The Federal Government’s new Gender Equality Strategy provides an important roadmap for addressing gender equality and some historic new initiatives, but more needs to be done to improve the lives of older women, COTA Australia – the leading advocacy organisation for older people says.
The strategy, released today by Minister for Women, Katy Gallagher on the eve of International Women’s Day outlines a ten-year path for addressing gender inequity.
Patricia Sparrow, Chief Executive Officer of COTA Australia says many of the measures included in the strategy – including the new announcement of superannuation being paid on the government’s paid parental leave scheme – will help bridge the gender retirement savings gap and address inequity at many stages of women’s lives.
However, she said there are still more actions that need to be taken if we’re to properly support older women.
“It’s fantastic to see the Federal Government taking meaningful action to address gender inequality,” Ms Sparrow said.
“Many of the measures announced by the government will make a tangible difference to the lives of women of every generation. There is, however, a need an opportunity to introduce measures that specifically address issues facing older women.
“The intersection of ageism and gender inequality is incredibly harsh.
“We don’t have gender equality in Australia and that hits women hard at every age.
“The statistics around the wage gap and retirement savings are shocking. As women climb the career ladder, the wage gap widens. We tend to outlive men and retire earlier, compounding financial insecurity.
“According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, women aged 55-64 can face up to a 31.9% gap in earnings, paving the way for retirement on shaky financial ground.
“The introduction of superannuation on government paid parental leave is a game-changer and will make a big difference to the lives of many women, as will a range of the other initiatives announced, but if we’re really going to address the inequity facing older women we also need to look further into the systemic barriers holding many older women back.”
Ms Sparrow said an immediate first step should be tasking the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce to investigate and report by the end of the year on key issues facing women including:
- the systemic barriers over a woman’s life that impact retirement incomes;
- why women retire at earlier ages and what this means for those over 50;
- more initiatives that would support women to remain in the workforce longer, close the ‘retirement age gender gap’ and improve retirement incomes.
“Older women are the fastest growing group at risk of homelessness in Australia. Any discussion around gender equality needs to include older people too.”
Media contact: Tamara Kotoyan, 0430 291 890
