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Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 – Submission

South Australia Wine Industry

Introduction

The Office for Women in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has invited interested organisations, groups and individuals to make a submission reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Equal Opportunity For Women In The Workplace Act 1999 (EOWW Act) and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), in delivering equal employment opportunity to women in Australia.

Overview Of The South Australian Wine Industry Association

SAWIA is the peak body representing wine grape growers and winemakers within the state of South Australia. SAWIA’s membership directly comprises approximately 96% of the state’s wine grape crush and approximately 36% of the viticulture area.

SAWIA’s members comprise a variety of differing sized companies ranging from global companies with interests in Australia and overseas, Australian based companies with assets and facilities in multi wine regions throughout Australia and smaller to medium companies domiciled in one regional area.

SAWIA’s membership constitutes employers who would have duties and obligations under the Equal Opportunity For Women In The Workplace Act 1999.

This submission is made by SAWIA on behalf of its employer members in response to the EOWA invitation to comment on the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act. SAWIA has a standing industry Employee Relations (ER) Committee that meets bi-monthly to discuss ER matters of importance to the industry. Reporting to SAWIA’s governing body, this committee has been consulted regarding the review of the EOWW Act, and has had direct input into the substance of this submission.

SAWIA and its members consider Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace an important issue and we are interested in achieving improved outcomes for all stakeholders.

Sawia Submission Regarding The Review of The Equal Opportunity For Women in The Workplace Act 1999

Whilst understanding the breadth of the review by EOWA, SAWIA has focussed its response to 8 key consultation questions from the issues paper plus any general comments, rather than respond on each topic in the issues paper, albeit important considerations.

Due to the composition of SAWIA’s members representing differing sized companies with different structures and interests, a number of different views were expressed on the EOWW Act and its application in the workplace. SAWIA has to accurately represent the industry view based on its members feedback, and therefore expresses those views in the submission.

Key Consultation Questions Addressed

The following are the 8 key consultation questions from the issues paper, plus general comments that SAWIA responds to on behalf of its members:

2.1 Are the objects of the EOWW Act appropriate and relevant to today’s workplaces?

1) SAWIA members submit that the review should consider whether a separate piece of legislation (EOWW Act) is required in today’s society to ensure that women are not discriminated against in the workplace when other legislation addresses that matter. The EOWW Act has been a contributor in addressing and supporting equality for women, addressing ways to reduce direct and indirect discrimination towards women, and promoting employment on merit. While there may still be evidence of “pay gaps” and invisible barriers for women, the legislation was introduced during a time where a culture change was required and there was a clear and definite requirement to address the mindset and attitude towards women (and other groups) in the workplace during a time when the labour market was decidedly different.

The introduction of the EOWW Act in 1999 was a good tool to focus employers, however a decade has now passed, and attitudes, issues and responses are very different nowadays. In addition to legislative changes that have occurred, the mindset and attitude of organisations towards women have also moved on with organisations embracing change and responding to the desire to tap into the richness of a diverse workforce. Greater awareness of women in the workforce, greater acceptance of reverse roles in households, embracing diverse groups in the labour market to address labour shortages, improved attitudes towards flexible working arrangements, and women following career paths have led the organisations of today responding to these changes as a matter of course, not because the EOWW Act requires them to do so.

The issue of equality for women may be more appropriately managed in other anti-discrimination legislation, as organisations tend to see other EO legislation as the prime vehicle to address the issue of equality and having multiple Acts dealing with similar issues is not ideal or practical from a red tape or as a productive business response.

2.2 Has the EOWW Act been effective in meeting its objects?  

2) SAWIA submits that whilst the EOWW Act has assisted in working towards equality for women, there seems to be a perception with some that the EOWW Act is there to ‘favour’ women rather than to meet its intended objectives.

There is difficulty in assessing and then measuring whether the Act has met its objects. It has however, raised awareness of the concept of merit appointments and fostered a positive environment to deal with discriminatory practices. There is however the potential to focus on the compliance rather making any real or tangible difference within the workplace on key issues.

2.3 Has the EOWW Act contributed to improving women’s employment opportunities? If not, why not? If so, how?  

3) SAWIA submits that the EOWW Act has contributed to improving women’s employment opportunities by increasing awareness during a time when a culture change was required and identifying the discrimination issue against women.

However, it is unclear to what extent other aspects have driven changes. Labour structural changes in the composition of the workforce, changes in society attitudes, accessing all available labour and accommodating flexibility in the workplace over the past decade have led to organisations of today improving women’s employment opportunities as a matter of course rather than because the EOWW Act requires them to do so.

3.5 Are the EOWW Act’s requirements regarding the content of reports clear and useful? If not, how could they be improved?   

4) SAWIA submits that whilst the Act’s requirements regarding the content of reports are clear, the workshops and website are also useful in understanding reporting requirements.

However, the preparation of the reports is onerous, time-consuming, costly and ineffective.  There is little value to organisations undertaking the reporting, in that it is rarely reviewed until it is due again. It is a matter of reporting by default, rather than using the means of the EOWW Act to set pro-active targets and to measure effectiveness of programs. 

3.6 Is the frequency of reporting optimal? Are the provisions for waiving reporting requirements effective? If not, what changes do you think are necessary?  

5) SAWIA submits that the reporting should be significantly changed or abolished completely.  SAWIA suggests reporting should be replaced with basic data reporting, so that there is a clear picture of the makeup of the workforce by gender, however the reporting on EEO programs is not productive. 

If reporting is still a component of the Act post the review, SAWIA suggests the compliance reporting should be every 2 years to provide more opportunity to successfully implement and review effectiveness of actions.

3.7 How resources intensive are the reporting requirements for organisations? Can you provide examples of the costs of reporting from your experience?   

6) As per the discussion above at item 3.5 4), SAWIA submits that analysis of the cost of reporting is not available.

3.8 How useful are the reporting requirements to organisations? That is, what benefits can be attributed to the reporting process for the organisation and for women workers?   

7) SAWIA submits that reporting can raise issues such as breastfeeding upon return from maternity leave, and the facilities that need to be available for women in an organisation, however the process of completing these reports is a retrospective task, rather than a forward planning task.  i.e. what have we done that would be covered by this legislation that we can report on, rather than setting goals and targets and measuring and reporting on how they went. The reporting process provides little value to organisations, except perhaps to compare data and statistics from one year to the next.  There are only cost and time implications for organisations, and little benefit is observed for women workers. 

3.11 Has your organisation undertaken any analysis of the costs and benefits of compliance with the EOWW Act? What were the key findings?  

8) SAWIA submits that there has been no cost benefit analysis of compliance with the EOWW Act.

Any other general comments?  

9) SAWIA members submit the following general comments:

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