WEL welcomed the passage of the Sex and Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 through parliament last week. The new law will provide greater protections by:
- prohibiting discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities for both men and women in all areas of employment;
- establishing breastfeeding as a separate ground of discrimination, and allowing measures to be taken to accommodate the needs of breastfeeding mothers; and
- bringing in new protections for students from sexual harassment, including over the internet or by texting.
Disappointingly, however, one amendment, which would have strengthened protection against indirect discrimination on the basis of family responsibilities, was not passed as part of the Bill after it was rejected in the senate.
See the media release from Attorney-General Robert McClelland and Minister for the Status of Women Kate Ellis and the response from the Equality Rights Alliance.
A decision has now come down from Fair Work Australia (FWA) on the historic Australian Services Union (ASU) equal pay case. There were some significant gains in the ruling; with FWA finding that social and community service workers are underpaid and that gender has been an important, though not the sole, factor in this gap. There is, however, still a long way to go. FWA has called for more submissions to demonstrate what proportion of the pay gap in these industries is a result of gender and what the pay increase should be.
FWA’s ruling is an important gain in the fight for gender pay equity; recognising the undervaluation of workers in these highly feminised industries. FWA ‘concluded that for employees in the SACS industry there is not equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal or comparable value by comparison with workers in state and local government employment. We consider gender has been important in creating the gap between pay in the SACS industry and pay in comparable state and local government employment.‘
Significantly FWA ruled that the ASU did not need to prove discrimination in order to demonstrate the validity of the claim and that it did not need to compare social and community service workers with male workers.
FWA has rejected ‘adopting the pay rates resulting from the Queensland Equal Remuneration decision‘ as inappropriate and is awaiting further submission to determine an appropriate increase. Applicants submissions are due 10th June with the last day for other parties submissions set at 21st July.
It is important to maintain pressure on the NSW government. On 8th June WEL members will join social and community services workers, union members, community groups and more to rally for Equal Pay. Join us!
Read the FWA decision
More info from ASU
Wayne Swan handed down his fourth Budget last Tuesday and there were some decisions that are important for women.
WEL welcomed the Women’s Budget Statement that was released on Thursday – it shows the government’s ongoing commitment to the issues affecting women.
WEL would note, however, that these statements have become increasingly short on detail and we would welcome a return to previous statements that contained more detail and were more transparent.
Some of the key announcements were:
1) The Government will invest $47 million over four years to trial new measures to make sure that teenage parents finish school and support their children.
From 1 January 2012, teenage parents in trial communities receiving Parenting Payment, with a child aged six months or older, will be required to attend compulsory support and engagement interviews with Centrelink until they complete Year 12 or equivalent or until their youngest child turns six.
2) From 1 July 2012, new participation requirements and matching supports will be introduced for jobless families in the ten disadvantaged communities.
This trial in ten communities will cost $71 million and be evaluated over two years in consultation with service providers.
If parents do not engage with Centrelink when required, without a reasonable excuse, they will have their income support payment suspended until they re-engage. Participants will be back-paid for any withheld income support payments if they re-engage.
3) To help ensure welfare payments are spent in the best interests of children, the Australian Government is providing $117.5 million over five years to introduce targeted income management in five of the ten trial communities.
Whilst we welcome the Labor Government’s commitment to encouraging education and workplace participation, we are concerned about the implications of these policies for those who may fall through the cracks due to unreal expectations and insufficient infrastructure to support them. In addition there is no indication of how these new expectations might impact on families with other needs and requirements. The government needs to acknowledge the value of caring roles and design programs accordingly.
In addition to this we are deeply concerned about plans to introduce income management to further communities. So far there is not sufficient evidence to indicate that income management leads to any benefits for the communities that it is imposed on, offering little reason to restrict people’s freedoms. We recognise, however, that some people would freely choose to enter into Income management and we are keen to see it available as a choice rather than a mandatory measure.
For more information on the Budget take a look at the following sites:
Minister for the Status of Women Kate Ellis launched the Women’s Budget Statement on Thursday of last week.
The Equality Rights Alliance has developed a “Budget at a glance”.
Check our Eva Cox’s analysis from a new framework based on the fairness of the outcomes from the Budget.
Homelessness Australia identifies the winners and the losers in the Budget.
ACOSS says the Budget is taking as much as it gives.
