, for the first time, allowing WGEA to publish gender pay gaps at employer level, not just industry level. This is a critical reform and one that I am proud to be legislating today.
The bill responds to the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. I recognise the role of the opposition—and I think Senator Cash outlined that in her remarks—in commissioning the review in the first place and responding positively to its findings. I am pleased to see the broad support for the review's recommendations and for the steps we are taking through this bill to progress implementation of those recommendations.
I thank the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee for its report on the bill, and I thank those who took the time to make submissions. It was heartening to see that these were overwhelmingly positive and showed a commitment to making progress to closing the gender pay gap. Government has an important role to play in advancing gender equality, but government cannot do this work alone. We need to work with employers, unions and the broader community. We can see that willingness to work together in the response to this bill and to the committee inquiry. I look forward to continuing that work together. I also acknowledge the contributions of Greens senators on the committee in welcoming the report while urging for further work, and I acknowledge Senator Waters and her colleagues for their longstanding advocacy in this area.
We will keep working on this because this bill is just the first step. There are further reforms to come, especially in collecting diversity data and lifting the standards for larger employers.
I would like to acknowledge both the Office for Women and WGEA and thank them for their work in getting to this point. The team at WGEA, under Mary Wooldridge's leadership, and the Office for Women have worked so hard to get this bill done and in time for us to actually start collecting this data next year. WGEA will work with employers to ensure they are supported and able to step up to the plate.
This bill is a critical step towards achieving women's economic equality, because it is getting on with the job of closing the gender pay gap for women in Australia so that they do not have to wait another quarter of a century to achieve equality with male colleagues. I commend the bill to the Senate.
Question agreed to.
Bill read a second time.