Women worse off under WorkChoice

Date: 13 August 2007

A national report released today demonstrates that WorkChoices isn't working for low paid women and their families.

The report, which documents interviews with over 120 low-income women across all mainland States and the ACT, shows that many women working in sectors such as retail, hospitality, aged care and childcare are doing it tough.

These sectors have been studied because earlier research on women's wages and conditions 1 showed these to be the sectors where women were most at risk.

The report recommends changes to the Commonwealth legislative framework to redress these problems, including restoration of unfair dismissal rights and more effective guarantees of minimum conditions.

The report Women and WorkChoices: Impacts on the Low Pay Sector was commissioned by the NFAW, WEL Australia and YWCA Australia and was undertaken by leading industrial relations researchers.

NFAW Spokeswoman Marie Coleman said: "This report provides government and policy makers with vital information and recommendations on how to redress these workplace abuses. It is clear from the current advertising campaign that the Government is already aware that many employees are not receiving their entitlements.

" Our report bears this out and outlines additional issues. We urge the Minister to listen to the women, not to attack the messengers."

YWCA Australia Spokeswoman Caroline Lambert said: "This report tells the real stories of many women under WorkChoices - of job insecurity and uncertainty in what hours they will work from week to week, their battles to plan the family budgets, pay bills or meet social and personal commitments."

WEL Australia Spokeswoman Jenny Earle said: "This report highlights that the economic boom is riding high on the backs of low paid women workers and provides disturbing examples of the difficulties that many women are experiencing in the new bargaining environment."

The three organisations said that the report, which builds on the first study which benchmarked women's wages and conditions 2 vindicates the initial decision to commission research to monitor and evaluate the impacts of WorkChoices on women.

The report will be launched at a media conference called jointly by Leader of the Australian Democrats Senator Lyn Allison and the three national women's organisations who commissioned the research - the National Foundation for Australian Women, the Women's Electoral Lobby (Australia), and the Young Women's Christian Association (Australia).

The report will be launched by NFAW, WEL and the YWCA in Committee Room 2S.3 Parliament House, Canberra at 12 noon Monday August 13th.

Report researchers from NSW, ACT, Victoria and SA will be present.

Further information and contacts

- Jenny Earle (WEL Australia) 0412 159 901

- Caroline Lambert (YWCA Australia) 0422 598 008

State and regional research details

VIC: Sara Charlesworth (RMIT) 0412 889 122

ACT: Bradon Ellem (UniSyd) 0402 021 79

SA: Jude Elton (UniSA) 0423 296 406

Barbara Pocock (UniSA) 0414 244 606

WA: Alison Preston (Curtin 0409 827 486.

QLD: Gillian Whitehouse (UQ) 0438 053 280

For further information

Contact:	Marie Coleman
Union:	National Foundation for Australian Women
Contact Mobile:	0414 483 067
WWW:	http://www.nfaw.org/

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