#Engage4ChangeSA: NDA Law founder Andrea Michaels says SA needs mandatory pay equity

SOUTH Australian political parties and leaders must show national leadership by introducing a new law mandating workplace pay equity for men and women, a leading female lawyer says.

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SOUTH Australian political parties and leaders must show national leadership by introducing a law mandating workplace pay equity, a leading female lawyer says.

NDA Law founder Andrea Michaels told The Advertiser new legislation – similar to laws Iceland introduced late last year – was the best way to bring in “impactful” change.

“SA has a history of being at the forefront of women’s development – in being the first to grant women the right to vote and all women in Parliament,” she said.

“We need our leaders to embrace that history.”

The average full time wage in SA for men is $1504 per week, while for full time women it is $1357.

The discrimination starts early with female undergraduates earning less than their male counterparts in 2017 for the same job – $59,000 compared with $60,100 respectively.

“Legislation will bring tangible benefits for 50 per cent of our population and the follow-on effects would be fantastic with more people attracted to our state, Ms Michaels said.

“It would also save businesses time trying to justify being unfair.”

Her comments come as News Corp SA advocates for real change for women in our state through the #Engage4ChangeSA campaign.

Bank SA chief executive Nick Reade also urged more leadership on the issue, citing a number of SA’s “firsts (that) opened up a new level of opportunity and equality that had not previously existed”.

NDA Law founder Andrea Michaels. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“South Australia can be proud of its pioneering and leadership role in so many areas, but however great the inroads we’ve made in the past, it’s important to stop and look at where we are today,” Mr Reade said.

“We should be asking ourselves if we are still moving ahead as groundbreakers and delivering just policy and outcomes for South Australians.”

Mr Reade, also a former member of Chiefs for Gender Equity in SA, said gender equality was a high priority for the bank, with flexible work options resulting in 71 per cent of its leadership positions being held by women. BankSA has 106 leaders: 76 are women and 30 are men.

“However, there’s no one silver bullet to genuinely creating effective gender diversity in business, rather leaders need to be relentless in their management of equity.”

In 2017, 21.9 per cent of SA chief executives were women while more than 47 per cent of executives within the public sector were women. No major party or leaders has yet promised to legislate for equal pay.

However, SA Best intends to offer incentives to employers to hire female apprentices and women in areas of skills shortage and has said it will push for an independent inquiry into the extent of the pay gap.

Business SA on Tuesday said it did not favour taxpayer incentives towards gender equality in workplaces.

“Pay differences between men and women doing the same job is just simply wrong and we call on all businesses to stand up and address the issue,” said Anthony Penney, Business SA’s executive director, Industry & Government Engagement.

MyBudget founder Tammy Barton said incentivising women to contribute to superannuation would achieve long-term benefits.

With 70 per cent of her 265 employees being female, the workplace offered what she considered “standard” flexible work options and already offered pay parity.

“Most importantly though, the change needs to start at home. Women are still waging a battle on two fronts – trying to do two full-time jobs at home and work.”

SA’s Equal Opportunity Commissioner Niki Vincent said pay gaps are the result of several factors including discrimination and bias in hiring and promotions, and the lack of workplace flexibility to help parents manage careers and caring responsibilities.

“I think on a national level the superannuation system needs an overhaul. It wasn’t designed for working families, or for single women, but that is more of the reality these days.

OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole said diversity and inclusion provided a “strategic advantage that stems from applying a variety of capabilities, ideas and insights into problem solving and decision making.

“We review the earnings annually by gender and job band level to make sure that employee remuneration remains equitable and in line with market trends.”

Women comprise 20 per cent of the workforce directly employed by OZ Minerals.