Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canberra for her question. At least on this side we care to ask questions about early childhood education and care and feminised industries. Labor came to government in 2022 with a commitment to drive action to close the gender pay gap. Since then, we have seen the gender pay gap drop to an all-time low. Last week, ABS data showed that the national gender pay gap has fallen to 11.5 per cent. That's down from 14.1 per cent in May 2022. That's not by accident. It didn't fall out of a coconut tree, so to speak. We are closing the gender pay gap by taking deliberate and carefully considered action. The action taken by this Albanese Labor government is working across the economy to lift women's pay.

In low-paid, highly feminised sectors like early childhood education, where women make up over 90 per cent of the workforce, we have supported three wage increases since we came into government. Earlier this month, I am proud to say that we announced an historic 15 per cent pay increase for early childhood education and care workers. This increase means that, by the end of this year, 200,000 early childhood education and care workers will get a pay rise of at least $100 a week and, by the end of next year, that will be at least $150 a week. That's because this government believes in giving these critical early childhood education workers, who are highly skilled and highly qualified, the fair and decent wages that they deserve.

This $3.6 billion investment towards a wage increase will make a real difference. It will make a real difference on gender equality and it will help to ease cost-of-living pressures, something that we on this side of the House have been focused on. Georgie Dent, the CEO of The Parenthood, said that this is:

… momentous for gender equity as it directly addresses the chronic undervaluing of a highly feminised workforce, and bolsters a critical enabler of women's workforce participation.

This wage increase is good for children, it is good for families, it is good for the economy and, importantly, it is good for women, most of whom are still primary caregivers, because it allows them to make that choice of what works best for them when it comes to returning to work, taking on further hours or returning to study. It's part of this government's plan for a universal early childhood education and care system that works for the economy, children, families and women.

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