Sociology Essay: Gender Equity and Women's Inequality in Australia

This essay examines gender equity in Australia, arguing that gender is a significant barrier to women's progression. It highlights inequalities in the workplace, economic aspects, and societal roles, leading to occupational segregation and a gender pay gap. The essay discusses issues like do...Read More

Running head: GENDER AND EQUITY
Gender and Equity
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

1GENDER AND EQUITY
Introduction
Gender equity refers to process of the allocation of the resources and the programs in
a fair manner to the males and the females in the society. It talks about the fact that the
individuals should have access to the opportunities that can help in achieving social,
psychological along with the physical benefits. Gender inequality is pervasive in Australia
and it acts as a barrier to realisation of the rights of the girls and the women in Australia.
Unequal status of the women and the girls within Australia are underlined by the structural
and the systemic gendered inequalities within the society (Equalityrightsalliance.org.au
2020). The gender equality carries on the interaction with the systems of the power that have
resulted in disadvantage for the women in Australia.
Thesis Statement
This essay argues that gender is a barrier to the equity and it hinders the progression
of the women in Australia. The women have to face the inequality in different aspects of their
lives that leaves the women with very few choices and the opportunities. The women have
been found to be disproportionate to the men in the work life along with the economic aspects
that is responsible for the subjugation of women in Australia. The societal roles that are
played by the women are responsible for the inferior position of the women in the society of
Australia. It results in the occupational segregation of the women that have a bad impact on
the quality of life of the women.
Discussion
Australian Human Rights Commission have found out that the women in Australia
have to work 56 more days in a year so that they can earn the same pay as the women. The
financial year that ended in the year 2016 brought out the fact that the superannuation
balances of the men was almost double when compared to the women of Australia. The

2GENDER AND EQUITY
women suffers from the brunt of the discrimination in the workplace that had a detrimental
effect on the professional development of the women. It have however been found in the
recent times that the women of Australia have made the important strides towards the
equality with the men. Number of the women on the boards of Australia have grown from the
8.3 5 in the year 2009 to that of 26.2 % in the year 2017 owing to diversity policy that have
been implemented by ASX Corporate Governance Council in the year 2010
(Humanrights.gov.au 2020). Number of the women have increased in the corporate
leadership positions that have helped in increasing the financial returns of Australia.
The violence against the women is a widespread problem within Australia which has
detrimental effect on the community. The gender based violence that takes place causes the
physical, psychological or the sexual harm and it acts as a hurdle in the path of progression of
the women within the wider society. The acts of the coercion harms the women that takes a
long-term toll on the women. The intimate partner violence have been found to be greatest
risk factor that causes harm to the women who are aged 25- 44. The family violence have
been found to be the driver of the homelessness for the women that proves to be greatly
harmful for the psychological condition of women in the society of Australia
(Newidea.com.au 2020). The health and the social welfare costs for the violence against the
women have been found to be $ 21.7 million in a year that projects the immense amount of
the violence that the women have to go through in the Australian society (Wgea.gov.au
2020). The differential treatment which is meted out to the women has a bad effect on the
cognitive along with the emotional functioning of the women and it hampers the development
of women. The human rights of the women are violated in the event of perpetration of
violence as Australia have the obligation under the international law to protect the interests of
the women.

3GENDER AND EQUITY
The men on the average have been found to spend twice the time more than the
women on the employment related activities. The women on the other hand have been found
to spend twice the time on the primary activities which are related with the unpaid work. The
women have been found to spend more amount of time on the domestic activities that proves
to be inimical for the professional development of women in Australia. The women are
responsible for conducting the 76 % of the childcare and the 67 % of the domestic work and
the invisible work of the women saps the energy of the women (Theconversation.com 2020).
Annual value of the unpaid childcare have been estimated to be $ 409 billion that is
equivalent to the 25 % of the GDP of Australia. It have been found with the help of the
research that ‘typical’ Australian male is around 37 years and he spends less than the five
hours within a week on the element of the domestic work. ‘Typical’ Australian female is
around 38 years old and she spends five to the fourteen hours in a week on performing the
domestic work (Theguardian.com 2020). The Australian women have been found to do twice
to the three times of the work which is being done by the men. The duties of the sexes on the
domestic front brings out the fact that the women are donating the labour time that the worth
of $ 152 to the $ 425 within a span of a week (Western and Tomaszewski 2016). It shows the
decline in the global ranking in relation to the gender equity that obstructs the full
participation of the women in the labour force.
Australia have the gender-segregated workforce and there exists the unequal
distribution of the men and the women within certain occupations of Australia. There exists
the tendency among the men and the women of studying the different fields and they are
distributed in an unequal manner across the area of the part time and the full time work. The
carer responsibilities are entrusted on the women and it is responsible for funnelling the
women within certain industries and the sectors (Coelli and Borland 2016). The occupational
gender segregation can be said to be a significant contributor to pay gap in between the men

4GENDER AND EQUITY
and the women in the society. The women have the tendency of entering the professions
which are undervalued that have a detrimental effect on the position of the women in the
society. The gender pay gap of Australia have been found to be at the 16 % which is higher
than the OECD average of that of 15.1 % that is a reminder of the gender discrimination
which is prevalent in the society of Australia. The men take back home with them $ 25,679
more than that of the women in the society of Australia. It was found that 75 % of employers
had the gender equality strategy however it was a meagre 32.2 % who had introduced the
gender equality in the organizations of Australia (Borland and Coelli 2016). A study which
have been commissioned by the government have shown that the women of Victoria are
doing the 63.2 % of the unpaid work of the state that is about 1.7 times more than that of the
women. The systemic bias that prevails in the personal and the professional lives of the
women in Australia have paved the path for the discrimination within the Australian society
(Humanrights.gov.au 2020).
Post-feminism helps in celebrating the sexuality and it talks about the fact that the
women should have the ability of choosing that can empower them in society. The post-
feminism helps in furthering ideas of the empowerment and it talks about the liberation of the
women in the society. It helps in understanding the changed relations in between the popular
culture and the femininity within the society. The gender pay gap and the violence towards
the women points out to the fact that the mind-set of the society have to be changed so that it
can address the problems that the women have to face in the society. It can help the women in
finding the voice that can uplift their position in society. It can help in understanding the
predicament of the women in Australia that can ameliorate condition of women in Australia.
There are courses of the action which can be undertaken that can help in reducing the
discrimination taking place in the society of Australia. The gender equality can be made
explicit in the documents and the process that can help in the promotion of the women in the

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wider society. The adequate resources should be provided that can help in advancing the
cause of the gender equality and the empowerment of the women in Australia. The gender
equality can be built in the performance assessment framework that can help in aiding the
investment plans in Australia (Kennedy et al. 2017). The investments should be coherent and
aligned that can be instrumental in solving the plight of the women in the society. The
women’s organizations along with the coalitions can be supported that can help in
safeguarding the rights of the women. It can help in delivering the services to the
disadvantaged women and it can raise the community awareness pertaining to the gender
equality.
Conclusion
Violence that takes place against the women have been found to be a problem in
Australia and it has a bad effect on community. The violence inflicts harm on the physical
and the psychological condition of the women that proves to be adverse for the development
of women. The men in Australia spends twice time on the activities related to the
employment that helps in their professional development. The women spend a great deal of
the time on primary activities that can be said to be related to unpaid work. Gender equality
should be made explicit within documents that can promote position of women in society.
The girls in the present age are informed in the present age that they are equal to the boys
however they have to face the elements of the gender inequality which acts as an obstacle in
the path of the development of the women. It can hence be deduced that the prevalence of the
ideas of feminism can help in bringing about the development of women in society. It can
help in addressing the systemic oppression of the women that can help the women in
regaining the power in the society.

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References
Borland, J. and Coelli, M., 2016. Labour market inequality in Australia. Economic
Record, 92(299), pp.517-547.
Coelli, M. and Borland, J., 2016. Job polarisation and earnings inequality in
Australia. Economic Record, 92(296), pp.1-27.
Equalityrightsalliance.org.au (2020). Gender Equality in Australia. [online] Equality Rights
Alliance. Available at: https://www.equalityrightsalliance.org.au/who-we-are/gender-
equality-in-australia/ [Accessed 25 Jan. 2020].
Humanrights.gov.au (2020). The State of Gender Equality in Australia | Australian Human
Rights Commission. [online] Humanrights.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/about/news/speeches/state-gender-equality-australia
[Accessed 25 Jan. 2020].
Kennedy, T., Rae, M., Sheridan, A. and Valadkhani, A., 2017. Reducing gender wage
inequality increases economic prosperity for all: Insights from Australia. Economic Analysis
and Policy, 55, pp.14-24.
Newidea.com.au (2020). Gender Equality: The Truth About Gender Inequality in Australia.
[online] New Idea. Available at: https://www.newidea.com.au/gender-equality-the-truth-
about-gender-inequality-in-australia [Accessed 25 Jan. 2020].
Theconversation.com (2020). Australia’s performance on gender equality – are we fair
dinkum?. [online] The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/australias-
performance-on-gender-equality-are-we-fair-dinkum-113657 [Accessed 25 Jan. 2020].
Theguardian.com (2020). Australia's gender pay gap still 14%, with men earning $240 more
a week than women. [online] the Guardian. Available at:

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/15/australias-gender-pay-gap-still-14-with-
men-earning-240-more-a-week-than-women [Accessed 25 Jan. 2020].
Western, M. and Tomaszewski, W., 2016. Subjective wellbeing, objective wellbeing and
inequality in Australia. PloS one, 11(10).
Wgea.gov.au (2020). Australia's Gender Pay Gap Statistics | WGEA. [online] Wgea.gov.au.
Available at: https://www.wgea.gov.au/data/fact-sheets/australias-gender-pay-gap-statistics
[Accessed 25 Jan. 2020].