The principle of equal pay is a simple one. That regardless of gender, the same work is deserving of the same financial reward. If Anna and Adam sit next to one another in an office, doing the same job and employed for the same hours, Adam shouldn’t take home a fatter pay packet simply because he’s male.

Simplicity can be deceiving, however. The national conversation on pay equality remains fraught and controversial. It was way back in 1969 that Australia first recognised women’s right to equal pay, but as former Justice Mary Gaudron said decades later: “We got equal pay. Then we got it again. Then we got it again and we still don’t have it”. Her lesson remains acutely relevant.

By contrast, the average man picks up a handful of hours ‘babysitting’ his own kids on the weekend. His domestic cleaning load doesn’t budge and nor do his hours in the paid workforce. His life changes, yes. The arrival of children is a world-shifting joy for most new parents. But for a bloke? His ability to earn a living and provide for himself remains fairly steady. For a woman, it’s shattered.

Women’s salaries peak at just age 31, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. For men that same peak comes about close to a decade later. That’s a decade’s worth of more experience, further training or education, and strategic decision making. A decade of more time to climb the greasy pole of promotion and pay rises. The result is that women retire with just over half the superannuation savings of men.