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

Woolworths Ltd

16 October 2009

To whom it may concern,

Re: Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999

Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to respond to this important Review. Woolworths’ is strongly committed to Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace (EOWW).

We have implemented a range of policies which support women in the workplace, including the introduction of paid maternity leave, and will continue to support this important issue.

Whilst we are supportive of any measures to strengthen the framework which underpins this important business, it is our view that government can only achieve so much on their own.

Company leadership on this issue is vital if the objectives of the EOWW Act are to be achieved. We would encourage government to consider highlighting companies which engage in best practice, rather than merely penalising those companies who do not comply.

If you have any questions regarding the matters raised in the submission, please contact me on 02 8885 3446 or nsamia@woolworths.com.au

Yours sincerely

Nathalie Samia signature

Nathalie Samia
Group Manager – Government Relations
Woolworths Limited


This submission covers the following topics:

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Executive summary

Woolworths Limited is made up of some of the most recognisable and trusted brands in retailing, serving millions of customers every day with great choice, low prices and excellent quality products. As a group across Australia and New Zealand, Woolworths Limited have more than 3000 stores and 190,000 employees.

Woolworths appreciates the opportunity to comment on this most important issue of Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace (EOWW). We believe progress on this issue has been made in Australian workplaces, however we must continue to build upon the solid foundations the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act has created.

Woolworths has reviewed and responded to the 29 issues based on the following underpinning principles:

Woolworths’ are supportive of the work the EOWA Agency has undertaken and have demonstrated this through our long standing participation in annual reporting, even when waivers were granted. The issue of Equal Opportunity in the Workplace for Women has made good advances, but by no means is at a level that can maintain the momentum achieved to date. The infrastructure, support and most importantly focus on this issue is essential to ensure we optimise the capability of the Australian workforce into the future.

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1. The value and impact of equal employment opportunity for women

1.1 What factors and measures have contributed to improving employment opportunities and outcomes for women

Woolworths believes there are a number of factors and measures in the workplace which have made a contribution to improving employment opportunities for women.

Woolworths is committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive culture in the workplace. We have a proud history of introducing workplace policies which provide women with the flexibility they need to strike the right balance between work and family. One of our most successful policies was the introduction of paid maternity leave, as well as offering a large number of job sharing and part time work opportunities.

We also have a working group made up of male and female senior business and HR leaders that focuses on eliminating the barriers to women’s career progression as well as women working in senior non-traditional roles.

1.2 What are the obstacles that may impede further progress towards equal employment opportunity within organisations and in Australia generally?

Many of the traditional obstacles relating to equal opportunity employment within organisations and in Australia more generally have been abolished. However, we still must be vigilant in addressing outdated attitudes regarding the roles of women.

1.3 Should there be a greater focus on enabling men and women to share paid work and caring responsibilities more equally? How can men be provided with better opportunities to participate in the care of their children and other dependents?

At Woolworths, policies apply regardless of gender (with the exception of paid maternity leave) although culturally it is not “the norm” for men to share caring responsibilities more equally. It will be leadership behaviour and mindset that men can participate and “it’s okay to do so”, in taking care of children and dependents that will provide the greatest change.

1.4 What regulatory role should government play to achieve equal employment opportunity for women?

The government should continue to play a monitoring and reporting role on workplace programs and performance. It should continue to promote the elimination of discrimination.

There is also an opportunity for the government to play a role in devising educational initiatives which promote equal opportunity for women. Many organisations have already been successful in this regard, and it would be positive if some of these success stories were highlighted for the broader community. This would also provide recognition for those “doing the right thing”, rather than merely penalising those who do not.

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2. Objects and coverage of the EOWW Act

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

The principle that (women) employment is dealt with on a merit basis is still relevant and covered in other legislation. The elimination of discrimination is still relevant and covered in other legislation. In our view, business / employer consultation is still relevant with scope to increase these events.

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

The EOWW Act has focussed attention on the issue of women in management. It has created (if it was not already in existence) a consultative process between the employer and employees. Thus it has highlighted issues in the workplace which may contravene the objectives of the Act. It is then the culture and leadership of the company that determines how these issues are dealt with.

In our view, further work needs to be undertaken in regard to the third objective of consultation between employers.

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

The Act contributes to improving women’s employment opportunities as it moderates the reporting which highlights issues for the leadership of the company.

However, company culture and leadership are also vital in improving women’s employment opportunities.

2.4 Should the role of men as fathers and carers be acknowledged in the EOWW Act?

If men were to be included in the Act we would need to ensure that the main focus on EOWW remains with women and not lose sight of this.

In our view, the Act could be drafted in a way that reflected the role being played, ie primary care giver, rather than the gender. That way employers would able to support anyone engaged in those important roles, rather than being restricted by gender.

2.5 Is the current coverage of the Act appropriate? Should the current coverage of organisations or employees be expanded or decreased? Why?

Currently 24.3%of women employed in the Australian Workforce were covered by reporting organisations. It is difficult to state if this is sufficient.

2.6 Is the self identification and disclosure of organisations appropriate? Is there another way that organisations should or could be identified?

In our view, any organisation covered by the Anti-Discrimination Act could be included. Employers fewer than 100 people would find the current reporting onerous however there could be provisions for these organisations to have less onerous reporting requirements, ie reporting raw data alone..

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3. Workplace programs, reporting and compliance

3.1 How are organisations responding to the 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)?

The most effective lever for change is the behaviour of leaders as this sets the tone for what is okay and not okay in the business.

In Woolworths’ case, EOWW for women is on the agenda of the CEO, the Board and the Senior Management Team. Not only is this seen as the right thing to do it makes good business sense.

The focus on opportunities for women has been ongoing however real progress has been made with a number of significant decisions including:

3.2 Are the EOWW Act’s requirements regarding the content of workplace programs, including the specified ‘employment matters’, useful and appropriate? If not, how could they be improved?

The EOWW Act specified employment matters are useful in guiding reporting on outcomes.

There are some questions that go to the heart of whether EEO exists and these questions are along the lines of what is benchmarked as part of CEW (taken out of the CEW toolkit):

3.3 Is the process for developing workplace programs useful and appropriate? If not, why not?

Analysis, consultation with employees and reporting on progress is a critical part of knowing where to focus effort, to review progress and set goals. As a result the formal process for developing workplace programs helps assist the organisation to do this.

As an organisation we have made progress with respect to EEO for women but also believe we can improve our workplace programs.

3.4 Has the development of workplace programs contributed to improved employment opportunities for women within reporting organisations? If so, can you provide examples from your experience?

The development of programs has contributing to improved EEO outcomes for women in conjunction with the organisational efforts.

Within Woolworths, continued and specific initiatives focusing on increasing the levels of women in management has resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of female executives from 16.7% in 2004 to 27% in 2009.

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

In compiling the EOWA report the guidelines issues with the report template have always been suffice and therefore we have never referred to the act.

Although the Act should talk in principle regarding what the objectives are of the report, it should not be prescriptive (this is contained in the report guidelines).

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?

The frequency of reporting is not a concern nor is the time of year that this event occurs.

In our view reporting annually is a good discipline and provides the basis to see “year on year” outcomes. Requirements to waive reporting are currently set at a high standard and this should continue.

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

The focus groups (our consultation method) are resource intensive, however for a large employer it needs to be in order to adequately represent the workforce. (Over 800 people were involved in the 2009 annual process).

The costs comprise mainly of wages / time of people in the focus groups. Conservatively this cost was approximately $65,000 in 2009 for Woolworths. However, the focus groups we facilitate make good business practise and we also leverage these events to gain feedback on other workplace topics related to gender.

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?

Broadly, it provides a focus and helps organisations measure their progress year on year. Again if an organisation doesn’t believe this is an important business issue, it won’t matter what the reporting requirements are.

At Woolworths’ we also use it to collect additional qualitative information.

3.9 Are the enforcement mechanisms currently in place sufficient to ensure that the objectives of the legislation are met? If so, how? If not, why not?

Rather than only identifying non compliant organisations on a web site, providing public accolades and recognition of organisations that meet or demonstrate excellence in the field could better guide the efforts of other organisations. Although non complaint organisations may not be able to supply government departments this is not applicable to all organisations.

3.10 Are there alternative enforcement mechanisms that would effectively and efficiently ensure compliance? Can you provide examples? What additional benefits would they bring?

The framework and approach used for Corporate Social Responsibility reporting should be considered. Currently the International Standards Organisation (ISO) is developing a guidance standard on CSR (ISO2600) due to be released in 2010. This provides creditability to organisations reporting to this standard credibility, even though it is not compulsory.

As stated about it is our view that there is a considerable benefit in having a system where companies are rewarded for undertaking the reporting requirement, rather than only focussing on the enforcement/punishment approach for those companies who do not comply.

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

Cost/Benefit analysis of compliance has not been undertaken. However, we have seen improvements in our statistics year on year and know the programs that are put in place are not only about compliance but good practice as well.

As a percentage our annual retention rate for our women is 54.4% and men 45.5%. As previously mentioned we have seen a significant increase in the proportion of female executives from 16.7% in 2004 to 27% in 2009.

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4. Role and activities of EOWA

4.1 Are the role and functions of EOWA appropriate to achieving the objects of the Act? Which functions of EOWA are most valuable and effective? Why?

In our view the role and function of the EOWA are appropriate to achieving the objectives – to promote the principle that employment for women should be dealt with on the basis of merit, not discriminate and to foster workplace consultation between employees and employers on issues concerning equal opportunity for women.

The statistics and reporting have provent to be the most valuable and effective as this enables us to guage and measure our results, and to benchmark against other companies.

4.2 Is the role of EOWA in monitoring and enforcing compliance of reporting organisations under the EOWW Act adequate and appropriate? If not, how should it be changed?

As we have no visibility of action taken against non compliant organisations we are unable to say. However the monitoring of compliance seems adequate with regards to the reporting mechanism.

4.3 Is the role of EOWA in promoting understanding and acceptance, and public discussion of equal opportunity for women in the workplace adequate and appropriate? If not, how should it be changed?

The following work should be continued by EOWA and further developed:

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5. Relationship with other legislation and institutions

5.1 Does the EOWW Act complement or overlap with other legislation? How could the relationship of the EOWW Act to other legislation be clarified or improved?

There appears to be an overlap with the anti-discrimination law and the sex discrimination legislation. In our view, a review should be undertaken in nationalising/harmonising relevant legislation

(Note: On further reading recommendations were made in December 2008 relating to the Sex Discrimination Act, the Human Rights Commission Act and the EOWA to consider incorporating the obligations in the EOWW into the Sex Discrimination Act).

5.2 Is there potential duplication between workplace reporting under the EOWW Act and any other obligations such as, for example, the enforcement obligations of the new Fair Work Ombudsman?

It is difficult to make this determination at the present time. Certainly it would not capture pro¬active programs that are reported in the annual EOWA report.

5.3 Should EOWA remain as an independent statutory authority or should the role and functions of EOWA be combined with those of another entity that also holds responsibilities related to achieving equal employment opportunity for women? If you think the role and functions of EOWA should be combined, with which entity and why?

There is the possibly of combining with other legislation such as the Anti-Discrimination Act, however the concerning factor with this would be that it could take away the focus on women specifically and the EOWA.

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6. Measuring the success of the EOWW Act and EOWA

6.1 Are the mechanisms for measuring the effectiveness of the legislation and EOWA adequate? If not, how should they be improved?

Participation and retention rates would be the key measures (KPIs) as are attraction (e.g. women as a percentage of all candidates by level/role type) and employer of choice. However there are also a number of contributing factors that impact these results.

The reporting mechanism ensures these KPIs are tracked and monitored by reporting organisations, keeping this issue top of mind.

6.2 Is the EOWA data set adequate to measure changes in women’s participation and equality in employment? Could it be improved? If so, how?

In our view, the data set is adequate. If the scope of the act is broadened, this would need to be revisited.

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7. Conclusion

The issue of Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace continues to be an important focus for Australian companies. The focus and work undertaken to date must continue and be supported by frameworks and infrastructure shared by government and business.

Woolworths supports the principles of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act and Agency and will continue to support this important issue regardless of where the legislation may encapsulate these principles moving forward.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide this submission and any further consultation the review may request of us.

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