Under current patterns,an average 25-year-old woman who has at least one child will earn $2 million less across their employment lifetime compared to a 25-year-old man who fathers a child.
The taskforce noted that up to 30 per cent of Australian men did not believe gender inequality exists.
The report makes recommendations across seven key areas that the taskforce argues are economic pillars where inequality is prevalent. They include care,the workplace,education and skills,the tax and welfare system and government processes.
The proposals include extending paid parental leave,which is due to increase to 26 weeks in 2026,to 52 weeks. The leave payment should be increased to a replacement wage level,be broadened to encourage more men to use it and have superannuation paid with it.
Interaction of the personal income tax and welfare systems mean that in many cases,people on lower incomes lose upwards of 90 cents for every dollar of income they earn.
The taskforce found the current system was misaligned,trapping women in poverty and excluding them from fully participating in the economy.
“The interactions between the tax and transfer system combined with onerous eligibility requirements often disincentivise women from full workforce participation,despite their desire to engage in paid work and forge flourishing careers,” it found.
In one of its more contentious proposals,it recommends the government use its purchasing power to support businesses to introduce inclusive employment practices. This would be done by prioritising government contracts to firms that showed commitment to pay equity,addressing gender segregation and “building respectful workplace cultures”.
The financial services sector,including banks,should be required to develop free or low-cost products specifically aimed at women,especially those who are victims of domestic violence or experiencing divorce.
It recommends an independent inquiry into the entire social security system and the legal system,including the family law system,to find where rules and practices reduce women’s safety and enable post-separation violence and coercive control.
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Indexation on HECS-HELP debts should be paused while a woman was out of the workforce,ensuring their outstanding debts were manageable once they returned to paid employment.
While many proposals,such as a major overhaul of early childcare and education,are aimed at younger women,it recommends the government trial a program aimed at helping older women return to the workforce by boosting their skills base.
Mostyn said women’s contributions were often under-valued or unpaid,perpetuating economic inequality. But overcoming that inequality would require 10 years of ongoing major reform.
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher would not be drawn on the taskforce’s proposals and when the government would implement any of them.
“The government will consider these recommendations alongside the analysis and policy directions of the employment white paper as we continue to develop a national strategy to achieve gender equalitythat will be released in 2024,” she said.
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