Chief Executive Women Symposium

I acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land we're gathered on tonight. And thank you to Aunty Maxine Ryan for your Welcome to Country.

I recognise the Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, for her attendance and speech tonight.

And I thank Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, President of Chief Executive Women and her team for organising tonight's event, and all of tonight's panellists.

It's great to be here today for what is a very important conversation about supporting women in our corporate workplaces, and supporting women right around Australia.

Because, as the latest Chief Executive Women census results show, there's a lot more work to be done on this front.

Progress can never be taken for granted, and when it comes to gender equality, these results also show us that progress is not linear.

I grew up in the '90's - the era of Spice Girls 'girl power' feminism - where we thought that educating our girls and women and telling them to go for it would be enough to smash glass ceilings and end the patriarchy.

But today, three decades on, 91% of CEO positions are still held by men.

What's more, the rate of women CEO appointments has halved in the last year - from one in four to one in eight.

Evidence tells us that women in leadership positions drive better outcomes, not just for the sector or industry they work in, but for everyone.

You all know this - better than anyone.

So, it is very timely that you are having this gathering tonight to examine the census results and how to accelerate progress.

Since being elected our Government has put what I think is an unprecedented focus on achieving gender equality.

Led by our excellent Minister for Women and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and driven by a caucus that is the for the first time majority female - thanks in large part to Labor's system of setting quotas for preselection.

We've been improving women's working lives, Including making gender equality an objective of the Fair Work Act, banning pay secrecy clauses, legislating for WGEA to publish gender pay gaps of employers with 100 or more workers, introducing a new positive duty on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment, sex discrimination and harassment, and increasing wages for aged care and early childhood educators, both sectors that are highly feminised and have been historically undervalued.

We've been improving leadership and representation, including increasing the representation of women on Australian Government boards to a record 53.2 percent, and putting a new focus on increasing female representation on the boards of our sporting organisations.

The gender pay gap has now dropped to a historic low of 11.5 percent and we have seen the average weekly earnings of women increase by $173.80 a week since May 2022.

We have recognised the very significant caring load that many Australian women carry, and made it easier for families to juggle the load. Including delivering the most significant reforms to Paid Parental Leave since its introduction in 2011: expanding it to 26 weeks by 2026, making it more flexible so both parents can more easily share care and paying superannuation. And investing $4.7 billion to make childcare cheaper.

We've introduced an entitlement in the Fair Work Act for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave, as we continue to bring national focus and a $3.4 billion investment towards ending gender-based violence within a generation, built on through the comprehensive $4.7 billion package agreed to by National Cabinet last month.

And we're investing in women's health, including new investments in reproductive health, and bringing focus to issues such as endometriosis and menopause, to ensure women can live full and productive lives.

Only yesterday Minister Gallagher highlighted how she is working with the World Economic Forum, Chief Executive Women and Champions of Change to develop a government and private sector gender equality accelerator.

It will be modelled on the WEF's international model of gender parity accelerators bringing everyone to the table - including WGEA and the Government - to accelerate change.

Working together to share what works internationally as well as what is working here in Australia - we know and you know that some companies are already doing some incredible things, so we want to learn from that, and we have the expertise of CEW, Champions of Change Coalition and WGEA to draw on to get us started.

This is a real opportunity to drive focused effort in closing the gender pay gap, workplace flexibility and gender segregated industries, with Minister Gallagher as chair alongside co-chairs from industry.

It's work I know she is excited to speak on further soon.

Ultimately this work isn't just good for women, it's good for Australia.

As Chief Executive Women note in your census, Australia has one of the most highly educated female workforces in the world.

A pool of talent currently being underutilised by corporate Australia.

And in an era where we are seeing the rise of online influencers like the Andrew Tates of the world, I think it is important to state that this work is good for Australian men too.

We all benefit from having a society where women are equal, and able to fulfil their potential.

Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick found that organisations with the most gender diversity consistently outperform those with the least.

These organisations have performance and productivity benefits, because they attract, recruit and retain the best talent the labour market has to offer; and have greater diversity of thought, supporting better decision-making.

And for all of us in this room it is incumbent that we are clear that this must include all women - First Nations women, women from diverse backgrounds, women facing significant economic barriers.

There's a lot of work still ahead to get more women in boardrooms and positions of leadership across our country.

And while we seem to be entering the era of 90's reunion tours - hello Oasis - and we are firmly in an era of 90s revival fashion, I don't think revisiting girl power feminism is going to get us there.

But since coming into this portfolio, I've felt the enormous goodwill that exists - and momentum for change.

Chief Executive Women is critical to driving this change, including because of your longevity as an organisation - soon celebrating 40 years - representing Australia's most senior women leaders, promoting knowledge sharing and leadership development, and empowering women leaders.

This group continues to be at the forefront of the important conversations we must be having, including coming together tonight to talk about how we accelerate change.

The community and political will to act - to make the lives of women in Australia safer, fairer and more equal - has never been stronger.

Women everywhere, including all of you, are driving change.

And we're a Government that hears you, and gets you.

We are the first Government in Australia's history to be made up of majority women.

And we're always looking for ways to drive positive change.

So with your support, I'm looking forward to seizing on this momentum, and delivering change to improve the lives of women and girls in Australia.

Thank you.