The Centre for Future Work reports that Australia’s labour market experienced unprecedented volatility during 2020 due to COVID-19 and the resulting recession. In early 2020, employment declined faster and more deeply than in any previous economic downturn, as workplaces were closed.  After May, employment rebounded strongly and the subsequent recovery replaced over 80% of the jobs lost in the initial downturn.  But women suffered disproportionate job losses when the pandemic hit, and that gender gap has not been closed during the rebound. Women’s employment, unemployment, underemployment, and participation all remain significantly weaker than for men.

They report workers in insecure jobs lost work far more severely than those in standard, permanent positions. The rebound of employment has been dominated by insecure jobs. Casual jobs account for 60% of all waged jobs created and part-time work accounts for 75% of new jobs. Women are heavily concentrated in casual and part-time roles, which were more easily eliminated by employers as the pandemic struck.

The authors recommend that, in addition to supporting the recovery in overall economic conditions (including through continued income supports), government must also improve the quality and stability of new jobs to offset the terribly unequal impacts of the pandemic. They caution that the government is proposing major legal changes that will reinforce the growing dominance of insecure work through the industrial relations omnibus bill introduced in December  which would liberalise casual work (allowing its use in any position deemed casual by the employer), and allow permanent part-time workers to be treated like casual workers (with costless adjustments in hours and schedules), accelerating the surge of insecure work.

As co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda is an optimist. She spent 2019 espousing that 2020 was going to be a landmark year for gender equality. Her book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World, argues that men usually set policy, but it’s women who drive progress.

However, the pandemic hit, and disasters always impact women disproportionately. Gender equality advocates braced for a catastrophic wave of shadow pandemics. Women and girls have borne the brunt of the pandemic, but they have also led the fight against it. Women leaders have proved their worth. Women who make up 70% percent of the world’s health workers. Essential workers—predominantly women—are keeping shelves stocked, families supplied, and children safely playing and learning.  We’ve been looking for a breakthrough that heralds a new and more inclusive kind of policymaking. 

COVID-19 has shown the failures of our social contract with new clarity, and the world is awake to this. Recent international surveys found that 90% of people want the post-pandemic world to be more sustainable and equitable, and for their economies to be more inclusive.  Maybe COVID-19 will be the breakthrough moment.

AMP’s 2020 Financial Wellness report shows 50% of Australians carry some anxiety about their finances, with women more financially stressed than men.

Ilaine Anderson in Financy looks at the 3 action areas that can help women improve their financial wellbeing and kick 2021 off to a good start. She recommends women:

• take action to improve our knowledge and understanding of key financial drivers, including superannuation, debt and cashflow management, insurance and basic investment principles, by tapping into online resources
• take the time to set goals and put a plan in place to achieve them – connecting finances with goals helps us engage with our finances, and then having a plan to achieve these goals can significantly ease stress
• as employers and leaders, provide female staff with access to online tools and information/education that can be easily accessed at a convenient time and to education programs which help women understand how they can boost their super balances.

Last month , the first interim report was released with eS4W as witness to presentation to the Senate Select Committee (Represented by Roselynne Anderson- Chair eS4W and Sharen Page- Coordinator eS4W).

Highlights in the report that referenced the submission of eS4W summarised below. BPW Australia is a member organisation of eS4W – a National Women’s Alliance.

A copy of the committee’s first interim report can be accessed here https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/COVID-19/COVID19/Interim_Report/section?id=committees%2freportsen%2f024513%2f73670

5.99

The Grattan Institute's submission found that women were economically worse off when compared to other notable demographic groups,⁸³ while economic Security4Women (eS4W) highlighted that:

Women have been disproportionately affected during COVID-19. They make up the majority of front-line workers in care, and education and are overrepresented in precarious employment, including in the informal sector, where their benefits and protection are inadequate or lacking.⁸⁴

• ⁸⁴ - economic Security4Women (eS4W), Submission 179, p. 9.

5.106

Failure to incorporate known inequities, such as those in superannuation outcomes, has promoted greater disparity. eS4W asserted in its submission that their analysis of Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and ATO data found women, who already retire with 47 per cent less super than men,⁸⁹ withdrew 4.5 per cent of their balance on average compared to 2.5 per cent for men accessing the scheme.⁹⁰

• ⁸⁹ eS4W, Submission 179, p. 6.
• ⁹⁰ eS4W, Submission 179, p. 7.

5.112

The committee strongly shares the view of eS4W that:

Moving forward we encourage the Government to apply a gender lens on all policies…

Women's economic empowerment will be essential if we are to ensure effective and sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19 in
Australia. ⁹⁵

• ⁹⁵ eS4W, Submission 179, p. 9.

This annual Women’s Health Survey researches the health experiences, needs and behaviours of Australian women. It examines gaps in women’s health information and identifies future health needs of women - as identified by women themselves. It also explores and describes women's current health experiences and behaviours. The snapshot summary reveals that a significant proportion of women in Australia are not receiving the health information and support they need. The report includes the impact of COVID-19 and the bushfires.

The survey sample was largely English-speaking university-educated women who were born in Australia, weighted for age and education to be more representative of the national population. Too few respondents identified as being from a CALD background or Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander so data must be interpreted with caution since it has been reported that CALD women have been significantly impacted by the pandemic.

Financy produces the Financy Women’s Index – a report card on women’s progress towards economic equality with men in Australia.  Financial vulnerabilities and on-going inequalities faced by many Australian women have been exposed by COVID-19 during 2020. Early in the pandemic, female job losses outnumbered male as key industries went into lockdown, home schooling was introduced and social restrictions were enforced. However as restrictions were eased, female employment growth recovered at a faster rate than male. This finding helped to lift the Financy Women’s Index by 2.2%. We know  wherever gender gaps existed before the crisis, they have persisted during it, and in many ways, women's advancement has circled back in time. The number of women engaged in part and full-time work today is similar to 12 to 18 months ago; the number of women studying post-school educational courses is where it was 2 years ago; the gender pay gap is where it stood this time last year. There is uncertainty about what the gender gap in unpaid work will look like because of COVID-19 and women’s long-term financial security, as measured through superannuation.

At the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women, Hilary Clinton declared that “women’s rights are human rights” and the Beijing Platform for Action laid a powerful and necessary foundation stone for our fight for gender equality.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently noted: “It’s no secret that, in 2020, the Beijing Declaration would have no chance of being adopted”.

In 2020, 25 years later, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins delivered the opening address to the Beijing Platform for Action at 25 conference. Her full speech is available here.  She reported that the Beijing documents remain largely aspirational; progress has been slow and some of that progress is under threat. She stressed the need to accelerate our efforts, and be increasingly strategic, if we want to finish the job. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on throughout the world, countries everywhere are thinking about how to rebuild. The evidence is clear that, if our recovery efforts focus on creating more equal and diverse societies, women, girls and societies as a whole will benefit enormously. 25 years on from Beijing, with many of the economic and social structures we took for granted a year ago now in flux, this is a golden opportunity to reaffirm the spirit of the Beijing documents, and use everything we have learned in the past 25 years to take swift, meaningful leaps forward towards gender equality.

Superstars of STEM aims to smash society’s gender assumptions about scientists and increase the public visibility of women in STEM. 

Science & Technology Australia, Australia’s peak body in science and technology, represents more than 80,000 scientists and technologists and is an influential voice for evidence and expertise in public policy.

STA started Superstars of STEM to create a critical mass of celebrity Australian women who work as scientists and technologists - role models for young women and girls – and to work towards equal representation in the media of women and men working in all fields in STEM. Over 5 years they have equipped 150 women working in STEM with advanced communication skills and provided them with genuine opportunities to use these skills – in the media, on the stage and in speaking with decision makers. See them here.

Suzy Cairney has learned a thing or two about boards.  Here she discusses the 5 key qualities that she deems important for successful board members to have.  She lists:

Leadership: confidence, communication and listening skills, persistence, emotional intelligence, vision, enthusiasm, integrity and decisiveness

Curiosity: keep learning and questioning, focus on problem-solving, continually adding value

Lean in: winning a seat at the table is not enough, build relationships with other board members, executives and staff

Understand the business: the financial, strategic, legal, governance and operational aspects of the business and the industry and customer settings

Positivity: don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of information and the legal burden, look for the silver lining - positively seeking improved processes, procedures and relationships

In this new post-COVID world, these qualities might be the difference between success and failure for aspiring Board Members. 

The National Sustainable Development Council’s comprehensive independent report on Australia’s progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals provides a data-driven assessment of Australia’s mixed progress towards meeting the SDGs.

The report is available as a summary report and as an interactive website with charts for each of the indicators.  Explore the data by SDG to see how we going on goals such as gender equality, ending poverty and decent work. 

The report shows that Australia is performing well in health and education but is failing to address cost of living pressures and economic inequality. Women continue to lose out on pay equality and housework parity and have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, being more likely to lose their jobs and experience psychological distress.

Of 56 indicators, only 12 are on track to meet the 2030 targets. COVID-19 has exacerbated trends — including higher levels of unemployment, poverty and psychological distress — that were emerging before COVID-19, and that could fracture Australian society.