The Minister for the Status of Women, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, has determined that a review of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (the EOWW Act) is both timely and necessary.
The Office for Women in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs is leading this review, and is seeking views from the community in examining and reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of the EOWW Act and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) in delivering equal employment opportunity to women in Australia.
The EOWW Act was last reviewed in 1999. Since that time, there have been a number of changes in key policy settings and the economic landscape which make it important to ensure that the EOWW Act and EOWA are continuing to make the best possible contribution to advancing equal opportunity for women in Australian workplaces.
Social inclusion and increased workforce participation underpin a large part of the Australian Government’s policy platform. Policies and practices that recognise and advance the interests of Australian women are central to many of the key reforms under way in Australia today.
Workplace relations legislation has seen significant changes, and the Fair Work Act 2009 has introduced further significant reforms, including to the institutional arrangements for oversight of workplace relations. The Attorney-General appointed an independent committee to undertake nation-wide consultations to consider ways to protect and promote human rights into the future. A Senate Committee has considered the effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, and a House of Representatives Committee is examining pay equity.
This review of the EOWA Act and EOWA will help ensure that this legislation fits into the developing legislative framework.
There is also a need to ensure that the Australian Government’s equal employment opportunity policies remain appropriate for current economic and social conditions.
While Australia has enjoyed record economic growth over the last decade, which facilitated employment and women’s participation in the workforce, economic conditions have changed rapidly over the last 12 months due to the global recession. This will have a likely impact on Australian workplaces and working women and men. During such times, it is important to ensure that equal employment opportunity policy is effective to enable businesses to perform efficiently, including by maintaining a focus on equal employment opportunity for women.
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1.1 Terms of reference
The terms of reference for the Australian Government’s review of the EOWW Act are to:
- examine the contribution that the EOWW Act has made to increasing women’s employment opportunities and advancing women’s equality in the workplace;
- examine the role that the EOWW Act and Agency have in gathering and reporting on workplace data;
- consider the effectiveness of the existing legislation and arrangements in delivering equal opportunity for women;
- provide advice on practical ways in which the equal opportunity for women framework could be improved to deliver better outcomes for Australian women;
- consider opportunities to reduce the cost of existing regulation and/or ways to ensure that any new legislation is cost-effective and well-targeted;
- consider the EOWW Act and Agency within the framework of existing and proposed human rights and workplace-related legislation, policy and administration, with a view to maximising complementarity and reducing overlap; and
- have regard to the effects of the EOWW Act, or any proposed recommendations resulting from this review, on social inclusion, the economy, the labour market, business competitiveness and the general wellbeing of the Australian community.
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1.2 Consultation process
The Office for Women will be undertaking an extensive consultation process with the community, business, trade union and higher education sectors, employees, expert academics and practitioners as well as with women’s organisations across Australia. The process encompasses:
- a call for public submissions in response to this issues paper during September–October 2009;
- a survey of EOWW Act reporting organisations in September 2009; and
- targeted stakeholder consultation, including roundtables in selected capital cities and individual interviews with key stakeholders in September and October 2009.
The Office for Women has engaged the consultancy KPMG to provide assistance in undertaking the review. KPMG is managing the public consultation process, including receiving and analysing public submissions, developing and analysing the organisational survey, convening the roundtables and individual interviews with key stakeholders, and providing a report on the review’s terms of reference and the consultation process.
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1.3 Commenting on the issues paper
The Office for Women would appreciate your feedback on the issues and questions raised in this paper in order to inform the review. You can provide written input to express your views, sending your submission by:
- emailing eowwreview@kpmg.com.au; or
- writing to EOWW Act review, C/- Health and Human Services Practice, KPMG, 10 Shelley Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
This issues paper includes consultation questions that may assist you in preparing your submission. In this regard, the Australian Government is keen to receive factual and supporting information. Please do not feel obliged to answer all the questions, or be constrained by them. The consultation questions can be found throughout the paper and are also repeated in a summary form in Appendix A.
- The closing date for all submissions is 5pm, Friday 16 October 2009.
- Submissions sent by post must be post marked no later than Friday 16 October 2009.
- Submissions sent via email must be received no later than 5pm, Friday 16 October 2009.
We encourage you to make a submission.
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1.4 Next steps
The next steps following the release of this issues paper will involve the Office for Women collating and analysing the responses. This will be followed by further targeted stakeholder consultations which will occur from September through to October 2009.