JOURNALIST: … to get this over the line, and do you think you've got the support of the other parties?

The Albanese Government will introduce a Bill to Parliament today to establish the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC), delivering on Recommendation 22 of Set the Standard, the Australian Human Rights Commission’s report into Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.

The IPSC will be an independent workplace investigation and sanctions framework that will enforce behaviour codes for Parliamentarians, MOPS staff and other people who work in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces.

ALLAN ALDWORTH, HOST: It's Allan and Carly on this Monday morning. Now today is Equal Pay Day and we're chatting with Kate Thwaites MP, Assistant Minister for Women. Kate, thank you very much for coming on the show. How are you doing today?

KATE THWAITES, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY, AGEING AND WOMEN: I am well, thank you, and it's good to be with you today talking Equal Pay Day. It is really important that we keep closing the gender pay gap and make sure that women are paid as they should be.

MICHAEL ‘MOFFEE’ MOFFETT, HOST: The 19th of August is a special day for women, it’s Equal Pay Day. And to speak more about it is the Federal Minister for Social Security, Ageing and Women. Kate Thwaites joins us on the phone right now. Kate, thanks for your time this morning.

KATE THWAITES, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY, AGEING AND WOMEN: Thank you very much for having me.

HOST: Now it's a really important day. Tell us about Equal Pay Day.

TOM CONNELL, HOST:  Joining the panel now, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman. And friend of the programme, I can say now, because he's one of our regulars, for better or for worse. Patrick, welcome. 

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Tom.

PAM BOLAND, HOST: We've got someone hanging out on our mystery outline this morning. It's not that much of a mystery. I did give you a little bit of a warning. It's quarter past seven, and we're checking in, dialled in with Patrick Gorman, the local member for Perth and North Perth local. A subscriber to RTRFM, he joins us on the line to give us a little bit of a little bit of a heads up, catch up about Radiothon. Good morning, Patrick, how you going?

SENATOR KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND WOMEN: Great so thanks everyone for coming. We're on the eve of another sitting week, so it's going to be an important week for the parliament. We've got significant pieces of legislation, like the CFMEU legislation, the administration act to put them into administration. We've got the NDIS Bill before the parliament as well, again, a very important bill to make sure that we're ensuring that the NDIS is sustainable over time, and both of those bills really do need to be dealt with very promptly.

One of my favourite parts of the working day is picking up my three-year-old son, Gilbert, from childcare. He is so eager to tell me about who he played with, what he ate (or didn’t), which books he read and the letters and numbers he learned.

I am so grateful to the educators who make all this happen for him. They are trusted partners in my son’s development, helping him navigate the politics of the playground and instilling a love of learning.

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows the national gender pay gap is the lowest on record - today falling to 11.5 per cent from 12 per cent in November 2023, and 14.1 per cent in May 2022. Under the Albanese Government, women’s average weekly earnings have increased $173.80 a week since May 2022.

Labor came to government in 2022 with a commitment to drive action to close the gender pay gap. Since then, we have seen the gender pay gap drop to all-time lows over four consecutive reporting cycles.

The Government is taking decisive action to ensure accountability of former senior public service leaders following the Robodebt Royal Commission.

The APS Commissioner was close to finalising investigations into former agency heads regarding their conduct on Robodebt. However, before the investigations could be concluded, some former agency heads argued that alleged breaches of the Code of Conduct by former Agency Heads could not be investigated in the absence of express provisions in the Public Service Act 1999.