Anthony Albanese calls for businesses which underpay women to be named and shamed

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has unveiled plans to name and shame companies which underpay women if Labor wins the next election.

On average, women in Australia are paid $25,534 less than their male counterpart, according to Gender Equality Agency research.

Under Mr Albanese’s plan, companies who have more than 250 employees would be required to publicly report on their gender pay gap.

“They already provide that advice to the workplace gender equality agency, but at the moment it’s a secret,” he told Tony Jones, filling in for Neil Mitchell.

“We’ll prohibit pay secrecy clauses. At the moment, I find it quite extraordinary that for some employees, it’s actually against the law for them to tell people how much they’re paid!”

The Labor proposal also includes a gender pay audit across the Australian public service, and strengthening the Fair Work Commission’s power to order pay increases for workers in low-paid, female-dominated industries.

“It all adds up to a 13.4 per cent gap that’s there between men and women’s pay, which is $242 per week less,” Mr Albanese said.

“That’s not good enough in 2021.”

Image: Getty