Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. Today, the Workplace Gender Equity Agency released the annual employer gender pay gap data, providing greater transparency about pay outcomes for women and men across Australian workplaces. This data is available because of reporting requirements introduced under the Albanese Labor government. It shows progress but there is more work to do. Can the minister outline what this latest data reveals about the state of gender pay equality in Australia and how it reflects the government's broader agenda to get more women into secure, well-paid jobs.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Grogan for the question and for all the work that she has done throughout her career in advocating for gender equality across all industries. It was a pleasure to stand with Mary Wooldridge, the head of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, today to release the annual employer gender pay gaps data, and this report—this is the third year in which we have been providing this information—shows continued progress to reduce the gender pay gap. In fact, the average total remuneration take-up has reduced from 12.1 per cent last year to 11.2 per cent, and there was good progress in terms of reducing the number of employers who are conducting gender pay gap analysis, the number of those who did a comprehensive analysis, the number of those employers who found the cause of the gap in that analysis and the numbers who took action to review performance structures to ensure there was no bias, and, indeed, we see more employers falling into the target range of pay, including—this year, we recorded the Commonwealth public sector data for the first time alongside the private sector data. We now have half of employers with an average total remuneration gender pay gap smaller than 11.2 per cent, which is a reduction of 0.9 per cent. There are more women in high-paid roles, but women are still more likely to be concentrated in the lowest paid jobs. As I said earlier, more employers are conducting the analysis that leads to further change.

We know that there is more to do. We thank WGEA for the work they have done in working with employers to deliver this information. In particular, I'd like to thank Mary Wooldridge, who's been the head of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency since 2021, and this will be her last reporting season. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Grogan, first supplementary?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd just like to thank Senator Gallagher for the amazing work that she's done to get this progress. While we do see recent data showing women's average earnings have increased significantly since this government came to office, the latest figures show women still earn around 88 cents for every dollar earned by men. Can the minister outline how the Albanese Labor government remains committed to helping women get ahead at work and take home more pay?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Grogan for that. Just to finish on acknowledging the contribution of Ms Mary Wooldridge, who has led WGEA with a high level of professionalism and has led significant reforms, including Respect@Work, the transparency data and the world-leading target-setting approach that she has implemented, I wish her all the best.

The work that the government remains committed to is helping women get ahead at work and take home more pay, as Senator Grogan outlined. We have been very clear that this has been a core priority for us, in terms of not only our government policy but also our economic approach, and we know now that the gender pay gap is the lowest on record. We know that women are earning more and, on average, taking home $291.60 more a week than they were when we came to government. We've got women's workforce participation trending up at 62 per cent in December, with over 640,000 new jobs for women since— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Grogan, second supplementary?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That's great news. The progress on gender equality requires sustained effort and a continued focus on policies that expand choice and opportunity for women in the workforce. Can the minister outline how greater flexibility and secure work empower women with more choice and what barriers still stand in the way of achieving these outcomes for Australian women?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are challenges that remain, certainly challenges in the approach that happens with non-base remuneration—those performance bonuses or other arrangements outside of pay. Base pay remains a challenge. We also know that flexible work is a key issue for women, and, where that is not addressed, when workplaces genuinely don't genuinely support flexibility, including access to flexible work—I should point out today is the one-year anniversary of the Liberals announcing their scrapping of working from home. It's been 12 months since that big policy announcement that went down like a lead balloon. Why did it go down like a lead balloon? Because women, who are already juggling everything else, were told by the Liberal Party that they were a bludger—if you're not in the office, you're a bludger. That's what they heard. That's what they don't get about women's policy—we need flexibility when it comes to work. (Time expired)