Labor to Spends $630 Million to Address Gender Pay Gap in Care Sector

Minister for Health Mark Butler speaks to journalists in the press gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, on Feb. 10, 2025. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

The Labor government will spend $630 million (US$438 million) of taxpayer dollars over four years on wage rises for 460,000 workers across female-dominated care sectors.

This follows a Fair Work Commission finding that roles in health, disability and community services had been historically undervalued because of “gender-based assumptions.”

Speaking at a press conference, Health Minister Mark Butler explained that the funding would help more than 128,000 charities and not-for-profits absorb the higher wage costs without cutting services.

“I think anyone with a passing familiarity with health and community services in this country knows that for decades now, these terrific services have effectively been subsidised by workers working in these sectors taking low wages.” Butler said.

“And our government has said that that’s simply not good enough.”

Butler described improving gender equity in wage outcomes for Australian women as a core commitment of the Labor government.

The federal government’s funding is designed to help organisations implement wage increases recently mandated by the Fair Work Commission.

Under these rules, health support workers will get a significant pay rise of up to 42.8 percent.

Meanwhile, home care and disability workers will receive an immediate 15 percent pay increase on Dec. 1, followed by a simplified job classification system next October that will allow for further increases of up to 34.7 percent.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said she was pleased the government was able to step up for people who “constantly step up for other Australians” and are there at their most desperate times of need.

“The reason that this work has historically been undervalued is because it’s historically been done by women. But these women have families to feed too,” she said.

“So being able to pay them decently for the complex, consequential, difficult work they do is a really important step forward to make sure that we attract and retain those workers into community services and health.”