Treasurer Jim Chalmers has rejected out of hand criticism that the government’s stance on full employment is at odds with the Reserve Bank’s non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) of roughly 4.5 per cent.

That’s despite the employment “road map” white paper steering clear of a statistical target and instead favouring a broader definition.

The NAIRU is used by the central bank and Treasury to gauge the level of unemployment that does not cause inflation to increase.

Dr Chalmers told Sky News the purpose of the white paper was to get this technical assumption as low as possible.

“We’ve seen it come down in recent years,” he said on Sunday.

“The Treasury now says about 4.25 per cent, we want to drive that down as low as possible.

‘As low as we can’

“We want to get unemployment as low as we can, we want inflation moderate – those are our objectives.”

The employment white paper, to be released on Monday, is the product of 12 months of work following last year’s jobs and skills summit.

The expansive document is expected to include nine new policies.

A National Skills Passport has already been announced.

The vision is for an Australia-wide system to connect workers looking for a new job with employers seeking people with specialised skills and training.

The federal government has committed $9.1 million towards a business case for such a program.

Gender equality and the pay gap will also be addressed in the paper.

Female-focused initiatives

Minister for Women Katy Gallagher says gender equality is a priority for the government.

“Improving women’s workforce participation is critical for Australia’s future economic prosperity and resilience,” she said in a statement.

However, the gender pay gap remains present across every industry.

Male-dominated STEM fields, specifically machinery and equipment repair, had the largest pay gap at 24 per cent, which meant women were paid $34,000 less each year.

Women in gas and oil were paid about $63,000 less per year, with a 22 per cent gap.

Even in female-dominated industries like health care and social assistance, women were paid 21 per cent less.

The government hopes to address the pay gap by creating gender balance across every industry and occupation, increasing the share of men in health care and education and encouraging women to work in construction, mining, manufacturing and other male-dominated sectors.

Incentives for women to enter the workplace include childcare subsidies and improved parental leave.

Australia has one of the lowest rates of employment for single mothers in the OECD.

-AAP