Demand for women's pay data

Labour policy aims to close the wage gap and lift the number of females employed in senior roles. Photo / Thinkstock

The Labour Party wants to make employers release details about pay levels of women staff compared to men under its new policy to redress pay inequity.

Companies could also be made to report on the number of women and the level at which they are employed in a bid to increase the numbers of women in leadership positions.

The policy was released today to mark Women's Suffrage Day.

Women's Affairs spokeswoman Carol Beaumont said there was a 12 per cent pay gap in the average hourly earnings of men and women. Women also tended to be concentrated in low-paid jobs and there were far fewer in leadership positions.

She said pay levels were "opaque" and there was little way of knowing whether those who worked in the same job were on comparable wages.

Labour wanted private and public employers to provide information on the pay of their employees so it was clear whether they were paying equal rates. Ms Beaumont said it was possible the Department of Labour could act as an intermediary.

Another possibility was requiring employers and organisations to report on the number of women at different levels in their workforces.

Ms Beaumont said a recent Ministry of Education report showed that even among recent graduates with the same qualifications, men tended to get higher-paying jobs than women. Requiring a transparent "minimum start rate" in job advertisement would help to address that.

The measures also included reinstating a "goal" of 50 per cent for women on state sector boards in a bid to increase the number of women in leadership roles in the workplace.

The policy covers issues affecting women - from dental health to breastfeeding.

Under the new policy, free dental care would be provided to pregnant women. The policy cited a Californian study showing 18 per cent of premature births were due to poor oral health in the mother.

Ms Beaumont said one of the priorities was addressing violence against women. Labour would set up a Commission on Sexual and Family Violence to provide ongoing advice and try to achieve a cross-party consensus on policies dealing with abuse.

Wider Labour policies such as a $15 minimum wage and scrapping the 90-day probationary period would also help women.

She said women were disproportionately affected by the 90-day period because they were more likely to have time out of the workforce to have children.

Labour would also restore $2 million to the Training Incentive Allowance for solo parents as well as restoring $13 million to Adult and Community Education.