Introduction

1. The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission to the House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Employment and Workplace Relations Inquiry into the causes of potential disadvantage in relation to women’s participation in the workforce.

2. The NFAW is a politically independent feminist organisation, which works in partnership with other women’s organisations to achieve its aims. NFAW’s aims are: a. To advance and promote the interests of Australian women b. To record and make accessible the histories of Australian women and c. To ensure women’s achievements are handed on to future generations.

3. Our credibility in documenting and commenting on the impact of Government policies on the interests of women and girls is well established. Recent submissions and reports commissioned and published by NFAW include:

1. Submission to the Inquiry of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee into the effectiveness of the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality (July 2008)
2. Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Paid Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave (June 2008)
3. Women and WorkChoices: Impacts on the Low Pay Sector (2007) with WEL Australia and YWCA Australia
4. Women’s Pay and Conditions in an Era of Changing Workplace Regulations: Towards a ‘Women’s Employment Status Key Indicators” Database (2006) with HREOC and WEL Australia
5. Options for Reducing the Adverse Impact of the Proposed Welfare-to-Work Reforms upon People with Disabilities and Sole Parents (2005), National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling

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