That’s according to a new report from CoRE – Communities of Respect and Equality and Women’s Health Grampians.

The report, Gender inequality in the Grampians Region, was based on analysis of 10 years of public data and was released on Wednesday to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Women’s Health Grampians chief executive Marianne Hendron  said the report provided a local imperative to challenge gender stereotypes and progress equality in the region’s homes and workplaces.

“We can’t stand by and wait decades or even hundreds of years for women to have equal access to participation in employment in the Grampians,” she said.

Grampians Community Health chief executive Greg Little said achieving gender quality meant finding balance in personal areas as well as removing barriers in careers and leadership.

“Many of the largest gender gaps are in the areas of unpaid domestic work and unpaid child care, where entrenched gendered stereotypes about women’s roles as carers are limiting progress towards gender equality,” he said.

For example, at the current rate of change, gender equality in unpaid child care will not be reached for 168 years.” 

Based on current trends, the report projects that it could take the Grampians 60 years to close the gender gap in full time employment and 89 years to close the gender gap in unpaid domestic work.

This report found that:

The report also found that Aboriginal women in the Grampians were far less likely to have completed year 12 than the average man or woman and that 89 per cent of women with a disability were earning less than the minimum wage.