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

Women's Forum Australia

Dear Minister,

Women’s Forum Australia is an independent women’s think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy development about social, economic, cultural and health issues affecting women. We advocate an evidence-based approach to public policy formulation and challenge Australians to engage critically in debate about women’s issues.

Women’s Forum Australia welcomes the review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999, and we appreciate the opportunity to make comment about the corresponding consultation questions. Women’s Forum Australia acknowledges that paid work improves women’s choices and independence; is fundamental to workplace productivity and economic gain; is key to addressing disadvantage; and contributes to social inclusion.

In light of this, Women’s Forum Australia wishes to highlight that research by Perspective Research has found that many women, namely mothers, are declining full-time employment because they desire to spend more time with their children. Instead of improving the quality of childcare, many women want part-time work or flexibility of work practices. These choices need to be valued and respected while taking into consideration that increasing the workforce participation rate of women, is identified as a strategic issue for Australia’s future prosperity.1

Women’s Forum Australia commends the government’s initiative to commence public discussion about these issues. We encourage the creation and maintenance of coalitions between female employees, female employers, unions and women’s groups to achieve a woman centred approach to equal opportunity in the workplace.

Women’s Forum Australia is pleased to offer the following gender-relevant evidence in response to a number of the consultation questions. Of particular mention, we believe that greater and more innovative flexible working practices are needed to ensure women can achieve their desired balance between caring responsibilities and employment, and thus alleviate the social and economic pressures faced by today’s labour force.

Katrina George,
Chair,
Women’s Forum Australia

1.1 What Factors and Measures have Contributed to Improving Employment Opportunities and Outcomes For Women?

Higher Educational Attainment

Higher educational attainment for women is a factor contributing to improving employment opportunities and outcomes for women. Recent research has shown that Generation Y women are now more likely to possess a post-high school qualification than Generation Y men – 46 per cent compared with 42 per cent.2 The increase in women’s educational attainment is reflected in their greater presence in higher paid occupations. For example, over the past 20 years women’s employment in professional occupations has increased by over 10 percentage points.3

Flexible Working Practices

More flexible working practices such as part-time and casual work and teleworking (work performed away from the traditional physical workplace using information technology) are contributing to improved employment opportunities for women. Various surveys estimate that between 15 and 25 per cent of Australian employees (excluding owners and self-employed) telework some of the time, and that two-thirds of large Australian companies offer eligible staff the opportunity to telework.4 Telework potentially reduces stress for women as they are able to manage workforce participation and caring responsibilities better.

Removal of Some Discrimanatory Barriers

Legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the implementation and timely reviewing of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act have both contributed to the removal of some discriminatory barriers to women’s equal employment opportunity.

Increased Access to Care

It is estimated that there are more than 12,500 childcare services across Australia.5 Increased care options for women with children function to decrease a barrier to women’s participation in employment. Despite this, childcare in itself is in need of greater scrutiny, training opportunities and business investment.

1.2 What are the Obstacles that may impede further progress towards Equal Employment Opportunity within Organisations and in Australia generally?

Subtle Discrimination

Women’s Forum Australia highlights the fact that there still exists subtle discrimination against women in paid work. For full-time workers with dependents, women are spending on average more hours per week looking after children – 13 hours for women compared to 10 hours for men.6 In terms of part-time workers with dependents, women spend 23 hours on average per week taking care of children compared to 14 hours for men.7 A heavy domestic labour burden reduces the time available for paid work outside the home.8 Therefore, more emphasis on shared caring responsibilities of parents will encourage progress towards equal employment opportunities.

In addition, lack of respect for and understanding of women’s unique life-cycle is impeding equal employment opportunity. One particular study discovered that numerous employers are disapproving of the “cost, disruption and administrative burden of dealing with pregnant employees and those on maternity leave.”9 This has significant impact on small and micro business within Australia. Employers can also be critical of any advances suggested to improve flexible working practices. This subtle discrimination against pregnant women, women of childbearing age and women who have young children must be addressed. Women’s Forum Australia believes there is a fundamental need as a society to value mothering and other non-paid community activities, and to socially sanction the 'life cycle' characteristics of women's career paths.

Several recent research surveys report that women are rated higher than men on the emerging leadership qualities of coaching, teamwork and empowering employees.10 Yet, research also suggests that women are evaluated negatively when they try to apply the full range of leadership styles, particularly the more directive and autocratic approaches which might be seen as ‘unfeminine’.11 Thus, ironically, women may be well suited to contemporary leadership roles, yet they often continue to face limitations of leadership through the gender stereotypes of current leaders.12 Women’s Forum Australia believes gender stereotyping such as this impedes equal employment outcomes for women.

Wage Earnings and Wealth Equity

Women continue to feel the huge burden and stress of trying to make ends meet. In 1982, women possessed only around a third of total Australian income and by 2005-2006, this proportion had increased only slightly to around 37 per cent.13

The gender gap in lifetime earnings is wider between men and women with children. The potential earnings of partnered men with children are almost double that of the earnings of women with children.14 This would be expected as evidence has suggested that women take on the primary caring responsibility for children (forsaking earnings). When caring is not a factor in earnings, Women’s Forum Australia is alarmed by the fact that among singles, earnings of men are approximately one and a half times the earnings of women.15 Or, if men and women do not have children but have a bachelor or higher degree, men still earn 20 per cent more than women in the same category.16 This earning gap is a major obstacle impeding equal employment outcomes.

Need for Carers

One in five employees will be mothers and up to 10 million people will be caring for elderly relatives by 2010.17 For women, unpaid leave ranks as the second most frequent working arrangement to care for others, with over a fifth of employed women engaging in this arrangement, compared with only 11 per cent of men.18 The high proportion of women taking unpaid leave to provide care indicates that women, more often than men, have to sacrifice financial reward to meet the family’s caring needs.19

Childcare

In the peak childbearing years, from 25 to 44, 38 per cent of women nominated childcare as the dominant factor when weighing up a promotion. More than half of unemployed women – 58 per cent –declared childcare as a factor that would affect their decision in taking a job.20 This is in line with the Report of the House of Representatives Inquiry into Balancing Work and Family’s finding that “access to childcare is probably the single largest factor in determining female employment in the OECD.”21 Difficulty with accessing childcare is an obstacle to women’s workforce participation rates. Many women will simply not work if they cannot get care for their children. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 56,000 of women in Australia wanted to work but were not available because they were caring for children (as at September 2008).22 Of particular mention is that lack of access to childcare is more prominent in rural and remote areas, and in areas dominated by low income families.23

3.1 How are Organisations Responding to The Barriers to Women’s Employment? What Programs and Policies are The Most Effective Levels for Change in Organisations?

Flexible Work Practices

Both men and women need to be valued for their paid work and non-paid work roles through flexible work practices which should be seen as the norm, rather than the exception that are utilised only in special cases. Although formal Equal Employment Opportunity programs and written policy and guidelines are important in responding to barriers to women’s employment, informal arrangements and managerial discretion have been cited as most important for realising the balance between employment and care responsibilities. 24 Organisational culture needs to be such that top management (as the shapers of organisational culture) supports flexible working practices. However, the 2009 Australian Work and Life Index found that only one in five employees made a request for more flexible work arrangements, the majority reporting that they thought their boss would not agree or that their job was not suited to such practices.25

The most popular and effective flexible working policies include: part-time work; flexible start and finish times; time-in-lieu; job share arrangement; flexi-time; and purchased leave.26 Implementing these policies in organisations could see an increase in the participation of mature age women, women with caring commitments, women with disabilities and women from ethnic backgrounds, as these groups are more likely to seek employment with organisations adopting flexible working policies.27

Childcare Availability

WomenSpeak, a network of 37 national women’s organisations in Australia, conducted a survey on childcare, and the majority of respondents reported that they had extreme difficulty with childcare hours and access.28

To combat this barrier to women’s employment, Women’s Forum Australia recommends organisations implement on-site child minding facilities. Burgess and Henderson have concluded that this action can help attract the best talent.29 If childcare is provided by an employer it eliminates the issues of waiting lists and finding care. WomenSpeak has reported that waiting lists are very long in some locations, and women are even forced to take a childcare placement before they need it, to ensure they have a place when they wish to return to work.30

Westpac is a role model in terms of on-site child-minding, with six on-site childcare centres for its employees located around Australia.31 This support has reduced stress for female employees because they are less rushed to drop children off and less worried during the day about their children’s care.

In rural and remote areas in-house childcare facilities are more important as childcare services are undersupplied, being less profitable and less sustainable. Some centres charge higher fees due to bad debts, staff retention costs, and more children with special needs, requiring higher staffing costs.32

Child Care Costs

A barrier to women’s participation is not simply child care accessibility, but child care affordability. One in four employees surveyed by the Taskforce on Care Costs had already reduced their hours of work because of the cost of care, and 42.5 per cent of employees with under school aged children surveyed would increase their hours of work if care was more affordable.33 Strategies to reduce the cost of care will have a direct impact on employment outcomes as there exists a strong causal relationship between the financial cost of care and employment choices.

Doiron and Kalb conducted the first study using Australian data on the labour supply behaviour of households in relation to child care, and found that “assistance with the cost of child care is very important in providing choice for women to participate in the workforce, particularly if they have non school aged children and are on a low wage.”34

To remove this barrier to women’s participation, Australian organisations could offer subsidised on-site minding facilities or simply subsidise the cost of an employee’s preferred child caring option.

Training and Development

Training and development opportunities are vital for women who may lose out on these opportunities due to time off (because of pregnancy or caring responsibilities). This is particularly necessary for women re-entering the workforce, as it can be very challenging and daunting, especially with the pace of technological change. The 2009 Australian Work and Life Index found that women face greater work-life barriers than men in achieving higher education qualifications which are essential in addressing the gender pay gap. The study suggests that “[s]hifting to part-time work is not likely to be sufficient, especially for women: nearly 70 per cent of part-time women not in education or training say they don’t have time to study. Options such as paid study leave or integrating education and training into paid work time would help.”35 Reports from pregnant women suggest that the top difficulty faced by them is missing out on training or development opportunities.36 This has immediate effects on women’s confidence in the workforce, but also has longer-term effects for a woman’s career path and earning potentials.

Training and development opportunities offered after pregnancy are also vital in countering subtle discriminations and negative stereotypes against pregnant women that exist in organisational culture. At present, many women fear that pregnancy and motherhood are not compatible with work or study.37

Paid Parental Leave

The issues paper for the Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 states that women are more likely to be clerical, sales and community and personal service workers. Only eight per cent of elementary clerical, sales and service workers having babies took paid maternity leave, compared with 56 per cent of professional women.38 Among those women that did not take paid maternity leave the main reason was because paid maternity leave was not available or not offered by their employer. This means that a majority of women are not being adequately catered for in terms of paid parental leave.

In light of this, Women’s Forum Australia acknowledges and celebrates the Australian government’s 18 week paid parental leave scheme to alleviate this problem. Despite this, Women’s Forum Australia believes improvements can be made to this scheme. Internationally, Sweden is considered to be “one of the countries with the greatest gender equality … the percentage of gainfully employed women is 79 per cent and the birth rate is among the highest in Europe.”39 Sweden’s paid parental scheme includes parental leave allowance for 480 days – this allowance is taxed and pensionable.40 These measures have been an effective level for change in women’s employment rate in Sweden. Women’s Forum Australia proposes continued research into the issue of paid parental leave in Australia.

Additionally, there will be women who desire to parent full time beyond the leave allowable in such a scheme, perhaps intending to return to the paid workforce at a later date. There needs to be greater consideration about how the choice of these women can be supported.

Concluding Remarks

There is no doubting the value of the contribution that women make to the Australian workforce. For women’s contribution to be enhanced within an equal opportunity framework, Women’s Forum Australia believes that not only do structural barriers such inadequate care facilities need to be removed to ensure women’s participation and equality in employment, but employers need to be innovative to ensure that they offer satisfaction within employment. There is solid evidence that highlights that women seek satisfaction with and through employment, rather than just seeking to work a number of actual hours.41

Women’s Forum Australia believes that satisfying and gainful employment is one ingredient of a healthy work/life balance. A recent study reports that 52 per cent of employed women stated that they always felt rushed or pressed for time compared with 39 per cent of employed men.42 The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ research shows that the struggle to balance work and family is the main reason people feel rushed or pressed for time.43 While the nature of work/life balance is a complex issue itself and outside the scope of this review, Women’s Forum Australia believes that satisfactorily resolving the barriers to equitable participation in the paid workforce is an important step forward in achieving this balance.

Women’s Forum Australia thanks the Minister for the opportunity to contribute to the review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999.

  1. Council of Australian Governments “COAG” National Reform Agenda: Human Capital. Indicative outcomes and associated progress measures across the lifespan, Attachment D (Meeting 14 July 2006) www.coag.gov.au
  2. Cassells et al (2009) ‘She works hard for the money: Australian women and the gender divide’, AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report, Issue 22, pg. 8
  3. Ibid, pg. 3
  4. Australian Telework Advisory Committee March (2005) Telework – International Developments (Paper III), Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia; Australian Telework Advisory Committee (March 2005) Telework in Australia (Paper II), Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
  5. Australian Childcare Index (2009) online: http://www.echildcare.com.au/about/
  6. Cassels et al (2009)
  7. Ibid, pg.13
  8. Baxter J (1993) Work at Home: The Domestic Division of Labour, University of Queensland Press: Australia
  9. Bradford (2005) ‘Keeping mum: pregnant employees and employment rights’ Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 13, Issue 4, pg. 41-46
  10. Sharpe R (2000) ‘As Leaders, Women Rule’, Business Week, 20 November, Vol. 74
  11. Eagly, AH, Karau, SJ & Makhijani, MG (1995) ‘Gender and the Effectiveness of Leaders: A Meta-Analysis’, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 117, pg.125-45
  12. Oakley JG (2000) ‘Gender-Based Barriers to Senior Management Positions: Understanding the Scarcity of Female CEOs’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 27.
  13. Cassells et al (2009), pg. 24
  14. Ibid, pg. 34
  15. Ibid
  16. Ibid
  17. Harrington S (2008) ‘Make it easier to keep the day job’, Human Resources, May 4.
  18. Cassels et al (2009), pg. 14
  19. Ibid
  20. Richardson, D (2009) ‘The impact of the recession on women’, The Australia Institute
  21. Commonwealth of Australia (2006) ‘Balancing Work and Family’; Report on the Inquiry into Balancing Work and Family, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Human Services, CanPrint Communications: Canberra, pg. 140
  22. Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue 6220.0 ‘Persons not in the Labour Force’ September 2008 Table 9.
  23. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (April 2006) ‘Trends in Affordability of Childcare Services 1991-2004’ Bulletin 35, Australian Government: Australia.
  24. Burgess J & Henderson L (2007) ‘Work and family balance through equal employment opportunity programmes and agreement making in Australia’, Employee Relations, Vol. 29, Issue 4, pg. 415.
  25. Pocock B, Skinner, N and Ichii, R, Work, Life and Workplace Flexibility: The Australian Work and Life Index 2009, Centre for Work + Life University of South Australia, July 2009, Executive Summary, 4; see also: http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,,25880204-5012426,00.html
  26. Bourke J (2008) ‘Australasian diversity & equality survey: 2008 status report on diversity and flexibility’ Equal Employment Opportunity Network of Australasia, pg. 29
  27. Harrington (2008)
  28. WomenSpeak (2006) ‘Key Issues Consultation Report Stage 2: Child Care’ Submitted to Office for Women 4 December 2006.
  29. Burgess & Henderson (2007), pg. 415
  30. Ibid
  31. McLean, S (2 April 2005) ‘Happy Employees a Work in Progress’, Courier- Mail: Brisbane
  32. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (April 2006) ‘Trends in Affordability of Childcare Services 1991-2004’ Bulletin 35, Australian Government
  33. Taskforce on Care Costs ‘Creating Choice: Employment and the Cost of Caring’, Policy Research Paper, 24 February 2005 www.tocc.org.au.
  34. Doiron D & Kalb G (September 2005) ‘Effects of childcare demands and policies on household labour supply in Australia’, Social Policy Research Paper no. 25 Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
  35. Pocock B, Skinner, N and Ichii, R, Work, Life and Workplace Flexibility: The Australian Work and Life Index 2009, Centre for Work + Life University of South Australia, July 2009, Executive Summary, 6.
  36. Cassells (2008), pg. 18
  37. Allanson S & Astbury J (1995) ‘The abortion decision: reasons and ambivalence.’ Pyschosom Obstet Gynecol, Vol. 16, pg. 123-136
  38. Ibid, pg. 19
  39. Swedish Institute (2009) ‘Society and Welfare in Sweden’, [online: http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work-live/Society-welfare/, accessed 30/06/09]
  40. Ibid.
  41. Bryson et al (2007) ‘Managing the work-life roller-coaster: Private stress or public health issue?’ Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 65, Issue 6, pg. 1142.
  42. Cassells (2008), pg. 16
  43. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008) Employment Arrangement, Retirement and Superannuation Datacubes, Australia, April to July 2007, ABS Catalogue 6361.0.

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