The Abbott government is looking for fresh ideas to tackle the gender gap in Australian offices, asking the University of Melbourne to devise a Workplace Gender Equality Strategy.
The strategy, to be announced by Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women Michaelia Cash on Wednesday, follows damning figures in recent weeks about the pay gap between Australian men and women.
The minister will tell the National Press Club that, despite some organisations being committed to improving gender equality, there are others "that need guidance".
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has found that while 45 per cent of employers have policies on flexible work, family and caring responsibility, only about 13 per cent actually have a strategy for implementing them.
Only 7 per cent of organisations have a gender equality strategy.
The Coalition has tasked the Centre for Workplace Leadership at the University of Melbourne to develop the new strategy for organisations to use by June.
"Improving gender diversity is a complex matter and requires innovation. It is an issue that cannot be achieved by government alone," Senator Cash said.
She added that the Centre for Workplace Leadership was in an "ideal position" to lead the work, due to its connections with business.
Data collected by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has found that the gender pay gap across all industries was 24.7 per cent based on full-time remuneration for women at the end of 2014. This leaps to as much as 45 per cent for managers, depending on the industry.
Last week, Australian Bureau of Statistics data on average weekly earnings showed an 18.8 per cent or $298.10 pay gap between men and women. This has increased 1.4 per cent since November 2013, when the gap was 17.4 per cent.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has recently found that 49 per cent of mothers and 27 per cent of fathers and partners surveyed report experiencing discrimination at work during pregnancy, parental leave or when they return to work.
Meanwhile, the Productivity Commission has estimated that as many as 165,000 parents - mostly mothers - would like to work or work more hours if they had better access to childcare.
