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.
THWAITES: That's right. Today is Equal Pay Day. And we are 50 days into the new financial year, which is actually how many extra days women in Australia have to work each year to earn the same average salary as a man. So that means that at the moment, for every dollar on average that a man earns, a woman is earning around 89 cents, and that adds up to about $230 a week, which is obviously far too large a gap. And there is some good news. The gap is coming down. We've just had new data come out that tells us the gender pay gap is now at 11.5% and as the government, the Albanese Labor government, we've been putting a lot of focus on trying to close that gender pay gap. We've done things like increase the pay of industries which are really dominated by women, things like aged care workers, early childhood educators who we've just announced a 15% pay rise for. These are sectors where lots of women work and where historically they've been underpaid. So we are making some differences, but there is more work to be done and it's something that government needs to tackle, but that we all need to tackle as a community as well.
HOST: Obviously, that gender gap is closing in, but in 2024, I would have thought that it would have a lot more. I mean, in my head, I look at it and say, okay, if you've got, let's say, leadership roles, if you've got award wage roles and things like that, surely that gives a benchmark, no matter whether it's a bloke or a woman.
THWAITES: Look, I can't disagree with you Moffee that I think it should close a lot faster and quicker than where we are at the moment. As I said, it's something as a government that we are bringing a big focus to. And in terms of knowing what everyone's paid and what they're paid in each role, one of the changes we have made as a government is requiring companies to report on what they pay men and women, and we publish that data as well, so that we can see across industries, across companies, what are men being paid? What are women paid? Where are the gaps? Where are the areas we still need to work on? And as I said, there's a big attitude shift piece here as well, where for a long time these industries that women mainly work in, things like childcare, things like aged care, they have historically been underpaid if you compare them with an industry dominated by men like many trades. The wages have been much lower. We're putting a focus on raising wages in those sorts of industries, but also a focus on making it clear across the board what men are being paid, what women are being paid, where the gaps are, and what's the work that companies, communities, industries and governments need to do to close the gender pay gap.
HOST: Always good to chat. Thanks so much for speaking to us this morning, Kate.
THWAITES: Thanks for having me Moffee.