SENATOR THE HON KATY GALLAGHER
MINISTER FOR FINANCE
MINISTER FOR WOMEN
MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE
MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES
FUTURE MAKERS LAUNCH
HOTEL REALM, BARTON, CANBERRA
WEDNESDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2025
Thanks must go to Andrew and the team at ACCI for putting this event together.
And also, to Canberra Women in Business – thanks for joining us today, and for all the great work you do for women in our city.
I was thrilled to get the invitation today to launch the Future Makers Program, an initiative that is looking to turn two of our biggest economic challenges — gender segregation and women's economic participation — into a clear opportunity for growth.
We're at a unique moment right now, both in our country and our economy.
Industries are growing, opportunities are expanding, technology is changing, the economy is decarbonising…
… And we have more women than ever in the workforce and starting and running businesses.
Future Makers is all about making sure these trends connect and amplify each other – creating more opportunities for women to take up, not miss out on.
Because, unfortunately, as the stats show, this has not always been the case.
Women own one in three small businesses in Australia, with many operating as the sole traders or micro enterprises that make up 97 percent of all Australian businesses and employ nearly half the private workforce.
But as ACCI's new research being launched today tells us, despite this contribution, the economic realities women face are stark compared to their male counterparts.
Women in small business earn a median salary of $67,473, compared to $80,408 for men.
Women business owners pay themselves just 46 percent of their revenue, compared to 51 percent for men.
And 70 percent of women believe it's harder for them to get business funding than men.
In male-dominated industries, the challenges intensify.
Forty-five percent of women in these sectors report not being taken seriously as business leaders.
Up to 75 percent of women in industries like construction and IT experience imposter syndrome, not because they lack capability, but because they're constantly made to feel like outsiders.
And 58 percent cite lack of access to networks as a major barrier to growth because those networks often operate in male-dominated spaces or during after-hours events that conflict with caring responsibilities.
These are exactly the challenges and experiences that Future Makers has been designed to address.
Made possible by the Commonwealth's Advancing Gender Equality in Gender Segregated Industries and Occupations Grant, through Future Makers, women small business owners who participate in the program, particularly in traditionally male-dominated sectors, will be supported in a number of ways.
Firstly, they'll join the Chamber Change: Small Business program — a mentoring and networking initiative that ACCI is scaling up nationally through their state chamber network.
Originally created by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, this connects women business owners with aspiring businesswomen like them ...
... and gives them the opportunity to draw on ACCI's extensive national network of chambers, industry associations and corporate members.
They'll also get access to comprehensive research and an online hub that ACCI is developing — workshops and webinars designed around the gaps ACCI research has identified.
The online hub will be filled with practical tools that will help future makers grow their business, building knowledge and expertise in areas like building financial confidence, accessing grants and stepping into leadership.
And these future makers will also get a seat at the inaugural 'Women in Small Business Summit'.
This event will bring together women business owners, industry leaders, and policy-makers in one place, and with one goal:
To accelerate cultural change in gender-segregated industries.
Those stats I mentioned earlier show us the scale of what we're dealing with.
But they also show us why the work our Government has been doing since taking office is so important.
As the first majority-women federal government and gender equal cabinet in history, we've been pulling every lever available to us to address exactly these systemic barriers.
We've pushed the gender pay gap to record lows through supporting Fair Work Commission decisions to raise the minimum wage, meaning award wage earners, more than half of whom are women, have seen their pay increase by more than $7,000 a year.
We've funded a much-deserved 15 percent pay rise for aged care workers, 86 percent of whom are women. And we've committed funding for future wage increases for early childhood education and care workers, 92 percent of whom are women.
Our Closing the Gender Pay Gap legislation means that, for the first time, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency is required to publish the gender pay gaps of large Australian companies.
I've got to say, I never thought I'd be standing up and giving an entire press conference on the gender pay gap.
But for more than a week two years in a row now, the gender pay gap in workplaces is a watercooler conversation around this country.
Our Australian Skills Guarantee is using government purchasing power to break down segregation in major infrastructure projects through gender targets that must be met on jobsites.
And free TAFE has seen 650,000 Australians enrol to kickstart their journey into jobs we desperately need filled.
Our shoulder really is to the wheel when it comes to delivering the systemic changes that are needed to drive a better deal for women.
But we can't solve this challenge through government action alone.
We need industry partners who understand that when businesses, industries, the economy and society work for women, it’s better for us all.
The businesses, chambers, and industry associations represented here today are central to making this transformation a reality.
I encourage you to consider how your organisations can support women entering your industries.
Think about mentorship programs that actually work around caring responsibilities.
Consider flexible networking opportunities that don't assume everyone can attend after-hours events.
Look at your funding processes and ask whether they inadvertently disadvantage women-led businesses.
Because we all have a part to play on this road toward gender equality.
But there is evidence of progress and that change is possible.
Just last month, Jobs and Skills Australia published research on industry job segregation that showed only one in five workers in Australia work in gender-balanced occupations.
But it also highlighted industries that have shifted over recent years, from being gender segregated to gender balanced.
Roles like ambulance officers, dental practitioners, and barristers have moved from male-dominated to gender-balanced.
Veterinarians and school principals have become more female-dominated.
And encouragingly, men are beginning to move into roles like aged and disabled care.
I share this with you to make two points — first, that we have a lot still to do.
But second, that occupational segregation isn't fixed or inevitable– it's changeable.
That’s why it’s such a privilege to be here today, launching a program like Future Makers - aimed at driving that change and creating opportunities and pathways for women across Australia.
ENDS.
