To achieve this goal, the NSW Government has designed this Statement in accordance with the following principles.
As set out in Part 4 of this Statement, women face many barriers when looking to return to the workforce after having children or taking another period of extended leave.
One of the most acute barriers is the cost and lack of access to early childhood education and care.
Every day, parents across New South Wales are making hard decisions whether to return to work and pay for childcare or to avoid these costs and stay at home to care for their children.
After factoring in childcare costs, income tax and the loss of family tax benefits, some parents returning to work are taking home less than 25 cents for each dollar they earn.
The proportion of a parent’s income that is lost to work-related expenses is known as the workforce disincentive rate.
Equally, there are many women who are looking to enter or re-enter the workforce but struggle to secure essential items or skills needed to take that step, such as computers, work clothes, short training courses or even essential vehicle repairs to drive to work.
Action is needed to remove the financial disincentives and other barriers women face when looking to enter or re-enter the workforce.
The reforms in this Statement are intended to give women the genuine option to pursue a career while raising a family, without having to make unnecessary trade-offs.
Women often take more time out of the workforce than men to look after their children and provide care to others, which can have lifelong impacts on a women’s pay, promotion, leadership opportunities and retirement savings.
It also means that many men are missing out on the social and family benefits of spending more time with their children in their early years.
Children can also miss out on opportunities to bond with their fathers.
Society’s attitudes towards shared parental leave and care are evolving quickly, with many fathers increasingly looking for and valuing support provided by their workplaces to spend more time with their children in their early years.
The reforms in this Statement are intended to proactively encourage more equal caring responsibilities between men and women and promote the social and economic benefits in doing so, while recognising that ultimately these are matters of choice for families.
One of the most acute barriers to return to the workforce after having children is the cost and lack of access to early childhood education and care.
Women are currently under-represented in small business and entrepreneurship in New South Wales.
Some of the key reasons for this include lack of access to finance and formal networks compared to men.
Increasing the proportion of small businesses owned by women and supporting female entrepreneurs may not only lead to more women having rewarding and flexible jobs, but also support economic growth and social progress.
The reforms in this Statement are intended to provide women with the support needed to overcome these barriers so that more women can successfully establish and run small businesses or start-ups.
Women in New South Wales come from diverse backgrounds and make valuable contributions to their families, communities and workplaces.
However, some groups of women who are vulnerable or experiencing disadvantage face additional barriers to entering the workforce and challenges in the workplace which may limit their economic participation.
The reforms in this Statement are intended to increase economic opportunities for women who are vulnerable or experiencing disadvantage by providing tailored support to address the challenges experienced by these groups.
Diversity in the workforce has a range of benefits, and therefore it is important that appropriate support is available to ensure that all women have opportunities to participate in the workforce
Supporting women’s health is fundamental to supporting women in the workforce.
Throughout their working lives, women face several health needs that are different to those of men; in particular, needs relating to fertility and reproductive health.
Though some of these challenges act as a barrier to women in the workforce, improvements in medicine provide more opportunity to help women remain healthy and balance their work and wellbeing.
The reforms in this Statement are intended to support women with their particular health and wellbeing requirements and give women more choice when it comes to making decisions about having a family, pursuing a career or doing both.
In doing so, the Government seeks to raise awareness of these issues and remove entrenched stigmas associated with women’s health.
Women are disproportionately affected by sexual harassment in the workplace and domestic and family violence, all of which can have significant impact on their health and wellbeing as well as affect their ability to work or make positive career choices.
The reforms in this Statement are intended to ensure women are safe, and feel safe, in public spaces, and that workplaces are free from harassment for all employees.
Women who experience domestic and family violence should have access to the support services needed to look after their safety, physical and mental wellbeing, as well as to enable them to continue to participate in the workforce.
Women in New South Wales come from diverse backgrounds and make valuable contributions to their families, communities and workplaces.
The economic and societal benefits of increasing women’s prosperity flow not only to individual families and the community, but also to the State’s economy. Indeed, increasing the number of women participating in the economy and supporting families to raise children will deliver economy-wide productivity benefits for the State.
Government should embody the ideals and values of the society that it represents. Providing women with equal opportunities across our economy and society is a fundamental tenet of modern liberal democracies which must be reflected in the actions of their governments.
With this in mind, the NSW Government will ensure that it adopts best-practice policies to support women in its own workforce and promote those policies across its supply chains.
Supporting women with their particular health and wellbeing requirements and giving women more choice when it comes to making decisions about having a family is fundamental to supporting women in the workforce.
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