Gender Equality - Motion
Wednesday 19 June 2024
S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (10:57): I move:
That this house—
(a) notes that gender inequality continues to exist in Australia and notes that addressing this inequality is integral to our economy and in every aspect of our state's community life;
(b) notes that the South Australian gender pay gap was reported at 6.7 per cent in May 2023 across full time, adult, ordinary time earnings;
(c) notes that women's employment was disproportionately affected by COVID-19 as work in hospitality, events and the arts disappeared;
(d) congratulates the Malinauskas Labor government for establishing the South Australian Gender Pay Gap Taskforce to provide independent advice to the Minister for Women and South Australian government on issues related to the gender pay gap; and
(e) commits to doing whatever it can to—
(i) address the prevalence of women engaged in insecure work, including in casual and part-time employment and through labour hire companies, by strengthening labour hire, wage theft and other industrial legislation;
(ii) ensure legislation and government policy is inclusive and enables equality of opportunity; and
(iii) ensure equal representation across government boards.
In South Australia, as it is everywhere, gender inequality is the key driver of disadvantage for women. It affects women's economic equality and participation, women's safety and their ability to determine their own future. Our Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence—my friend, Katrina Hildyard—and the Office for Women established the South Australian Gender Pay Gap Taskforce in September 2022. The task force is a statewide multistakeholder panel of experts in the fields of gender equality and industrial relations that will conclude later this year. I am proud to chair this task force, taking over from the dedicated and passionate Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos in November last year.
The task force has four main roles, including the identification of the specific issues leading to the gender pay gap in South Australia, consulting with subject matter experts and diverse cohorts to understand their experience of the gender pay gap and to ensure an intersectional response. During 2023, the task force undertook statewide research in consultation with organisations that have demonstrated best practice and progress towards achieving gender equality in their workplaces. Additionally, it contacted over 60 peak bodies and conducted 15 interviews with a diverse range of South Australian peak bodies and organisations that had undertaken or were implementing initiatives to address the drivers of gender inequality in their organisation, profession or industry.
In April 2024, we released our interim report which identifies four focus areas to address the gender pay gap in South Australia informed by insights gained from interviews, desktop research and task force members' experience and deliberations. These four areas are: drivers of the gender pay gap, needs of South Australian organisations, effective policies and practices and additional research. Based on the findings of the interim report, we will deliver a final report with recommendations towards the end of 2024, focused on three key areas, including opportunities to bring together research and practical expertise and lead evidence-based initiatives, support for small and medium-sized businesses to address the gender pay gap and opportunities to reduce the gender pay gap in the public sector.
We cannot be complacent about the impacts of the gender pay gap on women's lives. Closing the gender pay gap goes beyond just ensuring equal pay. Closing the gender pay gap requires systemic and cultural change to remove the barriers to the full and equal participation of women in the workforce and broader society. Undervaluing the work of women must stop and, while government has a role, we need to acknowledge as a community that we all have a responsibility to value women. We will be closely monitoring the pay gap and making positive change to close it. The task force is not only an important step towards closing the gender pay gap in South Australia but also a key step to securing women's financial security throughout their lives and achieving gender equality in the future.
Our government has also reinstated the Women in Sport Taskforce to advise the government on issues that prevent women and girls participating fully in their sporting passions. Our progressive government has also funded a $4 million Women in Business Program that is providing a suite of programs that is made available to South Australian female-owned businesses.
The state government outlined last year our key initiatives to improve gender equality in South Australia, with the Women's Equality Blueprint 2023-26. The blueprint highlights the current government's significant gender equality initiatives to help to achieve equality for women and girls and address issues which inhibit women and girls from equally participating in our community. It outlines four priority focus areas, which will be addressed to support women's wellbeing and enable all women in South Australia to prosper. These are the focus areas:
women's safety and security, including criminalising coercive control and making electronic monitoring a condition of bail for people charged with particular family and domestic violence offences. We have also announced the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, chaired by Natasha Stott Despoja AO;
leadership and participation, including ensuring all state government boards comprise 50 per cent women and holding a women's leadership symposium in conjunction with the FIFA Women's World Cup in Adelaide in August 2023—and what are World Cup that was. It was great to have some of the world's best football players in Adelaide and a huge gathering of supporters;
economic wellbeing, such as the already established Women in Business Program and Housing Security for Older Women Taskforce, as well as exploring the possibility of extending portable long service leave to the arts and creative sectors; and
women's health, including extending support for free sanitary products in public schools.
The blueprint also describes how the state government will seek to realise its vision of making South Australia a fair and inclusive state, in which everyone can equally and actively participate in the economy and in all aspects of community life. These commitments will ensure that South Australian women and girls can build financially stable futures and are empowered to equally participate in all aspects of the community.
Late last year we witnessed one of the worst times as a state and as a nation, a time which culminated in the deaths of four women in the space of a week. Sadly, we know the terrible fact that on average one woman every four days is murdered across the country. One in four women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 15. One in four women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner. Nationally, an estimated 44 per cent of Australian young people have been exposed to domestic violence with serious consequences for their health and wellbeing across their lifetimes. We know these shocking rates of violence are even higher for certain groups, particularly those facing intersectional barriers.
Our government is committed to do all we can to prevent violence before it starts, to tackle perpetrator behaviour, to respond in ways that support women at their hardest moments to help them to recover and heal, and to absolutely tackle the gender inequality that drives violence against women by increasing women's economic wellbeing and participation in every aspect of community life. A royal commission into domestic family and sexual violence will play an integral role in ensuring we have the evidence base to drive change.
Despite the fact that girls and women are making up 53 per cent of SACE subject enrolments, they are dramatically under-represented in business, enterprise and technology. Specialist mathematics has 28 per cent of women and physics has only 24 per cent of women, again demonstrating the way in which gender norms influence behaviour and ultimately result in gender segregation in job type.
Women returning to work after a break do so in lower paid roles and across the first five years of parenting their first child women's earnings are reduced by 55 per cent on average. During the same period men's earnings remain unaffected. These issues are not well understood with many still reporting they do not understand the concept of the gender pay gap, nor how to analyse and address theirs. An important step to address this is through shining the light on the prevalence of gender inequality across industries and sectors.
Earlier this year, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) for the first time published gender pay gaps for private sector employers with 100 or more employees. The WGEA data release reveals the gender pay gaps for nearly 5,000 Australian employers, including 327 South Australian organisations. The data shows that 62 per cent of median employer gender pay gaps are over 5 per cent. The public release of gender pay gaps has been shown to be a useful tool in reducing pay gaps in the United Kingdom and we anticipate that we will see a similar effect here in Australia.
Our state is experiencing strong economic growth and we know that we must continue to build and develop the state's workforce to meet the state's economic ambitions. Growing and sustaining the supply of skilled workers is essential to addressing our key labour market challenges. This includes increasing women's participation in the workforce by unlocking barriers and pursuing opportunities that enable this to happen.
Our state government's commitment to an early years reform will not only improve child development outcomes but will also increase opportunities for women to participate in the workforce. Additionally, we are focused on increasing women's representation across decision-making bodies, including government boards and sporting bodies. We are also growing and supporting the participation of women and girls in sport on and off the field.
When working to end gender inequality we recognise this is not a women's issue, it is everyone's issue. Ending violence against women and achieving gender equality requires the collective effort of us all—governments, community, business and the not-for-profit sector—to dismantle systemic inequalities and foster environments where every individual, regardless of gender, can thrive.
