2025-03-27
The Greens welcome the passage of the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Setting Gender Equality Targets) Bill 2024, but it could have done more.
Lines attributable to Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women:
“The Greens welcome this legislation which finally requires the biggest companies to not just identify their gender pay gap, but actually take action to close it.
“Had the Greens amendments passed the bill could have supported far more women in the workforce.
“Our amendments would have required companies with 100 employees, not just those with over 500, to take action to close their gender pay gap.
“Reporting obligations on the gender pay gap apply to companies that have 100 or more workers, so there was no good reason why this new obligation to act on that data shouldn’t apply to the same cohort.
“We also moved for employers to set actual numerical goals to shrink their gender pay gap rather than simply selecting more nebulous measures.
“Lastly, we moved for the government to stop giving contracts to companies that don’t fully comply with their WGEA obligations, instead of the weak situation where compliance is just one factor to consider in deciding whether to grant a government contract.
“It comes as no surprise that Dutton’s LNP voted against this bill. Their import of Trump’s war on DEI measures has just overlaid on their long history of opposing measures that support women.
“This is exactly why this election a vote for the Greens has never been more powerful. In a minority government the Greens will force Labor to act on gender equity and to keep Dutton’s destructive policies for women out of our lives.