In this submission, Our Watch welcomes the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2023 (Cth) (the Bill), and expresses support for Commonwealth Government efforts to reduce the gender pay gap and promote workplace gender equality through legislative reform.

The submission also identifies additional opportunities for reform, such as compelling employers to take time-bound and concrete steps to implement strategies designed to address the gender pay gap and accelerate changes to gender inequality within their institutions and organisations.

We highlight the need for further measures to address the gender segregation of workforces and the gendered ways in which different industries and sectors are valued and renumerated, as outlined in Change the story. These would build on the current reforms by driving a more holistic approach to achieving women’s economic equality and preventing violence against women.