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) (14:12): I thank Senator Tyrrell for that supplementary. I've always advocated that an economy that works for women works for everybody. New research by the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work, in their recent report Good flex, bad flex has made interesting findings: that flexible work arrangements are worst in feminised industries and that, where good flexible work arrangements operate, women are often able to stay in those jobs for longer and work through their career progression to higher levels.

So we know that, when we get flexibility, everyone wins. Women are healthier, they have more job security and employers have less turnover and skill shortages. This is an important work, and it will feed into other policy decisions the government will take over the coming year.