SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FOR FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE

MISSING PERSPECTIVES

MINISTER FOR WOMEN KATY GALLAGHER REFLECTS ON EQUAL PAY DAY

Women are now taking home an average of $173.80 more a week than they were two years ago, according to last week’s ABS data on the gender pay gap.

The gender pay gap now sits at 11.5% – an historic low – down from the 14.1% it sat at when we came to government.

Having worked to drive women’s equality for more than two decades now, I know that it can often feel like our work is never done. Which is why I think it’s so important that we stop and celebrate significant progress like this, even if it is while we look forward to the work that lies ahead of us.

The gap is not zero yet, which of course means there is still much more to do. In fact, today is exactly 50 days since the end of financial year – the same number of extra days a woman would need to work to earn the same as a man did in that same financial year.

For a standard 48-week work year, that’s more than one extra day per week, meaning that women in this country would need to work a six-day week to match men's average earnings in a five-day week.

As Minister for Women, I want more for women in this country who deserve to be treated and paid fairly. But I know this isn’t just a matter of social principle, it’s about unleashing our full economic potential. As Minister for Finance, I want more for Australian women, because that’s good for our economy.

We know that at the moment, the gender pay gap is a problem costing our country $51.8 billion every year. If women’s workforce participation matched men’s, we could boost out GDP to $353 billion by 2050.

The drivers of the gender pay gap are complex. It’s not as simple as just making sure that women and men performing the same roles receive the same pay – we’ve already got laws in place for that. It’s about changing attitudes that mean that women’s work is often undervalued, that women are disproportionately concentrated in lower-paid industries, and that women disproportionately shoulder the burden of unpaid care work for kids and elderly family members.

These problems aren’t new but reflect the enduring challenges that persist for so many women. In fact, earlier this month, I met with some women working in one of our newer industries – as content creators – and although on the surface it looks glamorous and fun, I heard the same stories of women struggling, drowning, feeling the brunt of difficult economic times and finding it hard, if not impossible, to juggle work and care responsibilities.

A new industry, but with many of the same old problems, it seems, when it comes to women and work.

It’s clear that these are whole-of-economy, whole-of-society problems that require attention from the whole of government and that’s exactly how the Albanese Labor Government is approaching them.

Since the election, we’ve supported the Fair Work Commission on three separate decisions to raise the minimum wage, meaning that the pay of award wage earners — more than half of whom are women — has increased by more than $7,000 a year.

We’ve also supported and are funding a much-deserved pay rise of 15% for aged care workers and early childhood educators, keeping in mind that over 85% of both of those sectors are women.

We've legislated the publication of gender pay gaps for large companies through the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), sparking a national conversation and putting pressure on employers to address disparities.

To help tackle the 'motherhood penalty,' we've expanded Paid Parental Leave to six months, with built-in provisions to make sure that men are encouraged to take up care too. And from July 2025, we'll be paying superannuation on government-funded Paid Parental Leave – a significant step towards closing the gender super gap.

We're also working to breakdown traditional views around “women’s jobs” and “men’s jobs” that currently mean that women only make up 13% of the construction workforce, and 17% of university enrolments in science, technology, engineering and maths.

We’re doing this through initiatives like fee-free TAFE places, and the Australian Skills Guarantee which is making it clear to contractors that where government is funding big construction projects, we’re expecting that women are going to be participating in those projects.

But the Government can’t solve this problem on its own. Employers need to look at their hiring, promotion, workplace flexibility and pay practices. Men need to step up and take on a fairer share of unpaid care work and be supported to do this by their workplaces. And as a society, we need to challenge the persistent attitudes and stereotypes that undervalue women's work and contributions.

It’s a big job and I’m not going to pretend we can solve this problem overnight. But we are making strides.

Under Labor, the gender pay gap has already closed 2.6% in just 2 years and we’ll keep working until there’s no gap at all.

Because closing the gender pay gap isn't just the right thing to do – it's the smart thing to do.

When women earn their full potential, families have more to spend, businesses have more customers, and our economy grows stronger.

A more equal workforce means a stronger, more productive economy that benefits everyone.

MONDAY 19 AUGUST 2024