Pay equity is still an issue because women’s work is not valued

The National Pay Equity Coalition and the Women's Electoral Lobby have appeared before the House of Representatives Inquiry into Pay Equity and Associated Issues Related to Increasing Female Participation in the Workforce to present their Supplementary Submission. The submission addresses the concerns also raised by the ASU in the award modernisation process and how this process deals with the issues of women, pay equity and the opportunity to raise equal remuneration principles.

The ASU supports the National Pay Equity Coalition and the Women's Electoral Lobby in their ongoing fight for equal pay and equal rights for women workers. You can download their supplementary submission below. Here's what they said about us:

"Linda White from the ASU in the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee hearing stated that 'as matters stood now, hundreds of thousands of predominantly female employees stood to be significantly disadvantaged'."

You can read more about this issue in our previous article "Pay equity assaulted by award modernisation process".

 Women are low paid because their work is not valued

 Issued by: House of Representatives Liaison & Projects Office, Wednesday 13 May 2009

 "Some commentators have argued that the pay equity problem can be explained by the fact that women work less hours and that they work in low paid jobs. While women do work less hours, the nub of the problem is that they are low paid because their work is not properly valued" is one of the key points made by the National Pay Equity Coalition (NPEC) and the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) in their joint submission to the House of Representatives Employment and Workplace Relations Committee's inquiry into pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce.

In their submission, NPEC and WEL make recommendations to "strengthen and improve the industrial framework and other legal mechanisms that address equal pay", particularly equal remuneration provisions, the application of equal remuneration objects of the Award Modernisation Act in the award modernization process, and the strengthening on minimum entitlements and collective bargaining processes.

Committee Chair, Ms Sharryn Jackson said, "With two of the Committee's terms of reference specifically referring to: the adequacy of federal and state equal remuneration legislation, and the need for further legislative reform, the Committee is looking forward to discussing with NPEC and WEL their views on the new legislative framework".

Representatives of NPEC and WEL will provide evidence before the House Employment and Workplace Relations Committee in Committee Room 1R3 Parliament House Canberra on Thursday 14 May from 11.15 am to discuss their submission and other factors that may impact disproportionately on women's employment options, and the adequacy of current data to reliably monitor employment changes that may impact on pay equity issues.

The Committee will continue to welcome submissions to the inquiry.

Further details on the inquiry, including the terms of reference, background documents, membership of the Committee and advice on making submissions can be obtained on the Committee's website at http://www.aph.gov.au/ewr, by contacting the committee secretariat on (02) 6277 4162 or emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .