I am very pleased to have the honour of closing Investor Info's two day Women, Wealth and Success conference, and thanks to Bernadette Brennan for inviting me to come and speak to you today.
I am pleased to be a member of a government which is strongly committed to ensuring all Australians have the opportunity to contribute to our communities, our economy and to maximise their potential. To have the opportunity to be financially independent. To live in a safe community and to be able to pursue their goals and have meaningful choices - whether that be having a family, being an artist, being a sportsperson, having a career or all of these things.
Australia is a relatively small nation and we live in a competitive world at perhaps the most precarious time in our history. It is true to say that unless we make the most of all of our resources, especially the talent residing in more than 50% of the population, we will struggle to stay in the game.
The Commonwealth Government maintains a strong commitment to women in all their diversity. And we are working towards ensuring equitable access to services for women throughout Australia, including rural and regional areas where women have traditionally made an exceptional contribution that only in the last few years has been fully recognised.
Clearly, government services and government statistics are by no means the answer to the question "how far have we come?"
However, they are an important part of the picture and can reveal trends and identify areas where public policy initiatives can be directed in order to ensure that women can contribute as they should.
Clearly, it is important we, as a society, focus on helping women to participate and benefit equally in our communities and our economy. Let's face it there is plenty of talent and plenty of energy and it should not be wasted.
I hope, in the views of all Australians, anyone talented enough, committed enough and determined enough to pursue their full potential should have that opportunity - no matter their gender, their religion or the colour of their skin.
Our young and vibrant country can only benefit from a system and from a social and economic environment that allows all of us to make our best contribution.
In speaking with you today, I hope to bring a government and policy dimension to the issues you have been considering and discussing over the past two days, and to outline some of the context in which the question of women's progress in this country can be considered.
Women are participating in the labour market at the highest rates in Australian history.
Australia was a pioneer country in bringing about the vote for women and we were at the forefront of developing sex discrimination legislation.
Those early legislative measures were crucial to the advancement of women in our society. Women can now expect to have greater economic independence than ever before.
We now expect and get promotions, pay rises, and redress where our rights are infringed.
Since 1978 the labour force market participation rate has climbed from around 43 per cent to more than 55 per cent today. And the outlook is for this participation rate to rise.
The economic growth of recent years has created more jobs. Under this Government, since 1996, the number of women in full time and part time jobs has grown by more than half a million.
The gap between men's and women's salaries is narrowing.
Since 1983 average full-time earnings for women have consistently grown faster than those for men. Since 1996, this trend towards closing the gap has accelerated, with earnings in some industries growing more than one per cent faster than those for men. At 85% of average weekly ordinary time earnings, we are still behind but women are continuing to gain.
Women and public office
Women are still not as prolific in the public eye as heads of industry, senior public servants or in high profile management positions as we might expect.
Despite the huge leaps forward for women in law, medicine and politics, relatively few women are in real leadership positions. Fewer still have the professional recognition and public profile they deserve. We have covered important ground by getting more women into the workforce, but it has been a long time coming and we have not yet truly staked our claim.
It is pleasing to know that the representation of women in the Commonwealth Parliament is nearly double the international average.
There are 60 women in the Commonwealth Parliament which represents 26.5 per cent - an increase from 14 per cent in 1995 - while the international average is 15 per cent. In a truly bi-partisan sense, I am proud of the fine contribution our women politicians are making to national debate.
Women are also increasingly contributing to high-level decision making in Government. As at June 2002, women now occupy 33.9 per cent of positions on Commonwealth boards, up from 30.5 per cent in 1995. This is no accident, but rather represents the determined efforts of those of us doing the appointing to identify and promote able women.
In the Commonwealth public service, women are doing well, in 2002 making up over 28% of the senior executive service (or senior management) positions and with 25 women having been appointed as Heads of Australian Foreign Missions since 1996. Currently, 9 women hold Head of Mission and 2 women hold Head of Posts positions.
Private sector
In the private sector, traditionally a male oriented domain, a recent Census tells us that women hold 8.2 per cent of Board directorships in 152 companies assessed. This is still low and compares with 9.8 per cent reported in Canada and 12.4 per cent in the most recent US Census.
The Census also found that women hold only 8.4% of executive management positions in the companies considered - which compared with 15.7% of corporate officer positions in US companies considered in a similar census.
In small business, where female ingenuity and intelligence pays off, 33 per cent of Australia's small business operators are women. This is a particularly interesting statistic and appears to be a trend that, if anything, will continue to grow as women often choose options that offer them flexibility to meet the needs of family and other priorities.
Income support and other statistics
Employment opportunities are clearly vital to the ability of women to contribute to our economy and to be financially independent. However, it is important to look at other important factors that feed into economic wellbeing and financial independence.
I do not have time today to detail all the statistics that would be relevant. They may touch on education and training, violence and justice, health and fertility, migrant and refugee women, regional and rural communities, and government assistance, just to name a few.
But let me quote a few additional facts and figures of particular interest.
In 2001, women made up 57% of higher education students commencing an undergraduate qualification. And women were 51% of those commencing postgraduate studies that year. This contrasts with approximately 14% in 1906.
In addition, over the past four years there has been a significant increase in the number of women undertaking new apprenticeships. This is great news. In June 2002, there were 126,140 females in new apprenticeships - over two and a half times as many as in June 1998. This translates to 35% of new apprenticeships - up from 26% in 1998.
Interestingly, Commonwealth data also tells us there is a distinct gender pattern to income support payments.
In some income support payments, women outnumber men substantially. For example, using 2000 data, women were 93% of parenting payment (single) recipients, 91% of parenting payment (partnered) additional rate recipients, 90% of partner allowance recipients, 62% of age pension recipients and 60% of carer payment recipients. In other income support payment categories such as Austudy, disability support pension and Newstart allowance, women are clearly in the minority.
Women and wealth
As for women and wealth, it is clear that women are again still lagging. In the May 2001 Business Review Weekly list of wealthiest Australians, only 8 women are mentioned and two of those are listed with their husbands.
Not one of the top 50 Australian sports earners is a woman.
And while 50% of Australia's population own shares directly or through managed funds or DIY super, two in five men own shares directly, compared with one in three women.
In relation to retirement incomes - an important area for which I have ministerial responsibility, women are catching up.
Given that women tend to live longer and often have broken work patterns, this is important.
In the year 2000, an ABS survey found that 86.1% of women currently employed were covered by superannuation. This is a very positive figure but only 20.8% of these women made additional personal or spouse contributions to superannuation.
In addition, data suggests that men are the main purchasers of long-term financial products which, to be fair, is one reason why funds design their schemes to fit male work patterns. Two-thirds of men plan financially for their retirement. Yet only half of women in full-time employment and roughly one third in part-time or casual employment plan financially for their retirement.
These are some of the statistics that help governments - State and Federal to develop policy that is relevant and well targeted.
The Government has a role to play in helping to set the policy parameters that are so important in making sure women move forward to where they should be.
The Federal Government is committed to these policy initiatives and they are too numerous to mention here today. But I will say that in addition to the many specific initiatives, the Government is continuing to work to a three year strategic plan announced in 2001 which allocated an additional $30m to the Office of the Status of Women to promote four key policy goals:
economic self-sufficiency and security,
promoting leadership by women,
the elimination of violence in the lives of women, and
maintenance of optimal health and well-being throughout women's lives.
This includes $2.4million over four years to extend government activities that are increasing the participation of women in leadership positions and to promote leadership by women in areas such as rural and indigenous communities, and disadvantaged women.
All of this is directed to one thing and is based on one assumption: women in Australia are now participating in the economy more than ever before and need to be able to achieve personal and financial independence.
Young women have all the choices that women of other generations strived so hard to gain. The fact that many women have never experienced discrimination at school, university or in the workplace is a sign that we have indeed come a long way.
Balancing work and family
However, we must not be complacent about these gains. No matter how successful we may be economically, there is more to life than financial success.
People do not want to merely live in an economy, they want to live in a community - where there are opportunities to participate in activities that make for successful and fulfilling lives.
One of the particular challenges that women have recognised for decades but which has recently come to the top of the political agenda is the need to achieve a balance between family life and work life.
The so-called work life balance recognises that time is a scarce commodity. How it is allocated between bearing and rearing children, caring for older members of a family, maintaining personal relationships and juggling a career and workplace responsibilities requires constant trade-offs.
The work life balance is not, of course, a dilemma only for women. Men are experiencing these difficulties too.
In some respects we are fortunate in Australia to have the worry of a work life balance. There are undoubtedly many other nations in the world where people would consider this dilemma their ideal world. People who are simply trying to eke out an existence for themselves and their family or who can never expect to be accorded basic human rights. But nonetheless, the work life balance is a real and immediate issue for many Australian parents and their families.
It is commonly the case that the balancing act seems to rest largely on the shoulders of women who often assume the principal care giving role for children while trying to hold down paid employment and to make a contribution to the financial needs of the family.
With 55% of women with children under five years of age in the workforce, it is easy to understand the groundswell of opinion in favour of paid maternity leave.
But looking at the needs of new mothers - or new parents - is only the beginning of a range of potential government, community and business responses that are necessary to help meet the needs of families. Things such as accessible and affordable childcare and flexible workplaces can also contribute mightily to making life more manageable. In fact these two latter solutions can clearly have a longer term impact on families including the psychological health and development of children.
Since 1996, the Commonwealth government has overseen an enormous increase in the number of operational childcare places - going from just over 300,000 in June 1996 to a current high of around 500,000 places. With the introduction of the Family Tax Benefit and the Child Care Benefit in July 2000, the Government has made a significant contribution to the affordability and accessibility of child care. In fact, the government has committed around $8 billion to child care in the four years to 2005/06. Even so, finding suitable child care can still be an expensive pastime.
Another important initiative to help families has been the move to more flexible working arrangements. A central objective of the Workplace Relations Act is to assist employees to balance their work and family responsibilities through the development of mutually beneficial work practices with employers.
But, as I mentioned a few moments ago, there will not be only one solution because families are different and have different needs at different times in a particular life cycle. The demands on a new mother are different to those of the mother with teenagers or the woman who cares for ageing or frail parents. Policy makers recognise this and try to provide balanced and helpful assistance.
Needless to say, governments will keep working on these issues in an endeavour to help women and their families find that elusive work life balance.
Barriers to advancement
Of course, any consideration of how far we have come must acknowledge that not all women are the same. We do not all have the same preferences and we do not all make the same lifestyle choices.
Women should not be reduced to a category or stereotype.
It is a particular challenge for governments to get the policy settings right to enable all women to choose what best suits them and their individual circumstances.
For this reason, clearly the question "how far have we come" does not a have a simple answer. It will have a different answer depending upon who is asking the question. For example, it is a matter for puzzlement and concern that qualified professional and managerial women are still so under-utilised in the board rooms of our nation - that women have so little opportunity to shape the decisions, directions and governance of our major corporations.
After all, with notable exceptions, it is not as if male company directors as a class have covered themselves in glory lately!
Australia is not unique in missing out on the organisational talents of women. Catalyst, a US based organisation for the advancement of women in Fortune 500 companies showed in a recent survey that 82% of CEOs identified lack of relevant experience as the main barrier to women's advancement.
In the UK, the Higgs review of the role of non-executive directors queries the reasons why Boards are constructed by the usual suspects and from such a narrow gene pool.
Higgs found that non-executives are typically white males nearing retirement age with previous PLC director experience. He found that only 6% of non-executive posts were women and the low number of female non-executive directors is striking in comparison with other professions and with the population of managers in UK companies overall.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the Higgs report also found that a high level of informality surrounds the process of appointing non-executive directors. Almost half surveyed were recruited through personal contacts or friendships, only 4% had a formal interview, and 1% obtained their job by responding to an advertisement.
While Higgs found that evidence diverged on the extent to which there is a shortage of good people to take on non-executive roles, part of the problem was that the supply of talent that does exist is not being sufficiently drawn upon.
The review recommends rigorous, fair and open appointments processes and proposes adoption of best practice models. In addition, Higgs recommends innovative ways to identify alternative candidates from the charitable and public sectors. This cross-fertilisation of talent is likely to identify women whose broader skills may not otherwise have been noticed.
Clearly, there is much to be done.
With the Census finding that only 8.4% of Australian executive management positions are women, and knowing that executive management roles typically feed into the executive and non-executive director pool, it's unlikely we will have a stampede of women into senior leadership roles in corporate Australia in the near future.
In this context, it is worth noting that the Corporate Governance Council of the ASX is currently working on best practice guidelines for corporate governance in listed companies.
In so far as those guidelines might deal with issues of directorship and board composition, we would, of course, expect that the Council will recognise the relevance of and have regard to the findings and recommendations of the Higgs report. In so doing, it is hoped the Council will include in its guidelines proposals to encourage greater diversity of representation and transparency of selection.
In any event, I would very much encourage Australian boards and business leaders to think hard about these issues because they will ultimately impact on the success of corporate Australia.
It is imperative that Australian organisations wake up to the great contribution that women can make in senior roles and continue to ensure that women are given an equal opportunity to participate on boards and in executive manager positions.
Conclusion
Clearly we have come a long way and there is still a long way to go.
In looking at the way forward, it is important that future gains not be taken for granted. Assuming that things will automatically improve is not a recipe for success.
Women must continue to put themselves forward with confidence. We must continue to stand up and be counted as diverse, worthy and valuable contributors.
This means boldly seeking out the opportunities and being prepared to risk failure. Getting out of our comfort zone will ensure we continue to strive and succeed.
In the words of Andrea Dworkin, an American activist for women's rights "Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge. Some of us have ventured out .. and so far we have not fallen off."
Although we have come a long way, especially from the social barriers and stifling environment half a century ago depicted in the academy award nominated film Far From Heaven, which is the title I have given these remarks, we still have much to achieve.
What I think we must avoid is to allow ourselves to plateau - that having made great strides in addressing the more obvious barriers to advancement. We must not assume that the more subtle barriers to advancement will be overcome by effluxion of time.
While governments can do much to encourage and enable women's progress and advancement through well targeted policy initiatives, it will not happen without momentum from you, - women, who wish to take up the challenge.
At the end of the day, it is up to us to make our own decisions, to accept responsibility for ourselves and to forge our own paths. While we know we are far from heaven, it's important that we never forget that the sky is the limit.
Thank you