Taskforce: Australia gender bias costs economy US$80bil

Unfair practices: People at the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney. A report from the Finance Ministry says the current state of women’s economic experiences clearly demonstrates economic inequality across a lifetime. — Bloomberg

SYDNEY: Australia needs urgent legislative changes to end economic inequality between men and women, a government taskforce finds, highlighting the problem costs the economy A$128bil (US$80bil) a year.

Women who have at least one child earn A$2mil less over their lifetime than male counterparts, a report released by the taskforce in Canberra yesterday showed.