{"id":10437,"date":"2015-10-29T15:01:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T04:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/news-media\/?p=10437"},"modified":"2019-07-24T14:57:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T04:57:46","slug":"from-the-act-chapter-president-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.architecture.com.au\/news-media\/from-the-act-chapter-president-november\/","title":{"rendered":"From the ACT Chapter President – November"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Gender Equity – the Business Case<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gender Equity \u2013 framed in terms of cultural change, the business case and sharing the experience of the recently launched NSW Chapter\u2019s male champions of change campaign \u2018get:GOING\u2019 was ably presented by NSW Chapter President Shaun Carter to building industry and professional industry colleagues at the ACT President\u2019s Lunch on 22 October.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I’d never used it – the phrase \u2018the lucky country\u2019<\/em>,\u201d Donald Horne said to me in 1993. He was being critical, warning us of the serious danger of relying on luck. Those like me who had never read the book thought he was giving the nation a reason to celebrate.<\/p>\n

Here’s what he actually said, back in 1964:<\/p>\n

\u2018Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people’s ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise. <\/em><\/p>\n

A nation more concerned with styles of life than with achievement has managed to achieve what may be the most evenly prosperous society in the world. It has done this in a social climate largely inimical to originality and the desire for excellence (except in sport) and in which there is less and less acclamation of hard work. According to the rules Australia has not deserved its good fortune\u201d\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026 \u2019Lucky\u2019, to Horne, meant we were lucky to get away with it.\u201d \u2026<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/strong><\/sup><\/em><\/a> He meant to spark cultural change<\/p>\n

Cultural change for gender equity is urgent and obligatory. For women, Australia is not the most evenly prosperous society.<\/p>\n

The issue is to shift from \u201ca woman\u2019s issue\u201d to one that the building industry and profession as a whole acknowledges and actively participates in addressing.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Gender Pay Gap\u2019 produced by the Federal Government\u2019s Workplace Gender Equity Agency reported in September 2015 that the national full-time gender pay gap is 17.9%. This represents an average earning difference of $284.20 per week, or working an EXTRA 65 days per year for women to earn as much as men.<\/p>\n

Over a working life, the gender pay gap contributes to a significant gap in the average superannuation balance.\u00a0 The average man\u2019s balance is nearly twice the size of the average woman\u2019s.\u00a0 There is a growing crisis of women living in poverty in retirement in Australia.<\/p>\n

By industry, the pay gap is approximately 25% in \u2018professional services\u2019 and approximately 18% in the construction industry.<\/p>\n

The pay gap has increased by just over 1% since 1995.<\/p>\n

Of all women aged 25 \u2013 29 years, 42.0% had achieved a bachelor degree whereas only 30.6% of men had achieved one.\u00a0 Women are qualified and positioned to move up.<\/p>\n

In terms of participation in the Profession, architecture has the lowest representation of women in the profession across all age groups, when compared with other professions.<\/p>\n