House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Women in the Workforce Women in the Workforce Ms O'HANLON House of Assembly Dunstan Women in the Workforce Ms O'HANLON (Dunstan) (14:53): My question is to the Minister for Women. Can the minister update the house on how the Malinauskas government is supporting women's economic participation? The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD House of Assembly Reynell Minister for Child Protection Women in the Workforce The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Minister for Women) (14:53): Thank you very much to the member for her question. I acknowledge her ongoing support for the empowerment of women in our state. Investing in and empowering women benefits our economy and our community. South Australia is strongest when we enable equality of opportunity for all. By empowering women to equally and actively participate and thrive in careers in industries and roles that they choose, we harness the skills and capacity of more than half the population. Our government is progressing programs and initiatives which advance equality and increase women's involvement across a range of sectors and is focused on taking action to grow women's leadership, economic participation and financial stability. We are grateful to those in various industries across our state who are providing vital advice about the way forward. In the first five years of parenting their first child, a woman's earnings are reduced by 55 per cent. Our record $1.9 billion investment to deliver universal three-year-old preschool and broader early-years reform is crucial to increasing flexibility that enables more primary caregivers, predominantly women, to re-enter the workforce. We are helping more women to run their own businesses with continued investment in Women in Business grant programs to support, as the Minister for Small and Family Business said, over 4,000 female business owners so far to expand their skills and, through an investment of $3.2 million to expand our highly successful Small Business Strategy, to support small and family business owners to accelerate their growth and profitability. To address the gap in access to early-stage capital for women, we invested in the Fearless Innovator Grant Program, delivered in partnership with Women in Innovation, which supports female-led businesses to grow and scale with new products and services, this year providing six grants totalling $100,000. Skills Shortage Solutions grants have directly encouraged women into trades to help address skill shortages in priority areas. We also know that over 60 per cent of women experiencing violence perpetrated by a current or former partner are working. The experience of domestic, family or sexual violence, of course, has terrible impacts for women in many ways and on their economic participation. Also, the impact of domestic violence costs Australian employers $175 million annually in direct and indirect workplace costs. That's why, since 2023, we have ensured that South Australian employees employed pursuant to the state Fair Work Act have a right to 15 days paid family and domestic violence leave and why our government has passed legislation to enshrine the experience of domestic violence as a ground of discrimination in the Equal Opportunity Act. These initiatives are making a real difference. Labour force data released in August shows there are 25,000 more women in full-time employment in South Australia this year than February 2022. The female participation rate is at an historically high level, and the South Australian gender pay gap is at 8.5 per cent as of August 2025, down from 10.1 per cent, now one of the lowest percentages in our country. Can I thank those incredible industry leaders on our Gender Pay Gap Taskforce who helped provide advice on strategies to drive crucial change that grows women's economic participation.