A task force set up to provide advice to the federal government on improving gender equality has recommended abolishing the childcare activity test, providing further support to single parents and introducing super on paid parental leave.
The government announced the establishment of the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce in September last year.
It was asked to provide advice to government about what should be done to "support the advancement of women's economic equality and achieve gender equality".
Its chair, Sam Mostyn, outlined on Thursday some of the recommendations from the task force's report that will be handed to the government by the end of the month.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Ms Mostyn said they were substantial and would require some time to implement.
"Most of the things that we have identified will require decades of work and we're not shy about that because delivering on enduring outcomes will require building on these outcomes year after year, in a staged, transparent and measurable way," she said.
"Of course, we understand the fiscal environment and we are all too well aware that as we started our work, the economic settings were changing rapidly.
"But we were also clear that we intended to ensure our report and recommendations would create a legacy, not a neglected, dusty report on the shelf to be cited in a decade or so about missed opportunities."
The Labor government, during its election campaign and since its election, has made it clear that it sees advancing gender equality as a national priority.
Despite measures by it and the previous government, though, recent figures released through the Status of Women Report Card found there was a 55 per cent drop in earnings for mothers in the five years following childbirth, while men's earnings remained unchanged.
And women of all ages spend nine hours a week more than men on unpaid work and care.
Change the single parent payment
Ms Mostyn said one of the primary recommendations set to be in the task force's report is to expand the single parent payment.
Under the current scheme, single parents, the majority of which are women, receive about $961 a fortnight but, once their youngest child turns eight, they are moved onto JobSeeker, which is about $176 less a fortnight.
Ms Mostyn said it did not make sense to take the payment off single mothers when their child was still young.
"We tell that community [single mothers] that you are now a drain on us, we don't trust you, we are going to punish you," she said.
Moving mothers from the single parent payment to unemployment support was finalised under then-prime minister Julia Gillard, with reports Anthony Albanese opposed the change at the time.
Ms Mostyn said the task force was formed to make bold recommendations and urged the government to overturn the 2013 decision.
"This is a piece of reform that is the smartest, most appropriate thing to do right now for this country and for those people who are just trapped in falling into poverty," she said.
Ditch childcare activity test
The task force has also called on the government to abolish the activity test that is used to determine who can access childcare support.
Currently, parents must complete several hours of paid work, study or volunteering to be eligible for childcare subsidies.
A recent report by Impact Economics and Policy found the activity test contributed to 126,000 Australian children from low-income households missing out on early childhood education.
It estimated GDP would increase by $4.5 billion a year if the test was abolished because there would be an extra 36,830 mothers with young children who would be able to work.
Sam Moystn said women were in what she called a "chicken and egg cycle".
"So you want to go back to work quite quickly after you've had your child … but you haven't got child care sorted," she said.
"You don't know quite where you're going in your career but you've got to prove the activity test and a certain number of things before you can go and get the child care sorted.
"If you can't do that, then you've got to pay for that child care before you're back in work."
Before Ms Mostyn's address Finance Minister Katy Gallagher acknowledged calls for the activity test to go but made no commitment to make any changes at this stage.
"I really welcome this kind of interest in how do we get rid of the structural barriers that exist for women and their economic participation," she said.
"I am aware of it, it's being assessed through a number of mechanisms."
Road map for changes needed
Ms Moystn would not put a timeline on when she wanted the change to be made by, but said the government had to provide a road map at the very least.
"I think all the evidence is there to actually start the pathway to see how that activity test could be removed in a way that fits with the rest of the budget," she said.
"But as I said, these are decadal changes we've got to make."
The task force has also recommended that the government introduce super on paid parental leave, pointing to figures that show women approaching retirement had about 23 per cent less superannuation than men of the same age.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has previously said the budget cannot afford the estimated $200 million it would cost each year at this stage.
The other recommendations include abolishing Parents Next, increasing the number of weeks offered under the Commonwealth paid parental leave scheme, increasing rental assistance, universal early education and a pay rise for early childcare educators.
