Victorian budget: Women ‘at heart of pandemic recovery’

Victorian women will be helped back to work thanks to a dedicated $150m wage subsidy plan.

Psychologist Natalie Flatt, with son Xavier, 5, says the $10m female entrepreneurs fund is a ‘beautiful reintroduction’. Picture: Aaron Francis

Victorian women will be helped back to work thanks to a dedicated $150m wage subsidy plan, in recognition of the severe impact of COVID-19 on female-domin­ated industries.

The Victorian government has pledged to put women “at the heart” of the state’s recovery by creating 6000 new jobs.

At least one-third of the funding will go towards supporting middle-aged women, by providing incentives to businesses that hire women older than 45.

The package, part of a broader $250m subsidy to create 10,000 jobs unveiled in the 2020-21 state budget, will be complemented by initiatives to encourage women into male-dominated trades jobs and a dedicated $10m fund backing female entrepreneurs.

The focus on women, whose workforce participation has fallen sharply since March, is in stark contrast to the recent federal budget, which invested heavily in incentives­ for businesses to hire young people.

Psychologist Natalie Flatt said the fund was “fabulous” and she would apply, as her e-counselling medtech Connect Psych Services had only grown over lockdown.

“That is such great news, after all this we really do need an injection,” Dr Flatt said. “Women have really been hit hard.”

As well as being an entrepreneur and a psychologist, Dr Flatt is mother to two boys, aged 5 and 7, so she understands well the thankless grind of home-schooling that came with lockdown.

“I have parental burnout as well as compassion fatigue,” she said. “My multi-tasking skills were put to the test.”

Dr Flatt said she knew many female entrepreneurs who’d put their career on hold over the pandemic. “I know a lot of women and individuals did have start-ups and when home-schooling started they put that on pause,” she said.

“So this (fund) is a beautiful reintroduction.”

Victoria’s Minister for Women Gabrielle Williams said the governme­nt was “putting women at the heart of our recovery from coronavirus”.

“The pandemic has confirmed what we knew all along — women face an uphill battle every day in the workforce,” said Ms Williams.

“It’s time it changed, because it’s 2020 and women deserve every opportunity. Whether it’s breaking down barriers, turning a business idea into a reality or just juggling everything life throws at you, we’re making women the focus of our recovery.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 109,000 Victorian women lost jobs between the March and September quarters, compared with 70,000 men.

The decline was due in part to women dominating industries that have contracted throughout the pandemic, including arts and recreation, and accommodation and food service.

Their employment was further affected by remote­ learning, which extended into term four, and childcare centre closures as the state entered into stage-four health restrictions. Women were four times more likely than men to report looking after children full-time in that time.

Young people, particularly in the accommodation and food service industries, where 63 per cent of workers are younger than 30, also suffered a significant decline in employment opportunities, as did older workers.

The push to get women back to work is a critical component of the state’s ambitious target: creat­ing 200,000 new jobs by 2022 and 400,000 new jobs by 2025.

Treasurer Tim Pallas said there was no doubt the pandemic and subsequent economic fallout had hit women harder than men.

“It’s not only unfair — it inhibits our economic prospects,” he said. “Through our jobs plan, the Andrews Labor government will support more women back into the workforce.”

Mr Pallas said initiatives to help families “juggle work and care” would help more women return­ to work. They include the previously announced $170m investmen­t in free preschool for selected programs next year 021 and $82m to expand outside-of-school-hours care to up to 400 schools across the state.