Women's Plan initiative

Minister for women Simone McGurk attended a CPSU/CSA Women’s meeting, as part of her new ‘Women’s Plan’ initiative.

The plan was officially launched in February and aims to let women share their aspirations, the challenges they face and the changes they would like to see to remove the barriers to full social and economic participation.

At the forefront, the project aims to address the gender pay gap, safety (particularly domestic violence) and homelessness.

Minister McGurk joined dozens of CPSU/CSA members as well as branch secretary Rikki Hendon for the event saying she doesn’t believe the issues they are tackling will just naturally happen. 

“That women will just start being in equal numbers of positions of leadership. That our pay will be reflected of the important work that we do and that women’s contribution will be equally recognised and valued in our community. History shows us, that is not the case.

“We have to be very clear about understanding the extent of the problem, deciding on a course of action to address it and being accountable for that plan,” she said.

Currently the gender pay gap in WA is 23%, the highest in Australia.

“Economically as a state we are worst off for not drawing on the full talent pool of our community, by having high rates of inequality.

“The national gender pay gap is 14% and Victoria only has a pay gap of 9%. So, frankly, if they can do it, so can we.”

Minister McGurk also talked about domestic violence effects on women, but also on children.

“It creates intergenerational problems and impacts every level of our community,” she said.

The Minister told members discussions around the state had been fruitful and believes there is a role of leadership from government to the public sector.

“As the state’s biggest employer I think we can do a lot more on the stats, 72% of the workforce is women, but only 30% of leadership positions are held by women, that’s not good enough. 

“We did have a target going into the last state election where 50% of government boards and committees would be women by the end of this year… and we have achieved that, and I’m really proud of that. But there is much more to do."

For more information on the Women’s plan – click here