Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 Consultation Report

1 Introduction

1.1 Background

The Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, has requested a review of the EOWW Act. The terms of reference for the review are to:

examine the contribution that the EOWW Act has made to increasing women's employment opportunities and advancing women's equality in the workplace;
examine the role that the EOWW Act and the EOWA have in gathering and reporting on workplace data;
consider the effectiveness of the existing legislation and arrangements in delivering equal opportunity for women;
provide advice on practical ways in which the equal opportunity for women framework could be improved to deliver better outcomes for Australian women;
consider opportunities to reduce the cost of existing regulation and/or ways to ensure that any new legislation is cost-effective and well-targeted;
consider the EOWW Act and EOWA within the framework of existing and proposed human rights and workplace-related legislation, policy and administration, with a view to maximising complementarity and reducing overlap; and
have regard to the effects of the EOWW Act, or any proposed recommendations resulting from this review, on social inclusion, the economy, the labour market, business competitiveness and the general wellbeing of the Australian community.

1.1.1 Public submissions process

The first stage of the consultation process involved the release of an Issues Paper on 1 September 2009 and an invitation for public submissions. In total, 136 submissions were received and coded from a range of governments, organisations and individuals. Where quotes from submissions have been used to illustrate findings within the Consultation Report, written consent has been provided by the submitter. Where written consent was not provided, quotes have been de-identified and attributed to the submitter's category (i.e government or industry). The source of the submissions by category, and the analytical process, is detailed in Appendix A.

[ top ]

1.1.2 Survey of reporting organisations

Through this survey, it was possible to obtain input in relation to the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act and EOWA from organisations that are required to report under the Act.

The survey was distributed on 1 October 2009 to all 2,770 reporting organisations¹. Reporting organisations were provided the option of completing the survey online or via hardcopy. The survey closed on 23 October 2009. In total, 744 reporting organisations responded to the survey. Appendix A contains further details of the approach for developing the survey and a breakdown of respondents by industry, organisational size, and compliance status².

1.1.3 Survey of employees

This short survey aimed to get a better understanding of employees' awareness of, and experiences under, the EOWW Act.

The survey was distributed on 14 October 2009 and closed on 30 October 2009. A total of 859 unique responses were received to the employee survey. The employee survey was undertaken entirely online. FaHCSIA and members of the Project Reference Group (PRG) distributed the survey through their networks and distribution lists. This survey did not aim to gain a representative sample of employees in Australia. Rather, the results are to provide an indication of the perspectives of some employees working in Australian workplaces. Further details of the process for developing and administering the survey, and the profile of survey respondents, is provided in Appendix A.

1.1.4 Individual interviews and facilitated roundtables

The project also involved face-to-face stakeholder consultations through facilitated roundtables and individual interviews. Both activities focussed on:

the barriers to achieving equal employment opportunity for women in Australian workplaces;
the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act and EOWA;
how the EOWW Act and EOWA operate within the framework of existing and proposed human rights and workplace-related legislation, policy and administration, with a view to maximising complementarity and reducing overlap;
practical ways in which the equal opportunity for women framework can be improved to deliver better outcomes for Australian women; and
how the EOWW Act and proposed recommendations may impact on social inclusion, the economy, the labour market, business competitiveness and general wellbeing of the Australian community.

Individual interviews

Nineteen interviews were conducted face-to-face and two interviews were conducted by telephone. Notes were taken at each individual interview and were sent to the interviewee for verification.

[ top ]

Facilitated roundtables

Roundtables were held in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. Each roundtable attracted representatives from industry, the higher education sector, employee and employer groups, expert academics, expert practitioners, and women's organisations. A total of 98 individuals attended the five roundtables, and there were roughly equal numbers of attendees at each roundtable. Two-hundred and thirty individuals were invited to the roundtables as follows: industry (77); academic (8); peak body (26); expert individuals (23); union (26); community organisation (60); and government (10).

1.1.5 Limitations of the project methodology

The project methodology for the consultation process was designed to collect and analyse information and perspectives from a number of data sources.

The analyses should not be read as representative of all Australians nor as a representative sample, because the sample self-selected to respond or were selected by the OfW to be involved. The analysis reflects the thinking of those who chose, or were able, to provide a response and there may be other individuals, groups or government bodies that did not respond and may have other ideas or experiences.

In relation to the public process, the terms of reference for submissions as set out in the Issues Paper were broad, which permitted a wide range of ideas, issues and solutions to be discussed. In reading data such as these, it is important to remember that the absence of a theme in a submission does not indicate that the theme is not important to the submitter, only that they did not choose to write about it. That is, if 20 percent of submissions included a statement on targets for reporting organisations, it cannot be assumed that 80 percent of submitters feel that this is not an issue.

Similarly, as submissions may refer to multiple ideas within a single theme and the analysis tool enabled multiple ideas to be coded, there are likely to be more themes than submissions with percentages adding up to more than 100 percent.

This report should not be seen as a stand alone piece of information or a single source of data to inform the review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act and EOWA. It is a useful way of bringing together the voices of those who are interested in the subject matter from a range of sectors and who provided direct input through the abovementioned consultation activities. It can illustrate the themes and issues which people are raising; it may help to uncover new ideas, issues or solutions; and it may suggest areas for further consideration. This information, in conjunction with other evidence and data, will inform the review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act and EOWA.

2,770 was the total number of reporting organisations as at 18 September 2009 that were to submit a report in 2009. This figure includes previously waived organisations. The list of reporting organisations to be surveyed was provided by EOWA.
'Compliance status' is an internal rating used by EOWA, which is not made public.

[ top ]