House of Representatives Committees

| House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations

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Making it Fair: Pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce

23 November 2009

© Commonwealth of Australia 2009
ISBN ISBN 978-0-642-79268-6 (Printed version)
ISBN 978-0-642-79269-3 (HTML version)

View the report as a single document - (PDF 2883KB)


View the report as separate downloadable parts:

Preliminary Pages (PDF 200KB)

Foreword
Membership of the Committee
Committee Secretariat
Terms of reference
List of abbreviations
List of recommendations

 
Chapter 1 Introduction (PDF 117KB)

Economic imperative
Definition of pay equity
Contributing factors to pay inequity
Benefits of pay equity
The pay equity inquiry
Conduct of the inquiry

 
Chapter 2 Setting the scene (PDF 943KB)

The Australian scene
Public sector
Trends in the gender pay gap
Age trends
Industries and occupations

 
Chapter 3 International perspective (PDF 200KB)

The Australian scene
International approaches to address pay inequity
New Zealand
Canada
International obligations
Reporting on international obligations
Federal Pay Equity Law – International Law

 
Chapter 4 Wages setting approaches (PDF 241KB)

Negotiation of wages
Union membership
Individual agreements
Collective bargaining

 
Chapter 5 Industrial relations legislative reforms (PDF 453KB)

Amendments to Fair Work Act 2009
Reform to Fair Work Act 2009
Coverage limited to ‘National System Employees’
The concept of equal remuneration
Application of the equal remuneration principle
The meaning of ‘Remuneration’
Equal remuneration provisions
Interaction of Fair Work Equal Remuneration Jurisdiction & State and Commonwealth Anti-Discrimination Law
Pay equity and modern awards
Awards modernisation process
National Employment Standards
Minimum wages case
Enterprise agreements
Low paid stream
Achieving national consistency in pay equity law
Australian federation - National pay equity law
Uniform laws

 
Chapter 6 Anti-discrimination legislation (PDF 134KB)

Intersection of anti-discrimination law and industrial relations:  Fair Work Act 2009
Grounds of discrimination claims

 
Chapter 7 Pay Equity Unit (PDF 188KB)

Specialist Pay Equity Unit

 
Chapter 8 Administrative approaches (PDF 188KB)

Commonwealth procurement policy
Industry assistance
Promoting pay equity through the federal grants power
Further measures
 Office of Status of Women
APS departments and agencies
Code of Practice

 
Chapter 9 Data collection and research (PDF 201KB)

Current data
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia
Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys
Women’s Interdepartmental Committee
Australian Public Service surveys
Australian Public Service Commission
Issues and deficiencies in data collection
Women’s employment status key indicators
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys
Household Income and Labour Dynamics Australia
Women’s Interdepartmental Committee
Pay Equity Unit – Research Function

 
Chapter 10 Women’s choices? (PDF 332KB)

Workforce participation
Family friendly policies
Impact on women’s life time earnings
Choice or compromise?
Part time positions
Quality part time work
Flexible working arrangements
Indigenous women
Statistics for Indigenous women
Parental leave
Day care and after school care
Job security
Skills development and training
Promotional opportunities
Attraction and retention

 
Chapter 11 Cultural dimensions (PDF 171KB)

Community cultural challenge
Women in Leadership
Changing the culture

 
Chapter 12 Conclusions (PDF 68KB)
 
Minority Report (PDF 93KB)

Introduction and Summary of Coalition Members’ Position
Evidence provided to the Committee
Fair Work Act 2009
Maternity Leave
Government must take the lead
More information required
Conclusion

 
Appendix A – List of submissions (PDF 48KB)
 
Appendix B – List of exhibits (PDF 79KB)
 
Appendix C - List of hearings and witnesses (PDF 76KB)
 
Appendix D - Glossary (PDF 37KB)

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