"The 17-month long inquiry received 150 submissions and held 29 public hearings around the country," he said.

"In the 37 years since the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission granted men and women the same minimum wage, very little else has changed.

"The average industry gender pay gap is still around 17 per cent and some industries like finance and insurance are as high as 31.9 per cent."

Mr Perrett said addressing the gender pay gap was the first step towards increasing women's participation in the workforce.

The report recommendations include:

• Amending the Fair Work Act 2009 and sex discrimination legislation to make equal remuneration for men and women employees for work of equal or comparable value the explicit object of the legislation;
• The federal Government elevating pay equity as a clear objective of modern awards;
• The Australian Industrial Relations Commission reporting to the Committee prior to the finalisation of the awards on how pay equity principles have been achieved;
• Amending the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to make it mandatory for employers who are repeat offenders discriminating on the basis of pregnancy or carer's responsibility to be required to attend counselling or an approved training course;
• Government leadership strategies including annual pay equity audit reporting for all government agencies;
• Minimising ‘red tape' for business;
• Establishment of a Pay Equity Unit with education, research and enforcement roles to focus approaches to address the gender pay gap; and
• Removal of the exemption from the payment of the nine per cent superanuation charge for employees who earn less than $450 per month.