The Australian Government must provide women in Australia with lifelong, accessible, flexible and affordable education and skill building. They must also remove existing disincentives and inequities that perpetuate industry and occupational segregation and sustained pay and wealth gaps.
4.1. Work with industry, unions and other stakeholders – including employer associations, professional associations and advocacy groups – to establish or scale programs that support women to enter and flourish in traditionally male-dominated sectors of employment. Investigate mechanisms to generate better impact from current government investments aimed at boosting participation in these sectors, including strategically aligning government programs, evaluating the effectiveness of investments, and experimenting with and evaluating new approaches.
4.2. Reimagine the recently abolished ParentsNext program and co-design new offerings in conjunction with single mothers, the predominant policy target. Focus on maximising support to single mothers and capacity building of existing community services.
4.3. Address work respect, health and safety barriers for women in male-dominated industries, such as gendered violence, lack of access to safe, secure and dedicated facilities for women (such as toilets and changing rooms); and a lack of appropriate, suitable personal protective equipment, tools and clothing.
4.4. Invest in education in early childhood, schools and tertiary education systems to deliver opportunities for girls and women that will enable them to participate in every aspect of economic, social and cultural life.
4.5. Ensure that teaching and nursing students can complete their studies without financial penalty by requiring that they are paid for their mandatory placements. Develop a national strategy and invest in action to close the First Nations employment gap (as per Closing the Gap Targets 7 and 8) with a focus on meaningful, skilled and well-paid employment for First Nations women.
Increase funding in Indigenous Employment Programs run by Aboriginal Community-Controlled Community Organisations.
Longer-term action
4.6. Trial a program with a cohort of older Australian women returning to the workforce and looking to upskill. As part of the trial, create a pathway for women to engage with a wide range of courses from pre-approved providers.
Supporting information
Australia has some of the most gender-segregated occupations, as well as some of the most gendered division of labour among OECD member countries. Less than half of Australian industries have gender-balanced workforces (at least 40 per cent women and 40 per cent men). Gendered occupations have persisted over the past 20 years, with the proportion of women in traditionally female-dominated industries increasing.[107]
Women continue to be concentrated in Health Care and Social Assistance, as well as Education and Training. Men are more likely to be found in Mining, Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services, Construction, and Manufacturing roles. [108]
Women and girls are more likely to be enrolled in traineeships or apprenticeships for work in feminised and low-paid industries with poor job and income security, as opposed to skilled trades with high financial remuneration and stable employment. [109] This occupational segregation is one of the key drivers of the gender pay gap. [110]
An education and training classroom environment where gender inequalities are normalised, and an apprenticeship system with in-built gender biases, contribute to gender segregation in the skilled trades and act as a significant barrier to women’s employment. [111]
Under-representation and a poor sense of belonging also decrease incentives for women and young girls to consider studying and working in male-dominated industries.
Male-dominated workplaces also have a higher prevalence of sexual harassment. This is due to a range of factors, including an unequal gender ratio, senior leadership that is predominantly male and women performing roles that are considered ‘atypical’ for women. [112]
A recent survey from the Electrical Trades Union [113] (ETU) found that one in five women workers do not have access to sanitary bins in their workplace. Women were eight to 10 per cent less likely to have access to gendered and/or permanent bathrooms, and nearly half of all women respondents say they’ve raised an issue in their workplace about inadequate amenities compared to 30 per cent of men.
ETU’s report ‘Nowhere to go’ [114] found women in male-dominated occupational industries are regularly being forced to travel long distances to use public amenities, use men’s facilities or otherwise avoid going to the bathroom during the work day. This presents major consequences to the health, safety, hygiene and wellbeing of women workers.
This structural failure to provide proper amenities is reflective of discriminatory and problematic workplace cultures that minimise and refuse to respond to the needs of women. It also signals a deficient regulatory environment.
Education opportunities
Early years education and schooling plays a critical role in shaping gender norms and career choices. By age six, girls are less likely than boys to believe that members of their gender are ‘really, really smart’ and begin to avoid activities said to be for children who are ‘really, really smart’. [115]
The gap in non-school qualification (education other than those of pre-primary, primary or secondary education) attainment between men and women aged 15-74 years has been steadily narrowing over time. Women enter the labour market with higher qualifications, but they earn less from the start, with graduate gender pay gaps favouring men in most fields of study.[116] Female-dominated industries have lower average wages than male-dominated industries, regardless of educational attainment. [117]
There are also many other barriers that female apprentices and trainees face. Bullying is one of the reasons why they may not complete their training. [118]
To increase the proportion of women working on major projects and drive long-term sustainable change to reduce gender segregation in the apprenticeship system, the Government has introduced targets for women within the Australian Skills Guarantee. The Skills Guarantee will initially apply to major construction and information and communication technology projects with a total contract value of $10 million or more.
Universities Accord Interim report
Social work placements currently require 1,000 hours, [119] and registered nursing 800 hours, [120] of placement, which can impede students’ ability to continue paid full-time work, maintain financial stability and prioritise their own self-care and wellbeing. [121] Mandatory Work Integrated Learning (WIL) and clinical training requirements place significant pressure on students, exacerbated for students from low socioeconomic and regional backgrounds, and students (most commonly women) who have caring responsibilities. [122]
A 2022 study [123] found placements caused financial strain with students having to give up paid employment and being reliant on partners or family for financial support. This resulted in excessive hours of work, time poverty and negative impacts on their health and wellbeing
The Universities Accord Interim Report notes that the Review will explore the possibility of requiring some form of financial support for students undertaking mandatory placements.
The Accord Interim Report also notes that Commonwealth, State and Territory governments could support innovative models of WIL with flexibility in relation to regulatory and funding settings and willingness to allocate Commonwealth supported and funded training places to them in areas of priority skills demand. [124]
The Accord is also looking into micro-credentials, which have significant potential to provide stackable learning and training. Nationally and internationally recognised micro-credentials are already being developed for this purpose and are starting to be incorporated into Australia’s tertiary system. [125]
Taking up opportunities in education, employment and training can be more difficult for individuals with compounding forms of disadvantage. Targeted forms of support are needed to accommodate the complexity and evolving nature of women’s lived experiences.
Indigenous participation rates
The Productivity Commission’s Closing the Gap Annual Data Compilation Report (July 2023) reported that, nationally, in 2021, 55.7 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-64 years were employed. This is an increase from the baseline year (2016) figure of 51.0 per cent.[126] This is an improvement with the national target increasing the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed to 62 per cent by 2031 on track to be met. [127]
For parents with young children, care responsibilities and time out of the workforce can impact their ability to participate in paid work and in education and training. The ParentsNext program was introduced to support parents with young children and is a highly gendered service.
As of 30 April 2023, there were 96,764 participants in the service. The majority are women (95.7 per cent) and 76.6 per cent are single parents. Some of the key participant cohorts include First Nations parents (20.9 per cent), parents from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (18.3 per cent), parents under the age of 25 years (17.3 per cent), and parents with disability (14.9 per cent). [128]
The Government has committed to abolishing the ParentsNext service on 1 July 2024. ParentsNext will be replaced with a new, voluntary, high-quality pre-employment support service(s). As a first step, compulsory aspects of ParentsNext were paused from 5 May 2023. This removes the risk of payment suspensions and undue stress experienced by participants, the majority of whom are women and single parents who are disproportionately living in poverty.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) are designing a new voluntary replacement service that supports parents who care for young children. The new service will be for parents who receive a parenting payment and will aim to help them plan for their future education and employment goals.
The Government’s decision to abolish ParentsNext and to develop a voluntary replacement service(s) is consistent with the recommendations of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce, the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee and the interim report of the House Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services.