If you were a woman working in Australia in the 1960s, you earned 25 percent less than a man. It wasn't just discrimination -- it was the law. A lot has changed since then. 

I rise to speak about the 1800RESPECT service because over the past few months there has been a real concern about this service. This is what happens when something is not quite right, because we have seen media coverage, we have online petitions, we have social media advocacy and the union has been speaking out and has been active.

I’d like to start by acknowledging that we meet on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people. I pay my respects to their elders, past and present. I would like to acknowledge the family of Mavis Robertson – it is a great honour to give the address which bears her name.

Today's release by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency of Australia's Gender Equality Scorecard has highlighted the persistent and enduring gap between men and women’s wages and confirms that Australia’s workforce is as gender segregated as it was twenty years ago.

Predictions about the future tend to run to the extremes. Some people think that artificial intelligence will liberate us from work, leaving us to a life of leisure, self-driving cars, and Wi-Fi-enabled kettles. Others think robots will steal our jobs, ushering in dystopian levels of unemployment. Like all things, the reality is likely to be something in between.

I wanted to start by thanking you all for the important work you do as delegates. I hardly need to say that the work you do as educators is important. But that work depends on the extra work you have all taken on to safeguard the working conditions of yourselves and your colleagues. 

The Senate Inquiry into the Economic Security of Women in Retirement has found that if action is not taken now, women currently aged 25-29 will still face a less secure retirement than men of the same age when they retire in 2055. The Inquiry’s final report has been released today and provides 19 recommendations that, if implemented, would narrow the gap between men and women’s retirement security.  

I rise to mark International Women's Day, which is celebrated this year, as it always is, on 8 March. It is important to start by acknowledging the origins of International Women's Day. 

I rise to take note of the document entitled ‘Minister for Women (Senator Cash) to a resolution of the Senate of 3 February 2016 concerning the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’.

Domestic violence is once again on the public agenda. I am glad that we are talking about it, but I am saddened that we have to talk about it. I am saddened and horrified by the tragedies that occurred late last week that wrenched our attention, once again, to a problem that is ordinarily in society's peripheral vision. It is something we are aware of but do not look at.