Fair Work action plan: becoming a leading Fair Work nation by 2025

8. Evidence, monitoring and reporting

The delivery of the Action Plan needs to be supported by a wide range of evidence to ensure that we are responding effectively to the current context and how it will change as the economy and the labour market outcomes evolve over time.

We are also keen to draw lessons from other comparable countries to guide our ambition for a leading fair work nation, and to understand what works across the different dimensions of Fair Work.

The Action Plan will therefore be supported by an evidence plan to be published late 2023 along with the accompanying measurement framework. The evidence plan will set out further work to:

• monitor the fair work context and progress we are making over time over to ensure our actions respond to change;
• draw lessons from other comparable economies on what is achievable and what has worked in different contexts such as international mechanisms to revalue women’s work;^[68]
• how we address data and wider evidence gaps in relation to a wide range of issues across the different dimensions of fair work: for example, how women’s disproportionate unpaid care responsibilities drives the gender pay gap, and key interventions that may better support disabled people, who are disproportionately likely to be economically inactive, to enter and sustain work;
• monitor and measure the impact of our current actions, including drawing lessons from actions we will deliver as part of this plan.

We will establish a Fair Work Oversight Group chaired by the Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work whose membership will consist of key stakeholders that represent the interests of equality groups, trade unions, business, academics, and will include representation from members of the precursor Gender Pay Gap Working Group, Disabled People’s Employment Short Life Working Group and Anti-Racist Employment Strategy Short-Life Working Group. This group will advise on activity to support delivery, providing a challenge function and considering progress on the actions within the plan.

As part of the governance around the plan implementation we will develop a space in the governance structure to enable a strategic focus to monitor activity across government that addresses the wider drivers of pay and employment gaps experienced by women, disabled people and people from racialised minorities. This will support the oversight of the oversight in place for the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, Best Start Bright Futures and the Bute House Agreement.

We will report to parliament and/or the Economy and Fair Work Committee on an annual basis, in line with existing commitments in the Fair Work Action Plan, on progress being made.