Page 3867 - Week 12 - Thursday, 23 November 2006
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It is our collective responsibility to fight for equal pay and conditions for equal work for female workers. It is a battle that many thought had been won in the 1970s, but it is a battle that the Howard government is making harder through its WorkChoices legislation. This legislation aims to increase the use of AWAs in our community—agreements that research clearly shows lead to reduced wages and conditions for women, particularly in the area of paid maternity leave. We know that only a small proportion of AWAs in 2002 and 2003 included family carer leave, paid maternity leave or paid parental leave. Only 51 per cent of women on AWAs had access to annual leave, compared to 62 per cent for men.
A report of the New South Wales parliament’s Standing Committee on Social Issues titled Impact of the WorkChoices legislation was published today. In that document, the National Council of Women of Australia were reported as stating that the new reforms were likely to produce less favourable outcomes in wages, conditions and employment rights for women and as saying that reforms would worsen the position of women, their families and communities as well as the future prosperity of the country. This is not good enough.
In the ACT government’s recent submission to the Fair Pay Commission, we specifically highlighted conditions and wages for women. Our submission argued that minimum wage increases are particularly important for the more vulnerable members of the work force, who are more likely to receive minimum wages. We pointed out that the higher level of award dependence and lower wages for women mean that a minimum wage is critical for them. Women will be particularly vulnerable should the real value of the minimum wage decrease. We argued that the Fair Pay Commission had an obligation to apply anti-discrimination considerations when making its decision.
The ACT government is also contributing to further work to assess the impact of these draconian laws on women. My colleague the Minister for Women last night opened the first of a series of Australia-wide women and work choices round tables. These round tables will look at women’s recent experience of the WorkChoices legislation and what essential refinements and modifications are needed to protect vulnerable workers.
Seminars such as last night’s will complement the recently announced national research project entitled “The impact of changes in national work regulation on vulnerable workers”, which the ACT is a participant in. This project extends beyond minimum wages and considers a range of employment issues, such as access to leave, control of working time and security of employment.
I again put on the record that the Stanhope Labor government is opposed to an industrial relations system that eliminates a worker’s ability to maintain work-family balance. We are committed to opposing the Howard government changes and we will continue to be diligent in looking at ways in which we can help women and other vulnerable workers to receive the wages and conditions they deserve.
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