Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Ciccone for the question and for being the big supporter he is of closing the gender pay gap and supporting women at work. We often see him playing that important role in here with his gorgeous son, who he brings in here from time to time.

President, the data today is clear. It's really important data, which we've seen released from the ABS today, that shows we have a record all-time low in the gender pay gap of 10.8 per cent. When we came to government it was 14.1 per cent. We know the important reforms that we have put in place to keep driving that gender pay gap lower and lower. In the May when we came to government it was 14.1 per cent. It dropped by 2.6 per cent. Today it's 11.5 per cent, a record low.

The Albanese government continues to work to close the gender pay gap through valuing female dominated sectors and supporting wage increases to those on the minimum wage. We remember that those opposite, when they provided a submission to the Fair Work Commission, had that little chapter that said 'The importance of low-paid work'. It was a pretty important chapter, because that supported the wage stagnation policy that they ran for a decade—'The importance of low-paid work'. We have introduced reforms to the Fair Work Act to make sure that gender equality is considered as part of the Fair Work Commission's work, but also, importantly, we're providing those significant wage increases to highly feminised industries like aged care and, in the announcement we did last week, early childhood educators.