Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, at the request of Senator Waters, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) this year, 28 August marked Equal Pay Day, reflecting that, on average, women need to work an additional 59 days to earn the same as male counterparts, and

  (ii) according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA):

(A) Australia's national gender pay gap is 14%,

(B) full-time average weekly earnings for women are $253.60 less than for men,

(C) gender pay gaps favour men across all industries and all levels of the workforce – highest in financial services, real estate and construction,

(D) median undergraduate starting salaries are 4.9% lower for women, and

(E) median superannuation balances at retirement are 21.6% lower for women; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

  (i) increase funding for WGEA and expand its coverage to the public sector,

  (ii) require all large employers to report their gender pay gap, and strengthen WGEA's powers to act against non-compliant employers,

  (iii) ban pay gag clauses in employment contracts,

  (iv) make gender pay equality an objective of awards and theFair Work Act 2009,

  (v) make early childhood education free,

  (vi) require superannuation contributions to continue during paid parental leave,

  (vii) facilitate gender-neutral parental leave and flexible work schemes, and

  (viii) close the gender retirement income gap.