Australia’s national gender pay gap stands at 21.7%, with women earning on average 78 cents per every $1 earned by a man.

Over the last 20 years, the gender pay gap has ranged between 13.4% and 19%.

The pay gap starts from the time women enter the workforce.

Contributing factors include: hiring and pay discrimination, feminised industries and roles attracting lower wages, women's disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work, limited workplace flexibility to accommodate women's non-work responsibilities, and women's greater time out of the workforce impacting career progression.

The gender pay gap, combined with women’s higher likelihood of part-time work, impacts on their lifetime economic security and health.

In the SMR, we consistently see gender inequality based on employment type between women and men, with higher rates of women than men employed on a part-time basis.

Gender inequality is also present in full-time employment with more men than women gaining full-time employment.

Gender transformative practice and policy is needed to ensure equality between men and women in the workplace. To ensure that women have equal access to resources to participate fully and equally in life in the same way that men do. In addition, we need to ensure men are encouraged and valued when working part-time and undertaking child-rearing.