Women’s organisations have called upon the Federal Government to take immediate action to redress growing inequality in wages between women and men. Equal Pay Day on the 1st September women will be wearing red and Women’s Electoral Lobby will deliver red roses to politicians and employers because women workers are in the red compared to men’s earnings. A red rose is a way of reminding us all that life is about bread and roses, but fair rewards are important for both.

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Big businesses in Australia are making inroads in making their organisations more female and family friendly, according an Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency’s (EOWA) survey released by the Minister for the Status of Women. Findings from the EOWA Survey on Paid Maternity Leave, Sex Based Harassment Initiatives and the Gender Pay Gap show that 50.8 per cent of large organisations now provide paid maternity leave to employees.  This is an increase of 15 per cent since 2003. 

“This is great news for women, their families and businesses across the country,” Ms Plibersek said. Â
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24 August 2009

Women account for up to 80 percent of Australia’s hidden unemployed, new research into the current economic downturn by The Australia Institute reveals.
An Australia Institute report launched on 24 August at the Industrial Relations Society World Congress in Sydney, details the staggering
gender imbalance of those people who want to work, but are not included in the official unemployment statistics.
The report finds that not only are child care responsibilities the most common reason why women struggle to rejoin the workforce, but those same responsibilities are a major reason that women are excluded from the official unemployment statistics.
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