Marian Baird, professor of gender and employment relations at the University of Sydney, said the stronger-than-expected 3.1 per cent growth in the economy for the year to March would disproportionately work in men's favour. Women are less likely to get a pay rise and less likely to get the respect they wanted in the workplace, she said. "We've got economic growth and clearly it is not being experienced in the same way by men and women," Professor Baird said. "Women are not benefitting from it in the same way and are disproportionately unlikely to get pay rises, and when it comes to penalty rates, get a pay cut."

Marian Baird, Professor of Gender and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney, said the new data was not surprising in showing how "we have stalled completely on progressing gender equity in Australia". Professor Baird said policies do not adequately facilitate or encourage men to stay at home and ‘do’ the care work, demonstrated by the low uptake of the Dad and Partner Pay program. "The social norms in Australia do not expect men to be stay at home dads – they are the exception still and not the norm," she said.

Deloitte Australia said it introduced the new Return To Work Program in response to the under-representation of women in senior ranks. A spokesman said it was open to men and women, but aimed to help women who have taken a break transition back into the workplace.