Review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 – Submission
Australian Human Rights Commission - 30 October 2009
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Executive Summary
- Greater clarity and cohesion amongst national regulatory schemes
- Promotion of gender equality rather than equal opportunity for women
- Improved transparency and accountability at the national level
- Greater emphasis on outcomes rather than processes in mandatory employer reporting obligations
- Greater certainty for business and employers
- Full coverage of employers
- Targeted effort to close the gender pay gap
- Special measures to fast track achieving substantive equality in leadership
- Associated Reforms
- 3. Table of Recommendations
- 4. Diagrams of proposed national gender equality monitoring and employer compliance frameworks
- 5. Identifying the problem: is there gender equality
in Australian workplaces?
- 5.1 Introduction: findings of the Listening Tour
- 5.2 Women’s workforce participation
- 5.3 Pay equity and starting salaries
- 5.4 Women in management and leadership positions
- 5.5 Prevalence of sexual harassment
- 5.6 Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace
- 5.7 Impact of unpaid work and family and carer responsibilities
- 5.8 Gendered ageism
- 5.9 Conclusion
- 6. The case for reform: why does achieving gender
equality in Australian workplaces matter?
- 6.1 Introduction
- 6.2 Gender equality will improve women’s economic security
- 6.3 Gender equality will improve business and organisational performance
- 6.4 Gender equality will improve national productivity
- 6.5 Gender equality will fulfil Australia’s international human rights and labour rights obligations
- 7. The current context: what are the national laws
and institutional arrangements?
- 7.1 Introduction
- 7.2 National laws impacting on gender equality in the workforce
- 7.3 Institutional arrangements under national laws impacting on gender equality in the workforce
- 7.4 Table comparing Australia’s gender equality laws & institutions
- 7.5 Relationship and interaction between gender equality institutions
- 8. Reform proposals: what needs to change?
- 8.1 Introduction
- 8.2 Greater clarity and cohesion amongst national gender equality regulatory schemes
- 8.3 Promotion of gender equality rather than equal opportunity for women
- 8.4 Improved transparency and accountability at the national level
- 8.5 Greater emphasis on outcomes rather than processes in Employer Reporting Obligations
- 8.6 Greater certainty for business and employers
- 8.7 Full coverage of employers
- 8.8 Targeted effort to close the gender pay gap: a National Pay Equity Strategy
- 8.9 Special measures to fast track achieving of substantive gender equality in leadership
- 8.10 Associated reforms
- 9. Appendices
- Appendix 1: Australia’s International Human and Labour Rights Obligations: Detailed Descriptions
- Appendix 2: Detail of the Key Features of Australia’s
National Laws and Institutional Arrangements which impact on Gender
Equality in the Workforce
- Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 and Agency
- Sex Discrimination Act 1986 and Sex Discrimination Commissioner/Australian Human Rights Commission
- Sex Discrimination Commissioner and the Australian Human Rights Commission
- Fair Work Act 2009 and Fair Work Australia and Ombudsman
- Operative gender equality provisions
- Fair Work Australia and Fair Work Ombudsman
- Australian Government Office of Work and Family
- Australian Government Office for Women
- Appendix 3: Comparative Gender Equality Laws and Institutional Arrangements in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Norway
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