Nine recommendations to tackle Australia’s gender pay gap have been made in a Senate inquiry report tabled in Parliament this week.
And most appear to have been rejected by Government members involved in the committee, aside from the easiest ones — those that involve ‘encouraging girls’.
Labor Senator Jenny McAllister has led the report, noting that it’s time to take action on a gender pay gap which has hovered around 16% for the past two decades.
She refers to the gaps in pay between men and women as “glass walls” dividing us.
The report also notes that the pay gap is particularly problematic in industries dominated by women and involve ’emotional labour’, such as childcare and aged cared.
The crux of the recommendations include establishing targets, including specific dates, for closing the gender pay gap, and establishing a national road map for getting there. This would require the Office for Women to kickstart a national policy for making it happen. The report also suggests amendments to the Fair Work Act to better address pay equity, and provisions for the Fair Work Commission to assist.
According to AAP reports, while government senators on the committee have offered support to certain recommendations — such as reviewing STEM related programs to encourage more girls into the area, and backing better career guidance to girls — they have rejected changing workplace laws to help.
According to Fairfax reports today, Minister for Women Senator Michaelia Cash said she would consider the report, but noted her government is already addressing gender equality.
She mainly pointed to the $13 million to government is investing to boost the number of women working in STEM.
That figure is being spent over five years, an average of $2.6 million a year.
It’s a tiny amount.
While I’m all for seeing more women pursuing STEM related careers, in this instance focusing alone on programs to inspire and encourage girls in high school is a cop out.
For one, it suggests the gender pay gap is merely a pipeline issue — one that we can just expect to shift with time, as long as we can go in and fix what girls are studying now and the career choices they are making.
It doesn’t address the fact that professions involving ’emotional labour’, that also tend to be dominated by women, are still significantly undervalued.
Nor does it address the fact gender pay gaps exist within industries and organisations, and between men and women doing like for like work.
We can do better than establishing a few career programs in schools telling girls to go and work in tech.