Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a further reduction in the gender pay gap, to 12 per cent, delivering the smallest pay gap based on gender on record, a testament to the Albanese government's commitment to women's equality. This achievement comes alongside significant strides in workplace reform and gender equity and demonstrates how the government's policies for women are putting downward pressure on the gender pay gap. Could the minister please outline how these initiatives contribute to the government's broader economic and social goals?

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

I thank Senator Pratt for that question, but also I note your announcement, Senator Pratt, since we last sat, that you won't contest the next election. I want to acknowledge the huge amount of work you've done, including in this space to reduce the gender pay gap for women workers across this country. I know there'll be plenty of time to make other contributions, but I did want to acknowledge that today.

Under Labor, the gender pay gap has dropped to a record low, with the ABS reporting last week that the gender pay gap has dropped to 12 per cent. The ABS identified that the reduction is driven by broad based wages growth, which has been particularly strong for women. The WPI rose by 4.2 per cent in the year to the December quarter of 2023. This was the highest annual increase in underlying wages growth since the March quarter of 2009. This shows that our efforts to lift wages are working and that our efforts to support women's economic equality are working in a very real and tangible way, and that is because women's economic equality has been a key priority of our government since day one. We have recognised that women's economic equality is a core economic priority. We've been working hard to implement reforms that'll have a real, practical impact on the lives of Australian women.

Tomorrow WGEA will publish employer-level gender pay gap reports. This is a first for Australia, and it will give employees greater visibility of how their workplaces are performing and increased transparency and focus on employers to accelerate change. This is on top of the reforms we've made to the industrial relations system, reforms the opposition opposed, of course; reforms to fix the bargaining system to get wages moving, particularly in industries dominated by women workers; reforms to change the law to put gender equity at the heart of the Fair Work Commission's decision-making; and reforms to ban pay secrecy clauses to reduce gender pay discrimination. We understand that the connection between— (Time expired)

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

Senator Pratt, first supplementary?

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With the government securing record pay rises and introducing significant reforms to workplace laws, can the minister please detail the expected long-term benefits of these changes for Australian women, particularly in terms of wage growth, job security and the government's tax cuts? How have the government's achievements that you have outlined helped reduce 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 Pratt for that question. We've been working hard to improve economic outcomes for women. While there is still a lot of work to do, we are seeing welcome improvements. Women are not only benefiting from record wages growth, but also women's workforce participation reached a record high of 63 per cent in November. There were 333,000 more women employed in January than there were in May 2022, a 5.2 per cent increase. This means more women are earning, and, with the narrowing pay gap, their work is being better valued. We're also investing directly to close those gaps through supporting increasing the minimum wage and funding pay rises in industries like aged care. With Labor's tax cuts, 100 per cent of working women will get a tax cut, and 90 per cent of women will be better off than they would have been under former prime minister Morrison's tax plan.

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

Senator Pratt, second supplementary?

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tomorrow, in an Australian first, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency will publish employer gender pay gaps. How does this initiative aim to drive action towards closing this gap? What are the expected outcomes in terms of workplace equality and transparency?

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

I thank Senator Pratt for that supplementary. It is an important publication of data tomorrow by WGEA—the first time that gender pay gaps of employers with 100 or more employees will be published. I acknowledge the huge amount of work that has gone in from WGEA, from all the staff, led by Ms Mary Wooldridge. They have done an incredible job to put us in the position where that data will be released tomorrow. Data is a powerful tool for accountability and change. This is not, I think, about concentrating on where the gap is the biggest; it's about making sure that all businesses, where they can, are making efforts to close the gender pay gap, that they're understanding what's happening in their business and that we are using all the levers available to us to make gender equality, certainly when it comes to pay but also in other areas, a real opportunity in Australia.