The path-setting win by aged care workers on equal pay has now been extended to another five awards where pay has been historically undervalued based on gender.

The Fair Work Commission has implemented improvements to workplace laws introduced by the Albanese Government in 2022 to lift minimum pay rates for a wide range of occupations.

Among those set to benefit are pharmacists on the award, who will receive a 14.1 per cent lift to their pay phased in over the next three years.

The Commission is also proposing substantial pay rises of up to 35 per cent for a wide range of occupations, including health professionals, dental assistants, and pathology collectors.

Early childhood education and care workers, too, will see their award pay rates lifted over five years, with an initial 5 per cent increase from 1 August this year.

These changes will directly increase the wages of an estimated 175,000 workers paid under those awards and indirectly assist a further 335,000 whose agreements are underpinned by those awards.

An ACTU report, ‘Minding the Gap’, reveals that stronger workplace laws were a major factor in the gender pay gap shrinking three times faster under the Albanese Government than under the previous Coalition Government.

The laws added gender equality as an objective of the Fair Work Act and empowered the Fair Work Commission to order wage increases for workers to address jobs that had been undervalued on the basis of gender.

MORE INFORMATION:

Read the ACTU report Minding the Gap – The 20 reforms that are closing the gender pay gap faster: