Stop claiming gender pay gap credit when you've done nothing to narrow it

Stop claiming gender pay gap credit when you’ve done nothing to narrow it

gender pay gap

The Morrison Government has a number of go-to figures when it comes to demonstrating their work on women’s economic security. 

One such figure is the official gender pay gap, which reached an all-time low in November 2020 of 13.4 per cent, before rising again and settling at its current 13.8 per cent.

Minister for Women Marise Payne cited this record during a press conference in Parramatta on Tuesday, noting that there is still “work to do” but that the government’s plan on women in STEM, on women in leadership, and on creating pathways into higher paid trade roles, will help narrow the pay gap further. 

There’s just one problem: the Morrison Government can’t point to much, if anything, it’s done to actually contribute to narrowing this gap.

The fact the gap reached a record low in 2020 is believed to actually stem from policies introduced under the final years of the last Labor Government, particularly the Workplace Gender Equality Act, introduced in 2012, during the Gillard Government – at a time when the then Abbott-led Liberal Opposition cared very little for addressing gender pay gaps. 

The falls we’ve seen in the pay gap just happen to coincide with a significant change impacting the biggest employers in the country – new requirements to report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, established in 2014 and which, ever since, has continually introduced new metrics for reporting on workplace gender equality progress and encouraging 

The Morrison Government can say that it has extended the reach of this agency – occurring around International Women’s Day this year – granting it new powers to require companies to report on whether they pay superannuation during paid parental leave.

Despite talking up these new powers and support for paying superannuation, the Morrison Government then scrapped plans to actually introduce such superannuation payments to those receiving government paid parental leave.

Payne said the Coalition is committed to “driving the strongest possible economy”. That’s not possible, without addressing some of the critical issues behind the gender pay gap, notably the care-based sectors – like early childhood education, aged care, nursing and other healthcare areas – that continue to be overwhelmingly made up of women, and severely underpaid. 

Payne did concede the gender pay gap had actually risen again during 2020, highlighting the pandemic as the cause. But much of the problem also came down to stimulus packages that favoured male-dominated industries.

Getting more women into STEM and into corporate leadership are great opportunities – but it’s no silver bullet to the “work to be done” on closing the gender pay gap. 

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