Page 204 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 May 1989
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Also, today I discovered that the Department of Social Security in the ACT has been counted as part of the New South Wales figures. I presume that with self-government this will be changing, so the administrators in this particular area will be able to have sufficient information on which to base their decision making on this very important subject. It is important that this information be not only accurate but timely to ensure that those making that decision can do so adequately.
Before I close, Mr Speaker, I would like to refer to one area of inequality in women's employment of which I have some knowledge. When I met my wife she was training to be a nurse in Adelaide. It was a time when if the nurse married before she had completed her training she had to resign. Fortunately, that state of affairs has now changed. However, might I suggest that, despite the fact that some males have joined that fine profession, nurses in our society are still some way behind others in the work force by way of remuneration and conditions.
I know that the Australian Nursing Federation has fought this issue long and hard, but there is still some way to go. I trust that Minister Berry, a committed unionist, will ensure that this often neglected group of dedicated professionals are given a great degree of equality.
MR STEFANIAK (4.14): I will be fairly brief and wish to make just a few points. I agree with really most that has been said here today. I especially agree with the comments made by my colleague Mrs Nolan. A number of things still have to be done in relation to women in the Territory. I can think of one thing, which I think the Chief Minister mentioned, and that is the question of RSI. There has been a recent case before the Federal Court which makes it very difficult for an RSI sufferer, especially in the typing areas, to receive compensation under the common law. It is a matter which this Assembly will need to consider because there are quite a number of RSI sufferers in the Canberra workplace. It is a fairly recent phenomenon. The effects of RSI and what causes it have come to light only in the last couple of years. Practices, indeed, have been changed in many workplaces, but that is certainly a topic for this Assembly to consider. It is a real and very worrying problem.
A lot has been said by the Chief Minister about anti-discrimination. I was pleased to hear my colleague Mrs Nolan say the emphasis must be on merit. It is displeasing to note that over the last 20 or so years, as my leader Mr Kaine indicated, there have been significant changes in attitudes. We have seen changes which have led to Britain's first Prime Minister, to several other female Prime Ministers throughout the world, and indeed to the rather historic election of the first Chief Minister of the ACT who is, of course, a woman and a most capable one at that. Indeed, these days a capable woman will always come
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