Gender pay gap has moved around over time but it remains the case that women are earning, when you take into account total remuneration, $23,000 a year less than men on average. It is actually time for some action and I am enormously proud of the announcement that will be made today. The Labor Party is setting out a series of reforms to the Fair Work Commission that will make it easier for the Commission to make orders in relation to low paid feminised industries.

I couldn’t be prouder than I am today - to be part of the Labor team. On Sunday Bill Shorten told us that from the very first day, a Labor government would strive to deliver equal pay. And today, Tanya and Brendan have announced very significant legal and institutional changes that will do just that.

Since its creation in 2009, the National Security College has acted as nexus between academic thinking and government activity. I think that over the coming years, the National Security College will be seen as one of the more important innovations of the last government. It represents a significant intellectual investment in our policy capacity.

Thanks for inviting me to speak to you all today. I acknowledge the significant contribution of the National Council of Women, Australia in promoting issues important to the lives of Australian women, since its establishment in 1931.

Documents tabled out of session in the Senate yesterday reveal that five years after coming to office, this Government still has no real plan to close the gender pay gap. Last year, the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committee handed down its report into gender segregation in the workplace and its impact on women’s economic equality.

Today I moved at the NSW Labor annual conference that the next Labor Government take concrete and specific actions to improve women’s economic security in retirement.

The gender pay gap is a multifaceted problem. It arises from a complex mix of cultural and economic factors, which range from gender segregation in the workplace through the availability of flexible working conditions to outright discrimination.

Let’s use today to reaffirm our commitment to ending gender inequality.

Tanya Plibersek MP today launched Labor's "Setting the Agenda: A National Strategy for Gender Equality". 

Today the Australian Labor Party has committed to reinstating the Time Use Survey which measures women’s unpaid work.