Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm incredibly proud to stand in this chamber to recognise the second International Women's Day since the Albanese Labor government came into office and to share some of the terrific progress we have made. We promised to lead the way in closing the gender pay gap in Australia and indeed to place gender equality at the core of our work. Since that first day of office we've been doing it each and every day. Last year, in an Australian first, the Albanese Labor government passed legislation that would increase transparency and reporting of gender pay gaps. It requires businesses with more than 100 employees to publish the median gender pay gaps on base salaries and total remuneration.

On Tuesday, that collective data was made public for the first time. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency published gender pay gaps for nearly 5,000 Australian private-sector employers which demonstrated a record low 12 per cent gender pay gap. It found pay gaps in favour of men in all industries. Even across all female dominated sectors, the median income was 11.6 per cent higher for men. For more than 60 per cent of Australian companies, women are still paid over five per cent less than men. In Newcastle and the Hunter, a number of companies have gender pay gaps well above 30 per cent. Newcastle Greater Mutual Group has a gender pay gap of 34.5 per cent. Glencore's gap is 41.4 per cent. Origin Energy Eraring has a gap of 34.1 per cent. Hunter Imaging Group's gap is 37.3 per cent, and Hunter Primary Care has a gender pay gap of 73.1 per cent.

We know that transparency and accountability are critical for driving change. In shining a light on gender pay gaps at an employer level, we're arming both individuals and organisations with the evidence they need to take meaningful action to accelerate closing the gap. Those of us on this side of the House are not prepared to wait 26 years to see a closing of this gap. That's why we have acted, and acted with purpose. This government has a number of measures to see this gap narrow. It's why we have banned things like pay secrecy clauses. We have expanded access to flexible work arrangements, and we've established 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave. It's why we've extended paid parental leave, invested in child care and given aged-care workers a pay rise. Our commitment to gender analysis means there are better outcomes for women. Labor's cost-of-living tax cuts will give 90 per cent of taxpaying women a bigger tax cut. As I said, transparency and accountability are critical for driving change.

As the CEO of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Mary Wooldridge, said:

The time for talk and excuses is over. Change takes action and employers need to double down on ensuring all employees are fairly represented and equally valued and rewarded in their workplace.

I couldn't agree more.

Someone who I know was paying close attention to the gender pay gap statistics was the Chair of the Hunter Workers Women's Committee, Teresa Hetherington, who said:

It's not just a wage; it's your entitlements and the gaps in your employment that really have a strong effect on the overall outcome as we get older.

The Hunter Workers Women's Committee, alongside the Union of Australian Women, will host Newcastle's International Women's Day dinner on 8 March. It's a chance to celebrate the progress made and reaffirm our commitment to continued work to improve gender equality in Australia. This year's dinner has special significance as, after more than 70 years, the phenomenal Newcastle branch of the Union of Australian Women is retiring and passing on its leadership baton to the Hunter Workers Women's Committee.

What an amazing innings it has been for the Newcastle branch of the Union of Australian Women, which was first established in 1950. Novocastrians like the late Janet Copley and her formidable co-conspirators Janet Mundie, Mary Calcott and Lynda Forbes have been the stalwarts of feminism and the labour movement in Newcastle. These women have played an integral role in the Union of Australian Women through its 70 years. I'd also like to acknowledge fellow members Joan Masterson, Val Harding, Barbars Dore, Janet Sutherland, Annette Minards, Carmel Cook, Beryl Batherson, Betty Bochanek, Joan Anderson—along with her mother, Cathy Williams—and Fran Cameron, an inaugural member who joined in 1953 and was a member till she died at 101. (Time expired)