Australian Workplace Agreements & Gender Equity

By Alison Preston, Therese Jefferson, Rob Guthrie

This paper explores the issue of gender equity and re-assesses the likely experience of women under the new Australian industrial relations regime.

Proponents of the changes have consistently argued that women's position (as measured by financial and non-financial (eg. flexibility) indicators) will improve under a system 'more responsive to individual needs'. However, the data presented in this paper show that the biggest losers in the pre-WorkChoices system of individual bargaining have been women non-managerial employees on individual contracts.. In short, available data demonstrate that some employees on AWAs appear to receive benefits in terms of increased earnings. However, the effects of AWAs vary markedly between occupational groups and across time. It appears that longer term benefits in the form of higher earnings are restricted to those in relatively favourable labour market positions, most notably those in administrative and managerial roles. Those who have traditionally been reliant on minimum award conditions to provide their standard employment entitlements, particularly women in non-managerial roles are not maintaining their earnings position.

(An earlier version of this paper, titled "Monitoring the Effects of Australia's New Workplace Regulations: The Case of Women "Minimum Condition" Workers" was presented at the AIRAANZ 2007 Conference in Auckland, 7th-9th February 2007 and at the Society of Heterodox Economists Fifth Annual Conference at the University of New South Wales in December 2006.)