Marielle Smith (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I just have a few remarks remaining in my contribution on the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023. As I said, I want to keep it brief. It is a privilege to be speaking on a bill called 'closing the gender pay gap'. We know the work that has been done to date hasn't been happening fast enough.

The bill before us presents a much tougher requirement in terms of reporting and in terms of the information businesses will be required to provide to WGEA. The impact of this will be uncomfortable for some businesses. We know it will be uncomfortable for some businesses, but it's these uncomfortable truths which will make a difference to closing the pay gap. In other jurisdictions, we have seen what happens when you put that additional layer and burden of proof on businesses to come to the table with a problem—when even well-meaning businesses have to come to the table and explain their gender pay gap. That transparency will drive action, and that's what this bill really is about. It's about the concrete steps that we take. Yes, they will be uncomfortable for some, but that discomfort is our opportunity to drive change.

We know that the gender pay gap has been too stubbornly persistent for too long: we know that women are retiring with a massive gap in their superannuation earnings and we know that, when they're ending their careers, their superannuation balances are far lower than those of their male counterparts. There are ways to change this through superannuation, there are ways to change this through participation and there are ways to change this through support for education, training and time out of the workplace, but this is going to be a really significant reform as well. Data matters, how we collect data matters and how we require companies to come to the table with data matters. Despite that discomfort, I hope business comes to this with enthusiasm and support, because we know that if they do—if they come to this with the same degree of enthusiasm and the same intentions and goodwill that everyone in this chamber is supporting this legislation with—we will see some really, really great results. We know that we will see a change and an impact on the gender pay gap.

I really hope that when the two-year-old climbing up my back enters the workplace one day—unlike Senator Waters and me, who have been campaigning on this issue for many years—she will be able to enter the workplace and know that she's paid fairly, appropriately and adequately compared to her male counterparts. That's a future we can all strive to work for. There is a lot we need to do, of course, to make women's futures more equal, but, in the workplace, this is one particular thing we can do today. I'm really pleased and enthused by the support across the chamber to make a difference to the gender pay gap, and I commend the bill to the chamber.

(Quorum formed)