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Labor has been accused of prioritising submarines over women after Minister for Women and Finance Katy Gallagher would not commit to changes recommended by a government-appointed taskforce, including scrapping the activity test for childcare and paying superannuation on paid parental leave.
The Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce’s final report was released on Monday, highlighting that barriers to women fully participating in the Australian workforce were costing the economy $128 billion.
Katy Gallagher says the government would consider the recommendations of the report into gender inequality.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The taskforce recommended several immediate changes, including abolishing the childcare subsidy activity test as a first step towards universal access to early childhood education and care, legislating the payment of super on all paid parental leave, and supporting Fair Work actions to increase childcare workers’ pay.
Gallagher said the government was examining the report and no decisions about adopting new policies from its recommendations had been made.
“We will use this report as we are making further decisions,” she said on Monday.
Gallagher added that changes the government enacted in the October and May budgets, such as increasing government paid parental leave to 26 weeks, were examples of working to shift the dial on equality while working within budget constraints.
Sam Mostyn chaired the taskforce, which called for immediate action on issues including childcare access and superannuation payments on parental leave.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Asked whether any of the recommendations were likely to be adopted as part of the government’s next budget in May 2024, Gallagher said those decisions were yet to be made.
The taskforce, headed by prominent businesswoman Sam Mostyn, was set up by the federal government last year to provide independent advice on boosting women’s participation in the economy.
Mostyn said that after consultation with thousands of women around the country, the taskforce had asked the government for some immediate changes to childcare and paid parental leave, as well as longer-term changes including extending paid parental leave to 52 weeks.
“The cost of not doing what we’ve recommended is far greater than any investment that’s going to be required to build a gender-equal Australia,” she said.
“I just don’t know who is prepared today to continue to bear the cost of our kids not being ready for school or women not using their education, or us not utilising half of the population at the time that we need productivity lifted.”
Greens spokesperson for women Larissa Waters said the government should implement the recommendations rather than make women continue to wait for reform.
“For the government’s response to be women will have to wait sends a very strong message that actually women are not a priority to this government, and they’d rather waste money on nuclear submarines and tax cuts for wealthy men,” she said.
Centre for Policy Development deputy chief executive Annabel Brown said abolishing the activity test would cost just over an estimated $1 billion, but the economic gains were estimated at $4.5 billion, and it was a vital first step towards universal access to early childhood education and care.
“[It] gets in the way of really supporting families and parents who want to get back into the labour market, but currently can’t,” she said.
Jessica Rudd, interim chief executive of independent lobby group The Parenthood, said the recommended changes were not just about equity, but also what was right for the economy.
“You don’t have to be a policy genius to see that the activity test is not going to help anyone achieve universal early learning in this country, and so given that it is a policy failure, it just seems like low-hanging fruit and should be removed,” she said.
“We also believe that we need to move quickly towards wage reform in the area of early childhood education and care.”
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the Coalition would consider the report, also noting that Australian women have continued to fall behind while the taskforce conducted its research.
“While this report sheds new light on the challenges of realising a better future for Australian women, Labor’s spiralling cost of living crisis is hurting women today,” she said.
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