In 2015, Victoria became the first Australian state to develop a Gender Equity Strategy. It's called Safe and Strong. The Equal Workplaces Advisory Council was set up as a part of this strategy.
The council consists of up to 12 experts from public and private sector organisations. It advises the Minister for Industrial Relations on initiatives that will tackle:
- the gap in women's pay
- workforce participation
The Victorian Government has committed to strategies that end the gender pay gap. These strategies reflect principles of gender pay equity developed by the council in its first year.
The council has also:
- collaborated with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission on the 2021 Equal Pay Matters research report(opens in a new window), the 2022 release of online learning modules to help small-to-medium enterprises understand equal pay concepts(opens in a new window) and the 2024 release of the pay equality toolkit(opens in a new window)
- designed a research program to support policy development and Victorian Government advocacy on gender pay equity
- advised government on the Inquiry into economic equity for Victorian women
- hosted the Women @ Work conference and engaged with private and public sector bodies to make the gender equality pledge
- made a submission to the ASX Governance Council that listed companies should undertake gender pay audits, and report their findings to their board or audit and risk committees
- made a public consultation submission about the Victorian Gender Equality Bill and its potential to drive gender pay equity in the Victorian public sector.
Council members
- Ro Allen – Commissioner, Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
- Karen Batt – Victorian Branch Secretary, Community and Public Sector Union
- Ylva Carosone - Executive Director, Small Business Victoria, Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions
- Dr Sara Charlesworth – Emeritus Professor, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- Michele Clark –Director, Office for Women, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
- Vasuki Paul – National Manager, Construction Utilities and Mining, Australian Industry Group
- Juanita Pope – Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Council of Social Services
- Wilhelmina Stracke – Assistant Secretary, Victorian Trades Hall Council
- Laura Trengove - Executive Director, Employment, Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions
- Dr Niki Vincent - Commissioner, Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector
- Lissa Zass – Executive Director, Industrial Relations Victoria, Department of Treasury and Finance
- Vacant - Chair
Commissioned Research
The Gender Pay Gap in Victoria: Measures, Trends, and Intersections 2024
The Victorian Government commissioned The Gender Pay Gap in Victoria: Measures, Trends and Intersections report from a project team comprising Professor Alison Preston, University of Western Australia and Emeritus Professor Siobhan Austen, Curtin Business School.
The report examines:
- different approaches to measuring gender pay gaps,
- key sources of publicly accessible data on such pay gaps,
- the extent of the current Victorian gender gap in pay, and
- recent trends and key differences in gender pay gaps across industries, sub-sectors, occupations and groups of workers in Victoria.
This report also adds a life course perspective on the gender gap in pay in Victoria, providing data on the gap at different ages and for different cohorts and examining gender differences in the superannuation balances of Victorians, showing the cumulative effects of gender gaps in pay over the life course.
Motivating Action: Closing the gender pay gap in Victorian businesses 2024
The Victorian Government commissioned Motivating Action: Closing the gender pay gap in Victorian businesses report from Impact Economics with a project team comprising; Dr Angela Jackson, Impact Economics; Melissa Wells, Impact Economics; Professor Swee-Hoon Chuah, University of Tasmania; Dr Leonora Risse, University of Canberra and Stacey Ong, One Red Step.
The report offers a firm-level analysis of the gender pay gap and investigates how cultural norms influence decision-making at the firm level and how these factors affect progress toward pay equity and gender equality.
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