Judith Troeth (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present a response from the Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, to a resolution of the Senate of 8 September 2009 concerning Equal Pay Day.

The response read as follows—

Thank you for your recent letter, in which you transmit a resolution agreed to by the Senate on 8 September 2009 in respect of pay equity. I apologise for the delay in responding.

The Australian Government recognises that pay inequities continue to impact women’s economic security and is strongly committed to improving the economic outcomes of women and their families. The Government’s Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act) establishes a framework that provides fairness and flexibility for women and promotes equity in the workplace. In particular, the Act provides enhanced provisions that seek to address the gender pay gap by extending equal remuneration provisions to include the right to equal pay for work of equal or comparable value.

The Act also includes equal remuneration as a guiding principle for Fair Work Australia (FWA) in conducting its modern award and minimum wage fixing functions. The Act also provides FWA with the capacity to vary minimum wages in modern awards on work value grounds.

The Act establishes a new fair safety net of 10 National Employment Standards (NES) and modern awards that will provide all employees in the federal system with clear, comprehensive and enforceable minimum protections. This is particularly relevant as a significant proportion of women are award reliant compared with men (20 per cent compared with 13 per cent at August 2008). The NES and modern awards commence on 1 January 2010.

The Act also introduces special provisions for FWA to facilitate multi-employer bargaining for low paid employees who have not historically had the benefits of enterprise level collective bargaining. This includes areas like child care, aged care, community services and cleaning where female employment is high.

Further, the Act contains expanded anti-discrimination protections to prohibit an employer from taking adverse action; such as dismissing an employee, altering their position or paying them less; against an employee or prospective employee of the employer because of the person’s race, colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical disability, marital status, family or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin. Under the Act, modern awards, collective agreements and individual flexibility agreements will not be able to include discriminatory terms.

As you are aware, Equal Pay Day was held on 1 September 2009. To coincide with this day, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) launched a new tool kit to help employers audit pay equity. This tool kit will guide employers through the process of conducting a pay equity audit within their organisation and will assist in working towards narrowing the gender pay gap that currently exists.

The Government has also asked the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations, led by Ms Sharryn Jackson MP, to conduct an inquiry and report on pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce. To date the inquiry has received 155 submissions and conducted 29 public hearings. The Government looks forward to the Committee’s report which is expected to be finalised in mid November 2009. The Government will consider all recommendations made by the Committee at that time.

In addition, on 1 June 2009, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Status of Women, announced a review of the EOWA and its underlying legislation. The review will examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the legislation to ensure it is well targeted and cost efficient. An issues paper commencing the public consultation phase of the review was released on 1 September 2009. It is expected that a report will be delivered to the Government at the end of 2009.

Thank you for bringing the resolution to my attention. I trust my comments are of assistance.