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

Royal District Nursing Service

29 October 2009

1. The value and impact of equal employment opportunity for women
2. Objects and coverage of the EOWW Act
3. Workplace programs, reporting and compliance

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

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

RDNS Response:

The limited opportunities for childcare and the range of childcare hours available impedes the potential of women returning to work. It is difficult to maintain a high level role with extended or non-standard work hours and also difficult for casual workers to access ad hoc child care.
Prejudice remains about the type of work that is perceived to be inherently male and female. The ‘female’ work is generally ranked at lower level (service and support roles) with lower salaries.
The idea of the female being the primary carer for children lends itself to the female having the lesser career focused role, and therefore the role that is expendable when childcare is required. Many women subsequently have stop-start job roles rather than an ongoing career.
With the growing sophistication of the internet, women (mothers) are looking to run jobs/businesses on line; this further impedes the relativities of male/female jobs in the workplace. It is not a solution, just a workaround.

2. Objects and coverage of the EOWW Act

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

RDNS Response:

If this is a desired culture, then all employers should be under the same obligations, with no exceptions. The principle of employment based on merit, ie. ability to undertake the inherent responsibilities of the role, would cover all employers. To decrease the current coverage of the Act would lessen its value.

3. Workplace programs, reporting and compliance

3.1 How are organisations responding to barriers to women’s employment? What programs and policies are the most effective levers for change in organisations (eg work processes, organisational culture, and/or workplace relations and human resources practice)?

RDNS Response:

Organisations are responding to barriers to women’s employment by:

developing policies and procedures to ensure fair recruitment processes
making changes to all male environments and behaviours to welcome females in the workplace
gradually recruiting females to senior positions and boards, dependent, of course, on merit.

Effective levers for change for organisations:

fair recruitment processes – eg ensuring advertisements are not designed and written to exclude particular genders
short listing for interview based on experience and skills identified in the resume, not focusing on the name of the applicant (therefore the gender); making a decision on fact not assumptions
branding on advertisements and flyers etc that includes a gender and age balance
managing the work environment and developing policies which foster fairness and reduce bias – eg. conversation and language, behaviours, posters, documentation etc
providing opportunities for flexibility in the workplace to support family commitments.

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?

RDNS Response:

We consider that the frequency of reporting could be based on the type and size of organisations. Public service organisations or organisations of a certain size who have standard policies and procedures in place could provide reports every 2 years; the focus of these reports could be evidence of maintenance of practices and new initiatives undertaken. At present the yearly reporting means that the reports are very repetitive.
An alternative process would be to tick off the procedures maintained with no variation, and identify improvements.
Review the format and topics as follows:
1. Workplace profile
2. Range of consultation methods within the workplace
3. Range of methods of analysis used in the workplace
4. Table identifying
  1. Actions to be taken (issues identified as priorities for the that year) – do not need to cover all matters
  2. Outcome/evaluation this would make the document easier to complete and easier to assess

Example:


Priorities	Main tasks /consultations (Optional)	Outome / evaluation
Recruitment Continue the recruitment of Div 2 RNs	Developed and implemented a recruitment process to complement Div 1 RNs Introduced a structured orientation and induction program Developed communication links with relevant sites Provided presentations and education to all relevant staff Established a project timeline and milestones Developed a evaluation process of the orientation Monthly feedback meetings with relevant staff and managers	Successfully introduced 14 Div 2 RNs into the organisation
Recruitment Participate in greater range of career expos and information sessions	Further developed relationships with universities, councils, schools etc Increased the participation in expos Developed information packs for prospective applicants	Increased awareness of students, general public, prospective employees of nursing opportunities Increased number of applicants for graduate nurse program Set up group interviews/forums for people interested
Training and development Development of learning packages	Worked with the Institute and staff to identify methods of training Developed a training program relevant to organisational requirements Developed a communication process for internal and external interested parties	Staff can now undertake preliminary, self-directed learning prior to courses Reduced the time required for face to face learning Staff members can now undertake learning in their own pace and time

Priorities for the following year/future actions

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