Taking into account the failure of the Australian Fair Pay Commission to make an adjustment in 2009, WEL has recommended that the Minimum Wage Panel grant an increase of 9 per cent in the minimum wage. Such an increase would help to restore a minimum rate that is fair and bears a reasonable relation to living standards in the wider Australian community.

WEL’s submission focuses on living standards, promoting social inclusion,  and the application of the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal or comparable value.

Women’s organisations have called upon the Federal Government to take immediate action to redress growing inequality in wages between women and men. Equal Pay Day on the 1st September women will be wearing red and Women’s Electoral Lobby will deliver red roses to politicians and employers because women workers are in the red compared to men’s earnings. A red rose is a way of reminding us all that life is about bread and roses, but fair rewards are important for both.

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