Workplaces urged to back equality and diversity efforts
As humanitarian crises and foreign aid cuts threaten women's organisations amid a global backlash against gender equality, UN Women Australia is calling on leaders to foster inclusive and resilient workplaces.
"Global instability is leading to the de-prioritisation of humanitarian causes, including gender equality and diversity, equity and inclusion, as governments and organisations redirect resources to immediate crises," chief executive Simone Clarke told AAP.
"Economic pressures are causing cuts to equity-focused roles and programs, while rising job insecurity and political polarisation are undermining inclusive workplace cultures."
While there has been progress and efforts to close the gender pay gap and better value work in highly feminised essential sectors, there is room to do more.
The gender pay gap sits at 21.8 per cent for total remuneration, but this does not make sense given the high levels of education of women, Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion at Work director Rae Cooper said.
"We have significant care gaps where women do the great majority of unpaid care - we need to focus on ways to boost men's contribution here," she said.
"Affordable, accessible and high-quality care is a must if we want to get to a gender equal economy and society, so moving to a model of universal early childhood education is critical."
Professor Cooper will speak at a UN Women Australia panel event on leading with resilience.
She said Australia was at the top of international league tables, with a highly qualified and educated female workforce, but there was more to do.
"To build resilient, inclusive and productive workplaces, Australia must continue its trajectory to foreground gender equality and job quality across the economy," she said.
"We are still not there on strong representation of women in senior and strategic roles and gendered segregation, where jobs and whole sectors are dominated by one gender, is still a problem, so careful attention to these matters is critical."
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9 News
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'Head in the sand': How Australia needs to 'rethink' AI and work
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
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Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie described Mr Joyce's push to repeal net zero as " disgraceful, delusional, and totally out of step with the Parliament and the country." "It's a stunt and it'll be swiftly squashed in Federal Parliament." Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce insists that he's not railing against the science of climate change. As the former deputy prime minister prepares to table a private member's bill to abolish Australia's net zero by 2050 emissions reduction target, the backbencher says he is squarely focused on advocating for the powerless. In his regional NSW electorate of New England, Mr Joyce tells this masthead, people are suffering with the soaring cost of living, chiefly high electricity prices. "We represent the poorest people, power bills they cannot afford," he said. "Cost of living is beyond them ... Small businesses are saying 'I can no longer afford to run like this, it's just not viable'." Australia's net zero target was no more than "a virtue signal", he said, arguing it would not make a difference in the global scheme of things. "I'm not here to say I deny climate change. It's not about that. It's about what you're doing now is not working," he said. "I want the honest cheapest form of power - and if that's coal, okay, it's coal .. if that is nuclear, it's nuclear," he said, acknowledging a role for renewables, which he calls "intermittent power". Mr Joyce's lastest move, which included giving a joint interview to The Australian with former Nationals leader Michael McCormack - sparking renewed speculation of a leadership challenge - has created a headache for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley as she seeks to reunite a fractured Coalition. She told the ABC when asked about the coverage: "Nobody's getting under my skin." Mr Joyce rejected any suggestion his bill was intended to lay the groundwork for a leadership challenge to Nationals Leader David Littleproud. 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He said Australia needed "energy abundance" and noted state governments were "looking to extend the life of coal-fired power stations." Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said both parties had gone to the election with a commitment to net zero and that "now the Coalition, held hostage by Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack, has walked away from that commitment." "Even Peter Dutton backed net zero," Mr Bowen said. Climate Council chief executive Amanda McKenzie described Mr Joyce's push to repeal net zero as " disgraceful, delusional, and totally out of step with the Parliament and the country." "It's a stunt and it'll be swiftly squashed in Federal Parliament."
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Why BlueFloat's demise is just the beginning, not the end of offshore wind
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Our customers are changing their habits, so we must change our offerings. If you owned a doughnut shop and all your customers started demanding cream-filled rather than jam-filled doughnuts you wouldn't keep pushing jam-filled doughnuts. You would switch to cream-filled, otherwise you'd go out of business. So how exactly do we get from here to there? Well there are three main hoops that developers need to jump through to make it happen: The Australian offshore wind market has some unique conditions, for example in the Illawarra it means floating wind technology is needed which is still relatively new. Therefore it's OK to have some delays - it allows Europe and Asia to make the mistakes for us to learn from, and bring industrial costs down for us. But Australia can't afford to wait too long as our polluting exports become less and less viable, we need to pivot to green exports to secure the long-lasting careers that keep communities together. Offshore wind is not just about meeting current energy needs, it will offer export stability; giving local kids the chance to build a life in the place they grew up and earn good money without leaving the region they love. That's why strong community engagement and clear support from both the federal and state government - via an offtake auction pathway - is so important. The news that Spanish energy company BlueFloat bailed on its $10 billion Gippsland offshore wind proposal, has triggered a chorus of people (mostly anti-offshore wind proponents) heralding the end of the industry before it's even begun. Although I don't know about the particulars of BlueFloat's exact situation, which also impacted plans for the Illawarra, as an offshore wind consultant I do know a lot about the process of getting these projects up generally. That's why I can confidently say this actually is just the beginning. This is a new industry for Australia and whenever you do something new for the first time it's like making a pancake, the first one is never quite perfect. Energy-intensive industries like minerals mining and metals manufacturing will be the big winners from offshore wind. There is a reason these industries are co-located with coal-fired power stations historically, and why the offshore wind zones have been designated in these same regions - Gippsland, Illawarra, Hunter. With offshore wind, Australia is looking to capitalise on the growing global demand for green metals. For the Illawarra, that's steel made with renewable energy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's decision to host a meeting between Australian iron ore miners and Chinese steelmakers during his visit to China last week shows that our leaders are attuned to the economic potential of green metals. Why green metals? Europe, with Asia soon to follow, has introduced a "carbon border adjustment mechanism" which acts as a tax on polluting industries. What this means is the high-pollution products we currently export will become uncompetitive in the next 10 to 20 years. To replace those export losses, Australia needs to adapt and focus on producing green exports. Our customers are changing their habits, so we must change our offerings. If you owned a doughnut shop and all your customers started demanding cream-filled rather than jam-filled doughnuts you wouldn't keep pushing jam-filled doughnuts. You would switch to cream-filled, otherwise you'd go out of business. So how exactly do we get from here to there? Well there are three main hoops that developers need to jump through to make it happen: The Australian offshore wind market has some unique conditions, for example in the Illawarra it means floating wind technology is needed which is still relatively new. Therefore it's OK to have some delays - it allows Europe and Asia to make the mistakes for us to learn from, and bring industrial costs down for us. But Australia can't afford to wait too long as our polluting exports become less and less viable, we need to pivot to green exports to secure the long-lasting careers that keep communities together. Offshore wind is not just about meeting current energy needs, it will offer export stability; giving local kids the chance to build a life in the place they grew up and earn good money without leaving the region they love. That's why strong community engagement and clear support from both the federal and state government - via an offtake auction pathway - is so important. The news that Spanish energy company BlueFloat bailed on its $10 billion Gippsland offshore wind proposal, has triggered a chorus of people (mostly anti-offshore wind proponents) heralding the end of the industry before it's even begun. Although I don't know about the particulars of BlueFloat's exact situation, which also impacted plans for the Illawarra, as an offshore wind consultant I do know a lot about the process of getting these projects up generally. That's why I can confidently say this actually is just the beginning. This is a new industry for Australia and whenever you do something new for the first time it's like making a pancake, the first one is never quite perfect. Energy-intensive industries like minerals mining and metals manufacturing will be the big winners from offshore wind. There is a reason these industries are co-located with coal-fired power stations historically, and why the offshore wind zones have been designated in these same regions - Gippsland, Illawarra, Hunter. With offshore wind, Australia is looking to capitalise on the growing global demand for green metals. For the Illawarra, that's steel made with renewable energy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's decision to host a meeting between Australian iron ore miners and Chinese steelmakers during his visit to China last week shows that our leaders are attuned to the economic potential of green metals. Why green metals? Europe, with Asia soon to follow, has introduced a "carbon border adjustment mechanism" which acts as a tax on polluting industries. What this means is the high-pollution products we currently export will become uncompetitive in the next 10 to 20 years. To replace those export losses, Australia needs to adapt and focus on producing green exports. Our customers are changing their habits, so we must change our offerings. If you owned a doughnut shop and all your customers started demanding cream-filled rather than jam-filled doughnuts you wouldn't keep pushing jam-filled doughnuts. You would switch to cream-filled, otherwise you'd go out of business. So how exactly do we get from here to there? Well there are three main hoops that developers need to jump through to make it happen: The Australian offshore wind market has some unique conditions, for example in the Illawarra it means floating wind technology is needed which is still relatively new. Therefore it's OK to have some delays - it allows Europe and Asia to make the mistakes for us to learn from, and bring industrial costs down for us. But Australia can't afford to wait too long as our polluting exports become less and less viable, we need to pivot to green exports to secure the long-lasting careers that keep communities together. Offshore wind is not just about meeting current energy needs, it will offer export stability; giving local kids the chance to build a life in the place they grew up and earn good money without leaving the region they love. That's why strong community engagement and clear support from both the federal and state government - via an offtake auction pathway - is so important. The news that Spanish energy company BlueFloat bailed on its $10 billion Gippsland offshore wind proposal, has triggered a chorus of people (mostly anti-offshore wind proponents) heralding the end of the industry before it's even begun. Although I don't know about the particulars of BlueFloat's exact situation, which also impacted plans for the Illawarra, as an offshore wind consultant I do know a lot about the process of getting these projects up generally. That's why I can confidently say this actually is just the beginning. This is a new industry for Australia and whenever you do something new for the first time it's like making a pancake, the first one is never quite perfect. Energy-intensive industries like minerals mining and metals manufacturing will be the big winners from offshore wind. There is a reason these industries are co-located with coal-fired power stations historically, and why the offshore wind zones have been designated in these same regions - Gippsland, Illawarra, Hunter. With offshore wind, Australia is looking to capitalise on the growing global demand for green metals. For the Illawarra, that's steel made with renewable energy. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's decision to host a meeting between Australian iron ore miners and Chinese steelmakers during his visit to China last week shows that our leaders are attuned to the economic potential of green metals. Why green metals? Europe, with Asia soon to follow, has introduced a "carbon border adjustment mechanism" which acts as a tax on polluting industries. What this means is the high-pollution products we currently export will become uncompetitive in the next 10 to 20 years. To replace those export losses, Australia needs to adapt and focus on producing green exports. Our customers are changing their habits, so we must change our offerings. If you owned a doughnut shop and all your customers started demanding cream-filled rather than jam-filled doughnuts you wouldn't keep pushing jam-filled doughnuts. You would switch to cream-filled, otherwise you'd go out of business. So how exactly do we get from here to there? Well there are three main hoops that developers need to jump through to make it happen: The Australian offshore wind market has some unique conditions, for example in the Illawarra it means floating wind technology is needed which is still relatively new. Therefore it's OK to have some delays - it allows Europe and Asia to make the mistakes for us to learn from, and bring industrial costs down for us. But Australia can't afford to wait too long as our polluting exports become less and less viable, we need to pivot to green exports to secure the long-lasting careers that keep communities together. Offshore wind is not just about meeting current energy needs, it will offer export stability; giving local kids the chance to build a life in the place they grew up and earn good money without leaving the region they love. That's why strong community engagement and clear support from both the federal and state government - via an offtake auction pathway - is so important.
