Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about Equal Pay Day, which occurred on 4 September 2015. It is a day that highlights the fact that Australian women are working an extra 65 days at the end of a financial year to earn the same amount as men. It is a stark reminder that, while women in Australia are making progress in relation to gender equality, we are not there yet, and some would say we still have a long way to go.

In Australia today, the pay gap is 17.9 per cent, or $284.20 per week. Whilst this is an improvement on previous figures, and it is good to see that the gap is narrowing, it is still disappointing and, quite frankly, it is unacceptable. This profoundly affects a woman's life in many different ways. It affects her long-term economic security and it makes her more vulnerable to poverty and homelessness in later life. The gender disparity in superannuation is even higher, with women retiring with only 65 per cent of superannuation that men do. This means that a woman has to work 15 more years than a man to retire with the same income as a man.

The question is: how does this happen? The difference in pay can start as early as a woman's first job and statistics suggest it carries right through a woman's career and is exacerbated if she takes time off to have children or moves into part-time roles to care for children or family members. This is also despite women achieving strongly at school and at university. The fact is that the pay gap is complex, but it is also far too big. There are issues of workplace and other structures, workforce incentives, taxation and welfare impacts, and societal attitudes.

Addressing the pay gap will take a concerted effort on the part of the government, business and the community. Tangible and practical change can only occur in partnership. The government is currently engaged in consultation in relation to tax reform and I have been talking with Australian business leaders and owners to explore how tax reform can drive changes to our tax system, leading to more jobs for Australian women, better incentives and increased financial and economic security, both now and into the future. There is a lot of interest and goodwill to make a difference.

The government is determined to help more women get into the workforce and ensure that they receive equal pay for the work they do. We know that Australian women are now working more than ever before. The participation rate for working women aged between 15 and 64 rose to 71.5 per cent in July—the highest in Australia's history. There are 1.67 million Australian women aged 15 to 60 who are still not participating in the workforce, and we must ensure we remove the barriers that prevent these women from working. Increasing women's workforce participation by just six per cent could add $25 billion or around one per cent to Australia's GDP each year. Not only will increasing women's workforce participation improve the lives of individual women and their families but also it is essential to our future economic growth and prosperity as a country.

The government last year committed to improving women's workforce participation in Australia. We remain strongly committed to the G20 goal to reduce the gap between men and women's workforce participation by 25 per cent, by 2025. We are also focused on reducing the structural barriers that impede women's workforce participation. We are delivering a more flexible and responsive childcare system, providing more options for working families to balance working life with their caring responsibilities.

Our Jobs and Small Business package is helping small business grow and contribute to employment growth, which is important to almost 670,000 women who operate a business. Over a third of small-business operators in Australia are women. In terms of pay equity, business and government need to ask what it is we can do in our own sphere of influence that will make a difference. With the pay gap in the private sector sitting at 21.3 per cent, many employers are already looking into whether pay disparities exist within their own businesses and why.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency performs an important function. It shines a light on pay inequity through its data collection from reporting organisations. Evidence suggests the gender pay gap narrows in companies when it is has been identified and measured. The government has streamlined this reporting, making sure that we are not burdening business with unnecessary red tape, whilst still being able to gather useful data. Data needs to be useful for industry benchmarking and to provide the information individual employers need to take action, to address workplace gender equality and pay equity concerns.

I will continue to work with the Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Employment, Eric Abetz, and with business and women's sector representatives to get the reporting balance right. Additionally, the government is working towards closing the gender pay gap through various initiatives that support more women into higher paid occupations and industries. This includes improving gender diversity in leadership positions, on boards and in decision-making roles.

We know that a key reason the gender pay gap is so large in Australia is that many male-dominated industries and jobs have higher rates of pay. Male-dominated industries, like mining and electricity, gas, water and waste services, have the highest average weekly earnings. Assumptions about jobs for women and jobs for men are mirrored by attitudes at home. Men are the primary breadwinners in over three-quarters of Australian households while, on average, women do three-quarters of the total domestic labour. And 70 per cent of primary caregivers in Australia are women.

To make real headway in addressing the discrepancies between men and women, in pay and work, we must change our attitudes to paid and unpaid work. We know that many men want to take on more caring responsibilities but are trapped in a male bread-winner role. Recent reporting has only confirmed this situation further. They are more likely to request paid parental leave or flexible work arrangements than previously but have their requests denied. This is not just detrimental to men's ability to participate in care but also to women's capacity to engage in work. Most importantly, the children are also affected.

We need to allow men and women to make the choices that best suit their families, and they need to be supported in these efforts. We can also support female students to make career choices in traditionally 'male' and more highly paid careers—for example, in the STEM industries: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We can support Australian women to work in traditionally male-dominated growth industries, like advanced manufacturing, agriculture, energy and resources, medical technology and mining technology. The government is investing $12 million to improve the focus on STEM subjects in primary and secondary schools, across the country, for both girls and boys. This investment is a vital part of the Australian government's Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda. Restoring the focus on STEM subjects in our schools will ensure that young Australians are equipped with the necessary skills for the economy of the future.

We have also provided $440,000 over two years to continue the Australian Women in Resources Alliance e-mentoring program, in collaboration with the Australian Mines and Metals Association. This industry-led initiative is dedicated to helping employers attract, retain and reap the rewards of women in the workplace and ensures that women are able to reach their full potential in the mining and resources sector. None of us can work in isolation to increase women's employment or to address the gender pay gap. The government is committed to working with the private sector to realise the economic and social benefits of more women in the workforce. As the largest employer of Australian women, I look to the private sector so that they can look at how they can improve their employment opportunities for women and shine the light on pay equity. Working together, I hope—and I know—that Equal Pay Day will become the day of celebration that it should be.