Victoria Trades Hall Council Women’s Conference

***check against delivery*** Good morning everybody. I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people as the Traditional Custodians of the land where we are meeting. I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

And extend that respect to any First Nations people here today. I’d also like to acknowledge Victoria Trades Hall Council President Nicole McPherson, and Assistant Secretaries Wil Stracke, Danae Bosler and Amanda Threlfall. Thank you for having me here this morning.

It is great to be in a room of committed women from across the union movement. I am really proud to be part of the Albanese Labor Government, which has made economic equality for women one of our key priorities. And our Government is determined to improve women’s economic participation and security by using every lever in the workplace relations system that we can.

Our reforms are helping to address many of the challenges that many women workers face at the workplace level. And I want to especially thank the women in this room – as these reforms would not have occurred without your advocacy and campaigning over many years. With your help our Government has banned pay secrecy clauses, allowing women to compare their pay with their co-workers and reducing the risk of gender pay discrimination.

And we put a positive duty into law for employers to eliminate sex discrimination and sexual harassment in their organisation. Because as you know all too well workplace cultures can still too often tolerate behaviours that exclude, undermine or disadvantage women, particularly within male-dominated industries. Labor extended government-funded paid parental leave which helps give parents more time off to care for a baby while also providing greater economic security for millions of women in their retirement.

And Labor passed Baby Priya’s Bill, to ensure that employer-funded paid parental leave must not be cancelled if a child is stillborn or dies. This law will help give parents – and their employers – greater certainty around their entitlements, at an incredibly difficult time. And was brought to our government’s attention by women in the union movement who rightly recognised that this had to change.

But of course, many of the barriers to women’s economic participation and security go beyond the individual workplace. That’s why our Government passed legislation to put gender equality at the very heart of the Fair Work Act, by requiring the Fair Work Commission to consider gender equity when performing its functions. And as a result of these legislative changes, the Commission has begun to address gender undervaluation in the award system.

This work recognises that workers in female-dominated industries were often under-valued and paid less than they should be, simply because their role was performed by women. Correcting that undervaluation is something the union movement has highlighted for years and as a critical step towards closing the gender pay gap, and recognising the major contribution that workers in female-dominated sectors make to our economy.

At the same time, our Government is boosting wages in the female-dominated early childhood and aged care sectors – in cooperation with unions and employers. Because those workers perform an essential role in educating our youngest and caring for our oldest – and that work should be properly valued. Our Government has also advocated to the Fair Work Commission for a minimum wage rise every single year we have been in Government.

And we have passed legislation to protect workers’ penalty rates from being traded away. Because we know that a disproportionate number of women rely on the minimum safety net in this country, making up 60% of Australia’s minimum wage and award-reliant workers. And I’m really pleased to say that our Government’s efforts are paying off.

Just last week, the latest data was released which shows that under our Government, the gender pay gap has decreased to its lowest level on record. But there’s always more to do. And these are just some of the ways our Government is taking action to improve gender equality in the workplace and across the workforce.

And again, I’d like to acknowledge the critical role women across the union movement have played in strongly advocating for many of these reforms, over many years. And several of our Government’s reforms have relied on unions taking up these laws and using them to maximise their benefits to working women. For example, we passed reforms to make it easier for workers in low-paid industries to use the supported bargaining stream to negotiate enterprise agreements across multiple employers.

As a result of these law changes, it is now easier for workers, their unions and employers within female-dominated industries to come together and negotiate enterprise agreements that deliver benefits for both workers and employers. And we have already seen the positive impact of these reforms, with unions leading successful negotiations for an historic multi-employer agreement in the early childhood education sector.

This enterprise agreement covers hundreds of childcare centres across Australia, delivering better pay and conditions for thousands of workers, as well as better staff retention for their employers. To help protect these gains in pay and conditions for the long term, our Government also recently changed the law to streamline the process for replacing an existing supported bargaining agreement with a new one, if it largely covers the same group of workers and employer.

Same Job Same Pay is another example of unions taking up our Government’s laws to deliver outcomes for workers. Our Government’s reforms put a very simple principle into law: two people, doing the same job, should be paid the same. Unions in the cabin crew industry, where more than 70 per cent of workers are women, were some of the first to take up these laws.

And they have used our Government’s reforms to win pay rises of up to $20,000 per year for hundreds of flight attendants. Same Job Same Pay is making a difference for women in male-dominated industries as well. As the Mining and Energy Union have noted, women in the mining industry are more likely to be employed as labour hire workers, rather than direct employees.

And the MEU has used our Government’s laws to deliver pay rises for thousands of labour hire workers in mining, helping make a real difference for the economic security of those women workers. Of course, legislative reform is just one part of the picture. A lot of the work to improve cultures and drive gender equality in the workplace is driven by workers like yourselves, organising and taking action.

This is particularly true when it comes to tackling gender segregation, which is a major priority for our Government. Because Australia cannot reach its full potential if half the population are locked out of opportunities in key industries and occupations. That is why, alongside our legislative reforms, our Government has established a number of initiatives that support unions and employers to develop practical ways to address the barriers that contribute to gender segregation.

Unfortunately, Australia has some of the highest rates of gender segregation among advanced economies. Women continue to be over-represented in lower-paid industries. And under-represented in many of the sectors that are critical to Australia’s future growth – like trades, engineering, tech and manufacturing.

This segregation has real consequences for women workers. Because industry segregation is a major driver of the gender pay gap. And the evidence shows that pay gaps are largest in the most segregated jobs.

But it also has negative consequences for our broader economy. Research shows that occupational shortages get worse as gender segregation intensifies. So if we want a stronger economy, we need to make sure that we are addressing the barriers that make it harder for women to stay and lead within male-dominated industries.

Like workplace harassment. Or a lack of appropriate equipment and facilities. Or limited access to mentoring and career development, that is specifically designed for women’s experiences.

That is why our Government created our tripartite grant program to advance gender equality in gender-segregated industries. This program is focused on opening opportunities for women as individuals to enter male-dominated industries, as well as tackling the systemic barriers that women in those industries face. And I want to acknowledge the great work that Victoria Trades Hall Council is doing as one of the recipients of this grant funding through its Workplaces for Women program.

I was here in Melbourne just a couple of weeks ago, and I met some of the rail industry workers that the VTHC has supported through its training program, in partnership with the RTBU. I spoke to Daju who works at a train station. Daju said the women in her workplace were being overlooked for higher duties, because their male managers were making an assumption that those women had families to look after and wouldn’t want to work longer shifts.

Daju said the undertaking the VTHC training program was a turning point for her. After she had completed the training, she had a better understanding about her rights in the workplace. But she also had the confidence to raise this issue directly with her managers, and work out a solution.

And now everyone in her workplace is getting an equal chance for those higher duties opportunities based on their skills and experience, rather than on personal assumptions. Of course, this funding is supporting women to learn how to stand up for other women in the workplace, and give them the confidence to do so. But it’s also intended to ensure that men are educated about these issues.

It is critical that men understand how they can help make workplaces safe for women, and are empowered to do that by calling out poor behaviour and discrimination. As I mentioned earlier, workplace cultures can be a significant barrier to women feeling safe and comfortable in male-dominated industries. Bringing men along on the journey and making them a part of the solution is a critical part of breaking down those barriers.

Because of course – and I know that this room will agree with me – gender segregation is not a problem that women can fix on their own. And nor should they. So to make sure that the great work of grant recipients can continue, I was really pleased last year to announce a two-year extension of funding in this program.

This extension will deliver an additional $28 million across both employer-led and worker-led projects over the next two years, on top of our Government’s original $16 million investment. This extra funding will help each grant recipient build on the lessons and evidence base from their pilot programs. And it is my hope that these projects will lead to strong, practical recommendations to improve workplace cultures and safety for women.

Of course, this grant program is just one part of our Government’s investment in improving women’s economic participation and security, which is a key pillar of our broader strategy for gender equality. For example, we have also invested $54 million in the Building Women’s Careers program, to support projects that open new pathways for women in male-dominated industries like construction, clean energy and technology.

That program is focused on creating partnerships between unions, employers, training providers and community organisations to help women enter, stay and thrive in these industries. Because the challenge of gender segregation requires all of us – government, unions and employers – to work together. So while we have made significant progress to advance gender equality, we know that there is still more work to do.

I want to thank all of you for the work you do on this really critical issue. And our Government will keep working alongside workers and their unions to improve economic security and participation for women in Australia. Because every woman should have the opportunity to participate fully in the workforce, be valued for her contribution, and be given the chance to succeed.