Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher, also. I'm confident that my question is at the top of your priority list, Senator Gallagher, and also at the top of the priority list of the whole Albanese government. Can you please update the Senate on how the Albanese government is taking action to close the gender pay gap?

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

I thank Senator Walsh for the question, and I can assure the chamber this is a question I prepared for earlier, but it is an important subject. I'm proud to be a member of a government that's introducing the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill in the parliament later today. This is an important step forward in advancing gender equality in Australian workplaces. Together with the remade instruments under the act, it fulfils a key election commitment of our government to close the gender pay gap at work including by boosting pay gap transparency and taking action to help close the gender pay gaps within organisations.

On average, women working full time can expect to earn 14.1 per cent less than men per week in their pay packets. Current projections suggest that this will take another 26 years for this gap to close. This is too long, and women shouldn't have to wait nor should our daughters or those girls being born today. It's not fair. We need to address it.

With these reforms, we will, for the first time in Australia, publish the gender pay gaps of businesses that employ 100 or more people. The reform only covers employers that already report to WGEA, and it will be drawn on existing reporting, so employers themselves will not need to provide any additional information. If they choose to, employers can provide information about their gender pay gap and any action they are taking to close it, and employers will have around a year to get ready with the first reporting planned for early 2024. Gender pay gap data will be published on WGEA's website in a searchable tool available to the public. This will add to the rich data already publicly available on WGEA's website. Reporting will commence in 2024, and it draws on all of that data, as I said before, from information already collected.

The legislation being introduced responds to the recommendations of the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Walsh, first supplementary?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Minister, for outlining those historic and very necessary reforms that I'm sure will be supported by all of us here in this place, in the chamber. Could you go a little further and outline for us why it is that gender equality must be considered a core economic imperative and why it is being considered a core imperative by our government?

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

Thank you, Senator Walsh, for the supplementary. On average, across all jurisdictions and occupations, Australian women earn $263.90 per week less than men. That is a lot of money to be short each week, and it entrenches women's disadvantage and economic inequality. It's not right that women are missing out just because of our gender. It's not just bad for women; it's bad for our economy as well. The gender pay gap has estimated to cost our economy $51.8 billion a year lost when it comes to women's pay.

The consensus on women's economic equality as a key economic priority was an important—and actually the first—outcome at last year's Jobs and Skills Summit. One of the immediate outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit was for the government to require businesses with 100 employees or more to publicly report their gender pay gap data to WGEA, which is implemented through today's legislation. I should say employers benefit too because gender equality makes good business sense. (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Walsh, a second supplementary question.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, President, and thank you, Minister. The historic reforms that you're talking about are really just the beginning for our government. Our commitment to gender equality as a core of our agenda is really just the beginning. Can you outline what other actions the Albanese government is taking to drive economic equality for women?

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

Thank you very much, Senator Walsh. For too long Australia has fallen behind the rest of the world when it comes to gender equality. I know many members in this place were at the UN Women Australia's breakfast this morning, where this subject was talked about, I think, by all of the speakers who addressed us, including the Prime Minister and our leader here, Senator Wong.

Under the previous government, Australia fell to 43rd of 145 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index 2022, having ranked 15th in 2006. We ranked 50th for economic empowerment, and that fell as low as 271st in 2021. We want to address this and improve on these results considerably. The Albanese government is working hard to restore Australia as a global leader on gender equality. Our budget put gender equality front and centre, investing over $7 billion to drive gender equality and reintroducing gender-responsive budgeting. (Time expired)

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.