Labor has been told the "biggest lever we can pull" to unlock the economic potential of women is improving Australia's early learning system.
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The first morning of the jobs and skills summit, centred on boosting female workplace participation, heard the economy valuing "construction over care" was a major factor in the persistent gender pay gap.
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher said Australia would increase GDP by 8.7 per cent - equating to $353 billion - by 2050 if female participation matched that of men.
"As a country, we simply can't afford to leave women's talent on the shelf," she said.
"We have a big task ahead of us. But we also have momentum and, I believe, a shared commitment for change."
Addressing a summit with a majority female guest list, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said fixing the deficient childcare system by improving access and affordability had "never been more important".
But Premier Andrews urged lawmakers not to view the challenge as a "problem" or solely a "matter of fairness".
"[It's] perhaps the biggest lever that we can pull, the biggest contribution that we can make to economic prosperity," he said.
"It's the right thing to do, but it's the smart thing to do. There's probably no greater economic opportunity for us as a nation can get this right."
Minister Gallagher said the government was already taking measures to reduce gender inequality, advocating for pay raises in female-dominated sectors and introducing paid domestic violence leave, and "furiously agrees" with the need to address
Federal Labor has also committed to providing at least some form of childcare support to households earning less than $530,000, and was under pressure from unions to expedite the scheme for January.
Premier Andrews warned a lack of access to childcare took 26,000 women out of the workforce in his state alone, urging the Commonwealth to speed up its plan.
"If this was an ore deposit we would have dug it up long ago and WA would have got all the royalties and a GST deal," he said.
Georgie Dent, executive director at the Parenthood, warned families simply could not afford accessible early child care, but was encouraged Labor had recognised the "insanity" of the current structure.
"The fact that it's the centerpiece of this government's economic reform is significant. [We need to realise] the productivity benefits and human capital benefits," she said.
Emma Fulu, executive director at the Equality Institute, said divergent gender paths formed from a young age flowed into a national gender pay gap of 14.1 per cent.
"We value male-dominated industries more and female-dominated industries. We value construction over care, and that is because we value women less in our society," she said.
The Equality Rights Alliance's Helen Dalley Fisher warned female trainees were at a disadvantage, with education for male-dominated industries heavily subsidised.
"The pandemic showed us very clearly that our economic systems are propped up by the unpaid and underpaid labour. We can't keep asking them to babysit the economy," she said.
Grattan Institute CEO Danielle Wood described Australia's occupation divide as among the most gender-segregated in the OECD.
When it came to the gap between men and women in terms of unpaid care hours completed, the country lagged behind all but Japan and South Korea, she said.
"Women are often excluded from full-time work, and from the most prestigious high paid roles, because these so-called 'greedy jobs' are incompatible with the load of unpaid care still disproportionately shouldered by women," she said.