In the contested arena of workplace relations, there is at least one area of agreement. Women’s full economic participation in the workforce is good for employees, business and the community. Women deserve equal and fair treatment, the absence of discrimination and the elimination of inherent biases.

Yet, how could it be that more than 50 years after the landmark 1969 equal pay case (“equal pay for equal work”) and the 1972 equal pay case (“equal pay for work of equal value”), the Fair Work Commission has just found that health and care professionals in five 2020 version “modern awards” have long been the subject of “gender-based undervaluation”?