Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Stoker for her question. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of women and men differently. And today's job figures do reinforce this: of the jobs lost in the month to 20 April, 55 per cent of those had been held by women, and that reflects the fact that many less secure jobs are held by women, and women are over-represented in occupations strongly affected by some of our very necessary physical distancing measures. I note that women's workforce participation has also fallen by 2.9 percentage points to 58.4 per cent.

The demand for unpaid care work, which we know disproportionately affects women's ability to undertake paid employment, has risen with children needing home schooling, and with the increased care needs of elderly Australians as well. However, as a government, we are very aware that women will be vital to the economic recovery. Australia needs everyone's full capabilities, both men and women, to ensure that recovery. That's why the government's introduction of the JobKeeper payment to help keep Australians employed is so important, as the Minister for Finance has reinforced today, particularly in ensuring women in seriously affected industries are supported through the pandemic. It's also why we also ensured that free early-childhood education and care for about a million families, no matter what type of service they use, was available in the pandemic. As the Treasurer said earlier this week, I would remind the chamber: 'We know that a strong economy is the foundation for everything else'. And women will be particularly critical to ensuring our economy remains strong as we emerge from this pandemic.