This submission is also endorsed by the Equality Rights Alliance, the South Australian Working Women’s Centre, BPW Australia, the Women’s Electoral Lobby, and the Work + Family Policy Roundtable.
The Commission’s draft report argues that ‘a sound workplace relations system must give primacy to the wellbeing of employees (and would-be employees), and take account of community norms about the fair treatment of people
NFAW recognises and respects the improvements to child care standards and fee relief systems which the current Commonwealth Government has brought about, including through important cooperation with the States and Territories. The NFAW notes that means of achieving greater time-flexibility and simplicity in funding arrangements are under consideration, but no announcements have been made as yet.
This submission focuses on unpaid care work done by women: women account for 8 out of 10 carers in Australia, and all accounts indicate that caregiving has greater impacts on women’s financially status, social well-being and physical and mental health.
The NFAW and WomenSpeak/ERA, with valuable input from Professor Patricia Apps, independently held meetings to discuss the Henry Report at the University of Sydney through the Women and Work Research group, and at the University of Melbourne (Taxation Studies, Law School)
The consultation on the Australia Institute (TAI) report The Impact of the Recession on Women1 was facilitated in Broken Hill, New South Wales, on 29 September 2009, by Darriea Turley, Chair of the National Rural Women's Coalition2 , The Broken Hill Enterprise Development Centre3 (BHEDC), Women on Boards4 , and the National Foundation for Australian Women5 (NFAW).
The origins of the NFAW role lay in the process of national consultations with women and their organisations during 2006 and 2007 on the impacts on their working lives of the former Government’s changes to the industrial relations system (WorkChoices). In consequence early NFAW discussions about a national system of paid maternity or paternity leave were framed around industrial relations policy.
The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) welcomes the opportunity for wide ranging community input offered by the Inquiry of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee into the Effectiveness of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality.
NPEC was formed in 1988 to address the issue of unequal earnings for men and women in Australia, over the working week, over the years of workforce participation, and over a lifetime. Its activities include publicity, education, lobbying of governments, State and Federal, and regular representations to industrial tribunals and government inquiries on all issues relating to women’s earnings and workforce participation.
