Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 – Submission
Emberin
- Introduction
- Part 2 – Barriers to Women
- Part 3.1 – Overview of the EOWWA Act and EOWA
- Part 3.2 – Workplace programs, reporting and compliance
- Part 3.3 – Role and Function of EOWA
- Part 4 – Relationship of EOWW Act and EOWA to other legislation, policies and institutions
Introduction
Emberin is a gender diversity business that works with big companies and government in Australia. Through our women’s mentoring programs – my mentor: challenging women to step up and the newly released my mentor: challenging women to make it happen, we have now worked with close to 4000 women in Australia who work primarily for the ASX 200.
We have also done a piece of research in Australia in 2008 around the views of senior men and from this research created a version of our program for Telstra. With Telstra’s permission, this program has now been readapted for other organisations.
We base our responses on this work and the realities we see when dealing with the companies who are governed by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workforce Act (the Act) and the feedback we have had from both men and women who have done our programs who work for these companies. We have not responded to every question and have noted as headings the questions to which our responses relate.
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Part 2 – Barriers to Women
What are the obstacles that impede further progress towards equal employment opportunity within organisations and in Australia generally?
- One of the largest impediments we see in Australia is Australian male culture. Although the ‘digger’ culture of ‘mateship’ is something we are very proud of – unfortunately it leads to significant unconscious bias against women. We see that often this unconscious bias is well intended – for example, “I didn’t ask her to take the new role as it involved a move and I know she has a family.” We have seen that unless we get men really engaged in the subject and on an organisational level to take ownership of the initiatives – there is little point in trying to ‘fix’ women. At the end of the day, it’s the men who are the majority decision makers and who can tip the balance on this issue.
- As for women, we still see the biggest issue for them as individuals is a lack of confidence around what they believe they can do – so we need to continue to work on that. We have also seen that the perception for some women that they are not ‘qualified’ is a big internal barrier – so assisting women can qualifications can help significantly – although they may indeed have the equivalent in ‘experience’ many times over.
What regulatory role should government play to achieve equal employment opportunity for women?
- We would recommend that companies be required to also indicate what they have done to train and develop their men to move from ‘unconscious’ to ‘conscious’ to the issues. We believe that training for men should be compulsory. It is essential in order to effect cultural change. Telstra have now had around 1000 men complete their gender program for men with significant cultural change becoming evident (Telstra is the first Australian company to become a finalist in the Global Catalyst Awards as a result).
- We would also recommend that training funding be made available more readily to companies to enable them to assist female employees to attain qualifications.
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Part 3.1 – Overview of the EOWWA Act and EOWA
3.1.1 Objects of the EOWWA Act
Has the EOWA Act been effective in meeting its objectives?
Our view is that it has not been effective as the statistics for the target companies are the worst in the western world – which is truly appalling. Our view is that it has been too easy to get EOWA sign off, too easy to get the grace period – and very little ‘teeth’ or penalty for not showing the results. It’s seen as weak and just a compulsory return which has to be completed each year – which every one exaggerates in order to complete. It’s not given any priority and is usually completed by junior HR representatives.
Should the role of men as fathers and carers be acknowledged in the EOWA Act?
Yes we believe it should be. We believe that in order for gender diversity strategies to work – men need to buy in – and part of that is to let them see the personal benefits to them. That includes that they can play a bigger role as parents and also that the enormous cultural pressure they have on them around being the sole breadwinner is relieved.
A key to women’s advancement is ensuring that flexible work practices are embedded as part of the practice in organisations. Our research last year showed that men were unlikely to opt for flexible work because of perceived stigma’s and also the impact they believed it would have on their careers. If men felt more at ease with taking flexible work options themselves – then this is going to make a difference to women.
3.1.2 Coverage of the EOWA Act
Is the current coverage of the EOWWA Act appropriate? Should the current coverage be expanded or decreased?
The Act does not represent the majority of women working in Australia today and the remit should be expanded to include smaller businesses as well. 24% representation of female workers is not sufficient.
Is the self identification and disclosure of organisations appropriate? Is there another way that organisations should or could be identified?
In our experience self identification enables exaggeration and a focus which does not in fact reflect the true position. There is also a tendency to focus on tokenistic events that have not been shown to have any impact on the statistics in the organisation – but which have been undertaken as ‘show’. There needs to be an ability for statements made in the submissions to be audited and verified with penalties where clear inaccuracies occur. Perhaps random ‘audits’ like a tax audit.
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Part 3.2 – Workplace programs, reporting and compliance
3.2.1 Preparation of workplace programs
How are organisations responding to barriers to women’s employment? What programs and policies are the most effective levers for change in organisations (e.g. work processes, organisational culture, and/ or workplace relations and human resources practice)?
- Establishment of diversity council – has been effective, especially when the CEO and direct reports are involved (e.g. Telstra and Commonwealth Bank)
- Establishment of divisional targets (e.g. Telstra)
- Pay equity reviews
- Strong focus on building women’s confidence levels over a period of time – for example, my mentor: challenging women to make it happen program. Women at Telstra who have completed are more likely to have been promoted, be on equal pay scale to male peers and to have increased performance ratings.
- Understanding/ training and involving men in the process
- There is a tendency for organisations to be in denial and say that they know all about this area and what is working. We hear excuses like ‘there are not enough female candidates’. Overcoming this denial with numbers and data is important – it should be the role of EOWA to call these companies to account with the reality of the numbers
- Business leaders at all levels convinced of the reasons other than ‘fairness’ that this is important to them as individuals and to their business unit and organisation’s overall profitability – i.e. to ensure they understand the business case. Engaging men at this level is critical
Are the EOWWA Act’s requirements regarding the content of workplace programs, including the specified ‘employment matters’ useful and appropriate? If not, how could they be improved?
- No – need to be more prescriptive to avoid ‘tokenistic’ events which are held around the country being seen as complying. Many companies have very occasional lunches and breakfasts with the ‘inspirational’ female speaker – which is nice – but what results does this actually get. Most women feel ‘inspired’ in the moment but walk away without an action plan and some tangible steps they can take.
- Programs should be required to meet certain base criteria for example, not ‘one off’ – must be ‘programmatic’ approach so as to effect mind set shift; that the content must reflect the global research around the areas where women need to grow e.g. networking, increasing visibility, communicating and being heard etc.
- There needs to be clear prescription around the involvement and targeting of men for training as well.
- There should be a requirement around specific practical training pre – parental leave. This is often the tipping point for many women. Organisations are good at giving flowers and wishing women well – we need to up skill women with the strategies and plans they need to have in place.
- We have had organisations come to us and say – we are an EOWA employer of choice for women (i.e. they have fudged it) – and now what do we do? They then become concerned about reputation and what their women will think – so they have to do something. These companies don’t succeed in doing anything effective as they are doing it for the wrong reason – there is no clear business driver and it soon fizzles out.
Is the process for developing workplace programs useful and appropriate? If not, why not?
- Comments from above apply
Has the development of workplace programs contributed to improved employment opportunities for women within EOWW Act reporting organisations? If so, can you provide examples in your experience?
- Telstra as an example has run the My Mentor program for over 1500 women with great results – higher promotions, equal pay scale and higher performance ratings
- Telstra has had over a 1000 men complete the My Mentor program for men – this program is designed to move men to being conscious to the issues and take action. There has been a significant shift seen with men taking initiatives on a very practical level; for example, trialling job share arrangements, including women in traditionally all male informal forums.
3.2.2 Reporting Obligations
Are the provisions for waiving reporting requirements effective?
We have found that organisations see this as a ticket to not have to do anything for 3 years – which means that the waiver actually slows progress significantly.
3.2.3 Compliance and enforcement
Are the enforcement mechanisms currently in place sufficient to ensure that the objectives of the legislation are met? If so, how? If not, why?
The issues are twofold. Firstly, it is far too easy to comply – as we have said we have companies who comply and are noted as ‘employers of choice for women’ who really have no clue and have done very little – so its seen as procedural and easy to comply. Secondly, for non compliance - the agency has no ‘teeth’. EOWA should be able to investigate, audit and verify results reported. There should be big penalties (financial) for inaccurate reporting (it happens all the time and is common practice) and also for non compliance.
Are there alternative enforcement mechanisms that would effectively and efficiently ensure compliance? Can you provide examples? What additional benefits would they bring?
EOWA uses the awards it has every year as a carrot for compliance and good performance. There needs to be far more prestige associated with these awards. For example, the Catalyst Awards in the US – the finalists are audited and also the Awards attract major CEO’s from companies all over America – it’s very prestigious. In fact in order to win you have to guarantee that your CEO will personally be there to accept the award. Unless you are a HR person you would hardly know about the Awards in Australia.
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Part 3.3 – Role and Function of EOWA
3.3.3 Key Activities
Are the role and function of EOWA appropriate to achieving the objects of the EOWWA Act? Which functions of EOWA are most valuable and effective and why?
- No – we are not seeing results we are seeing decline, so by definition it is failing.
- Having a reporting requirement is a good idea – but there must be more rigour around accurate reporting and an ability to audit results and accuracy.
- Requiring training is good – but has EOWA ever really done an audit and review on the training provided to ensure it complies with some basic tenants? Why doesn’t EOWA licence external training providers in this space? So many people profess to offer training which will help you get your EOWA ‘ticket’ – but there is no rigour around these providers. Most of these programs cannot show data around any results – the focus is tokenistic ‘one off’ workshops and events – which are ‘nice’ but ineffective. There are no tangible outcomes and the return on investment cannot be determined and is ultimately negligible.
Is the role of EOWA in monitoring and enforcing compliance of reporting organisations under the EOWWA Act adequate and appropriate? If not, how should it be changed?
- No – more teeth required. EOWA needs to send a message that current results are unacceptable.
Is the role of EOWA in promoting understanding and acceptance, and public discussion of equal opportunity for women in the workforce adequate and appropriate? If not, how should it be changed?
- It is clear to us that EOWA’s typical stakeholders may be aware of the issues – i.e. junior HR. Senior HR doesn’t become involved. Most importantly, Australia’s key decision makers have no idea of the business case and the reason for the debate or even the existence of the agency (this was clear from our research with senior men in 2008 where the majority said they had no idea what the bottom line business case for more senior women in business was)
- EOWA is engaging at the wrong level of influence in business. The EOWA Awards should have some similarities to the Catalyst Awards and involve CEO’s. CEO’s will create competition amongst themselves and that is what we want to see.
- The Australian Government via EOWA needs to make a big statement. There
needs to be more prestige and more competition created. The Prime Minister
needs to be outspoken in his support – look at Barrack Obama and
the precedent of Norway.
- “President Obama marked International Women's Month by signing an executive order to create the first-ever White House Council on Women and Girls, a group that will be headed by one of his closest friends.
- The council, which will meet regularly, will include members of the Cabinet and of several other agencies and will be led by senior aide Valerie Jarrett. Tina Tchen, deputy assistant to the president and director of the Office of Public Liaison at the White House, will serve as the executive director.
- Obama made special mention of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who stood near him on stage at the East Room event, as an example of women breaking barriers, and he noted that he had had the privilege of participating in a "historic campaign with a historic candidate who we now have the privilege of calling Madame secretary."
- "But at the same time, when women still earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make, when one in four women still experiences domestic violence in their lifetimes, when women are more than half of our population but just 17% of our Congress," he said before signing the order. "When women are 49% of the workforce but only 3% of our fortune 500 CEOs, when these inequalities stubbornly persist in this country in this century then I think we need to ask ourselves some hard question and we need to take a hard look at where were falling short and who were leaving out and what that means for the prosperity and the vitality of our nation."
- First Lady Michelle Obama, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Sen. Barbara Boxer, WNBA star Lisa Leslie, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Attorney General Eric Holder and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were among those present for the signing.
- "The council is going to examine all the programs at the federal level that touch on women and girls and we're going to work to coordinate and make sure that each of those programs is doing everything that it could do to help support women and girls," Jarrett told NBC after the event.
- Obama spoke frequently during the campaign about issues like family leave, childcare and equal pay, arguing that they were not just women's issues but family issues. The first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.
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Part 4 – Relationship of EOWW Act and EOWA to other legislation, policies and institutions.
Should EOWA remain an independent statutory authority or should the role and functions of EOWA be combined with those of another entity that also holds responsibility related to equal employment opportunity for women? If you think the role and functions of EOWA should be combined, with which entity and why?
In the Federal Government there are a number of bodies who look at women – because there are a number, each as individual agencies have reduced force, influence and capacity to make a difference. A combined and united front will make a significant difference to the impact of all bodies and also create efficiencies to avoid the cross over’s. We would recommend that the functions of EOWA, the Federal Sex Discrimination Commission and the Federal Department for Women are combined to create a mighty force and voice for women in Australia – because what we have right now, although full of good intentions – is just not working –the facts speak for themselves.
About emberin
emberin is Australia’s leading gender diversity company, delivering gender inclusivity strategies for organisations, empowerment programs for women and gender leadership programs for men. emberin operates nationally in Australia, and also has offices in Bangalore, India, and provides advice to a number of international clients.
Emberin’s clients are some of Australia’s largest employers – Telstra, Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, Australia Post, Westpac, ANZ and federal and state government departments.
Creator of my mentor, Maureen Frank
The founder and CEO of emberin, Maureen is a former Telstra Business Woman of the Year and BRW Magazine Rising Star. Maureen is passionate about helping women in business achieve their career goals. She is an international speaker and facilitator on gender diversity, has written a bestselling book on women’s advancement and has also created my mentor – Challenging women to step up and its second edition my mentor: challenging women to make it happen - to help empower women and my mentor – Mastering gender leadership to educate men on gender inclusivity. She has also created and is about to release my mentor – Parental Leave.
Contact Details
Maureen Frank
Chief Executive Officer
P 1800 306 698
M 0410 478118
F 07 3720 9950
maureen@emberin.com
www.emberin.com
GPO BOX 2069, Brisbane Q 4001 Aust
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