The Victorian Chamber is committed to driving gender equity and inclusivity outcomes at work and acknowledges the findings of a Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce report, Women’s Economic Equality: A 10-year plan to unleash the full capacity and contribution of women to the Australian economy.

The report finds 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 man of the same age who fathers a child.

Closing this gap could add $128 billion to the Australian economy “by purposefully removing the persistent and pervasive barriers to women’s full and equal participation in economic activity”.

The taskforce presents primary recommendations to the Federal Government to improve outcomes for women in the workforce around key themes of care, work, education and skills, the tax and transfer system and Government processes, including extending paid parental leave to 52 weeks (beyond the current incoming increase of 26 weeks).

Federal Minister for Women Senator Katy Gallagher said: “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 equality that will be released in 2024.”

WGEA gender equity report

Employers that take deliberate, long-term action on equity in their workplaces get results, according to the latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) report.

In a study of nearly 5,000 businesses, the best-performing Australian companies recorded a 5.3 percentage point drop in their gender pay gaps in three years and improved retention.

The report compares the policies and actions of companies that are advanced in their approach to against those that are early in their journey – based on pay equity strategies, recruitment and retention and parental leave, family and caregiving, and sex-based harassment.

Findings included:

• Australia’s national gender pay gap is 13 per cent. Victoria was the third best performer, reducing its gap from 12.9 per cent (previously 13.5 per cent)
• The best quarter of businesses for increasing the percentage of female workers lifted the share of women in their workforces by 2.5 per cent in three years
• The median improvement in the gender pay gap more than doubles over three years for businesses that undertake a gender pay gap audit
• The share of female board members increased by 3.3 per cent in three years for businesses that improved their gender equity maturity, while their female manager resignations reduced (female manager resignations rose by 2.6 per cent for businesses at base maturity)
• While progress has been made, women continue to be under-represented among the top 20 per cent of earners in most industry sectors.

WGEA has also previously noted that that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 21 per cent more likely to experience above-average profitability, while companies with low representation of women and other diverse groups were 29 per cent more likely to underperform on profitability.

WGEA Chief Executive Officer Mary Wooldridge said: “Employers who do more, achieve more. This analysis shows that when employers pursue a deliberate strategy of long-term, meaningful change they are achieving progress to close their gender pay gaps.”

Victorian Chamber commitment

The Victorian Chamber is committed to doing its part in fostering workplaces that empowers and values every individual, ensuring that we drive gender equality and continue to evolve as a workplace that celebrates and supports equity, diversity and inclusion.

In our Gender Equity Plan, the Victorian Chamber pledges to: raise awareness, understanding and capability to progress gender equality in the workplace; maintain gender balance in leadership roles; achieve gender balance across the organisation; reduce employer gender pay gap and be a role model organisation known for progressing gender equality.

The Chamber is aiming for gender pay equity in like-for-like roles by 2026 while maintaining women representation of at least or greater than 40 per cent at executive, leadership and manager levels (currently at 56 per cent).

In recent staff engagement surveys, at least 80 per cent agree or strongly agree that gender equality, diversity and inclusion are prioritised at the Chamber.

Recently our flagship women-in-business program, Chamber Change, was globally recognised as a gender equity leader, nominated as a finalist in the Best Gender Equity Project at the World Chambers Congress (WCC) in May 2023.

The Victorian Chamber’s Chief of Staff Chanelle Pearson will join the judging panel for the prestigious Recalibrate Gender Equity Awards 2023 presented by Business in Heels.

“Our Chamber Change program has had an incredible impact on current and aspiring female business leaders in Victoria in a relatively short period of time. It has helped to build and nuture networks, inspire and instil confidence and equipped women in business with the practical skills and knowledge they need to take their careers to the next level.”