Page 654 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 24 February 2010
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event. She reported that young women in the audience were not focused on when the pay inequity might end; rather, they wanted to know why it existed at all. She commented that the female students looked at her in disbelief when she explained that women have always earned less than men, even when they have equal qualifications and do exactly the same job. She went on to explain that, what is more, blatant discrimination was once enshrined in law.
Disbelief gave way to wide-eyed incredulity when she told the students that women once got sacked the moment they told their boss they were pregnant. Ms Haussegger went on to remind us that the representation of women in politics, at all levels, has failed to budge past one in three and is currently in decline. This is despite women representing 50.3 per cent of the Australian population and that Australia is one of a group of countries ranked No 1 for women’s educational attainment, producing more degree-qualified women than men.
I am pleased to report that 41 per cent of members of this Assembly are women. However, following the most recent federal election in 2007, women represent only 29.6 per cent of elected positions in the Australian commonwealth parliament, accounting for only 35.5 per cent of Australian senators and 26.7 per cent of the members of the House of Representatives. Australia is only ranked 28 in the world for women’s representation in parliament. There has never been a female Governor of the Reserve Bank and a large number of commonwealth departments have never appointed female secretaries.
The situation in the private sector is equally troubling. In the senior business ranks, women chair only two per cent of ASX 200 companies, hold only 8.3 per cent of board directorships, two per cent of CEO roles and 10.1 per cent of senior executive roles, and nearly 50 per cent of these companies have no female executives. This is actually worse than in 2006, when it was closer to 40 per cent.
One encouraging change that was implemented last year was the Australian Stock Exchange Corporate Governance Council reporting requirements for listed companies to disclose to the stock market the proportion of women employees in their organisation, in senior management and on the board. The corporate governance principles also recommend that each listed entity establish and disclose a diversity policy with measurable objectives relating to gender, and disclose in the annual report achievements against the gender objectives set out in the policy on an “if not, why not” basis. The Greens are pleased to see this change and I hope we will be able to see tangible benefits in the near future.
These disturbing statistics translate directly into remuneration inequality or inequity. When factoring in the pay of full-time and part-time women workers, overall women earn only 66 per cent of what men earn. The gap in ordinary full-time earnings between men and women is 17.2 per cent as at February 2009. The data shows that the gender pay gap begins as soon as women enter the workforce. Graduate Careers Australia’s annual Australian graduate survey details the average starting salaries of both male and female graduates.
In 2008, new male graduates earned a median starting salaries of $47,000 compared to $45,000 for women. This inequity follows women into retirement, as half of all
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