The first Women, Management and Employment Relations Conference took place almost twenty years ago, in 1989. Since then, many conditions for women in the workplace related to management and employment for women have changed.

But too many have not.

Women's equal access, participation and experience in the labour force; pay equity and the ability to be financially independent and secure in retirement are key parts of the equation to once again position Australia as a leader on women's rights.

The Government has begun the process of accession to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - the international treaty on women's human rights.

As you know, full time working women are paid about 15 per cent less than full time men. Data sources and income measures all vary but on almost every measure, women earn less than men.

The impact of this long term pay inequality is that we now have a generation of women who are retiring with, on average, less than half the savings of men.

This is a major economic problem for those individual women, but it is also a serious issue for the nation. From the moment a woman enters the workforce she is likely to earn less than her male colleagues, regardless of her career, industry or level.

Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency research shows that male graduates are commencing employment on a median salary of $45,000 while female graduates are starting work on $3,000 p.a. less than that.

We know the causes of this pay inequality are complex.

Firstly, women's work is concentrated in lower paying industry sectors and occupations - the huge pay gap that has opened up in WA due to the mining boom is largely driven by men being much more likely to work in the mining sector and related fields.

Secondly, women are more likely to take time out of the workforce and work part-time to raise children or care for ageing or dependent relatives. Caring is good; our community relies on carers, but the economic cost to those carers goes beyond immediate lost earnings to life long lower earnings and lower retirement incomes.

Thirdly, women's skills are still sometimes undervalued in particular businesses with some women still paid less than men for essentially the same job.

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) Gender Income Distribution of Top Earners [1] report (directed by Associate Peter McGraw) on pay disparity at senior levels in the top 200 companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX200) found that female CEOs earn two thirds the median wage of male CEOs and female Chief Financial Officers and Chief Operating Officers about half the median wage of their male equivalents.

CEOs in top companies - that's not about gender segregation in the workforce; or seniority; or responsibility, and we can't dismiss the disparity by putting it down simply to differing negotiating powers.

Women's pay equity and economic security worsened under the industrial relations system we inherited.

Improving equality in the workplace began with the abolition of Work Choices and AWAs, which were so harmful for the lowest paid and most vulnerable workers - many of them women.

The Government's new workplace relations system will give women, and men, the opportunity to make their work arrangements more family friendly, by giving:

• both parents the right to separate periods of up to 12 months, or the opportunity for one parent to request 24 months of unpaid leave; and
• the right to request flexible work arrangements until their child reaches school age.

These measures will assist working Australians create a more balanced relationship between work and family commitments.

The Hon. Tanya Plibersek was elected to the Federal Parliament as the Member for Sydney in 1998 and became a shadow minister in 2004. During her time as a shadow minister, Tanya was responsible for a wide variety of issues including childcare, work and family, community, women, youth, human services and housing. Following the election of the Rudd Government in 2007, Tanya was appointed the Minister for Housing and the Minister for the Status of Women.

Ms Plibersek presented these ideas at the 20th annual Women, Management and Employment Relations Conference, held in Sydney in July 2008.

www.tanyaplibersek.com [2]