by Katy Gallagher

19/08/2024 

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 51.8 billion every year. If women's workforce participation matched men's, we could boost out GDP to 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