QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator GALLAGHER (Australian Capital Territory—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Service, Minister for Women, Minister for Government Services and Manager of Government Business in the Senate) (14:39): Thank you, Senator Brown, for the supplementary. Again, as Senator Brown points out, we are using every lever available to reduce the rates of violence against women and children, and we think part of the answer sits with making sure that women are getting a better deal when it comes to economic security.

We know that having the opportunity to work if you want, get well paid and have the support you need through payments and other services is important to show that women can leave violent situations and set up a new life. Today's data that we've had come out shows that some of those measures are starting to show in the data that's coming, with the gender pay gap at 11.3 per cent, the lowest on record.

When we came to government, it was 14.1 per cent. We've got it down to 11.3. There is more work to do, but women are earning, on average, $325 more a year than they were when we came to government.