IPAA Queensland International Women’s Day 2024 Event

Queensland Public Sector Commissioner, Mr David Mackie; Australia and New Zealand School of Government Dean and CEO, Professor Caron Beaton-Wells; Members of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people with us today.

As Governor of Queensland, I have accepted Vice-Regal patronage of many organisations since my appointment, but my long career in public health administration means the Institute of Public Administration Australia holds a special place in my heart. It is a genuine pleasure to be with you this morning to celebrate International Women’s Day.

I say ‘celebrate’ with some hesitancy because, last year, Australia was ranked only 43^rd in the world for gender equality, and the statistics for women’s health, housing and safety tell us we still have a way to go.

However, there has been important progress towards breaking down one of the most persistent barriers to women’s equality – the gender pay gap.

This made the headlines just recently when, as you will all know, the federal government, for the first time, published the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s report of gender pay gaps for almost 5,000 Australian private sector employers.

Publication of the report was a historic step towards transparency and accountability, based on the principles of public interest, integrity and trust – the same fundamental values of public service on which the Institute is founded.

The report revealed that salaries favoured men in more than 60 per cent of the companies evaluated – and that the gender pay gap in some of Australia’s largest enterprises, including banks and airlines, was as high as 40 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, however, there were heartening examples of what is being done to address the gap.

One of the most impressive was a paper manufacturer in South Australia which had only 4 per cent women employees four years ago, but has since reviewed its hiring practices, adopted change, and subsequently increased female representation in its workforce to 20 per cent. At the same time, it has reduced the gender pay gap to 11.6 per cent – a significant result in the manufacturing sector, where the average pay gap is over 18 per cent.

Fittingly, the theme for International Women’s Day this year is “Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress”. Addressing the gender pay gap is a critical step towards that goal and towards our nation reaping the benefit of greater workforce participation by women.

The work of the Institute and its members in developing and implementing public policy in this area is a vital part of the process.

I congratulate IPAA Queensland and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government on the decision to host Stewards on the Couch for a second year, and I thank Luminary for their generous sponsorship.

I regret that my constitutional duties as Governor mean that I am unable to remain with you to hear the excellent panel of speakers, but, in leaving you, it gives me great pleasure to declare Stewards on the Couch 2024 officially open.