Katy Gallagher wants the public service to lift and 'keep pace' over equal pay

Political leaders, unions, business and community groups are gathering at Parliament House on Thursday and Friday in an attempt to address Australia's post-pandemic workforce challenges and drive ambitious reform.

Senator Gallagher, who is also Finance Minister and Minister for the Public Service, insists the Albanese government is not holding the event over the next two days to "waste anyone's time" and solid outcomes are expected.

She has told The Canberra Times there is a "lot more to do in childcare" and the public service has to "get back to leading the way" on equal pay.

"I think one of the problems we've had under the previous government is that because they didn't value the APS and they didn't sort of respect the role it plays as a large employer and an institution in its own self, is that it stopped leading the way on a lot of this," she said.

"So the private sector is out ahead of us on things like paid parental leave, in some areas. And I think I'd like for my role as APS and Women is to be able to shift that dial a bit and say well the APS is going to have to start, like, if not setting the standard, trying to keep pace. But also not sort of always say to business, 'Well, what are you doing about this? When we're not doing what we should be doing'.

"That's something that I imagine will come up in the summit, but also something that I think is right, I think we haven't done enough."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers will open the event ahead of an opening session on equal opportunities and pay for women, headed by Senator Gallagher and the President of Chief Executive Women, Sam Mostyn.

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Ahead of the summit, Ms Mostyn has been appointed as chair of the government's Women's Economic Equality Taskforce to help drive the development of the key election commitment of a National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality.

More than 50 per cent of attendees are women and women's potential is a "huge part" of the two days.

"I think that sends a pretty strong message about the priority that we see that economic equality and getting economic equality for women is a core economic priority," Senator Gallagher said.

"It's not something that's nice to do, or, you know, socially responsible to do but actually unlocks economic benefits both for individuals but for the economy more broadly. So that's a big part of the discussion."

Advocacy groups want the Albanese government to prioritise reducing pay gaps across sectors and want more done to boost wages in feminised industries. Independents, such as Zoe Daniel, have also been out calling for more investment in female-dominated "pink" trades like fashion and floristry.

And there have been calls for the government to go further with childcare reform. Labor's changes, including 90 per cent subsidised childcare, are due to start July 1 but there are calls to bring them forward to January 1 as a productivity measure to stimulate the economy.

"We've made a $5 billion commitment to it," Senator Gallagher said.

"I know people want us to go further. But you know, we're also looking - with my other hat on - dealing with a budget under a pretty enormous amount of stress."

"I think the other area people have raised with me in the lead up, and there isn't an easy or quick answer, is on PPL [paid parental leave]. So definitely that kind of balancing the caring responsibilities as a way of ensuring women can take up new opportunities is part of what we need to do. I would say those areas are harder to do immediately."

Nationals Leader David Littleproud, who is attending the summit, said for regional areas it is not so much about the childcare cost, it is more about the access to places.

"I've got women in my electorate that have been locked out of employment because they can't find childcare. That is the biggest constraint on us," he said.

"If you shifted the dial on childcare in regional areas you would find there will be thousands of women that will return to work because they can."

For the Minister for Women, the female dominated care economy - aged care, disability care, childcare - has to be treated better and part of that is better pay. More people should be attracted into it rather than "just carving up the people that are there".

"So there's a lot more to do in childcare," the senator said.

The early prospective agreements between unions and business groups over multi-employer bargaining in the care economy, "makes a lot of sense" to the Minister, as she said the current "system is not working".