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Listening Tour Report A report of the Listening Tour consultations in
2007-08

 

4 Theme Two - Work and family

• 4.1 What is this chapter about?
• 4.2 Choice or constrained choices?
• 4.3 Flexible work practices
• 4.4 Availability of quality part time work
• 4.5 Sharing of unpaid work
• 4.6 Paid maternity leave
• 4.7 Parental and paternity leave
• 4.8 Child care
• 4.9 Carers
• 4.10 Hours of work
• 4.11 Job security
• 4.12 Bibliography

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4.1 What is this chapter about?

I admire working women today more than I can say.... I began work
in the 1950's on unequal pay and worked for 42 years, picking up a university education
on the way married but had no children as my husband would not
guarantee to stay around to help me with a family...I could not even
contemplate bringing up children on my own as well as working. At that time, the
feminist movement begged for child care in work places... [W]hile
developers always ensured there was space for parking in any new building, there was no
provision for child care. While child care has improved, women continue to struggle
with family and work and look ahead to a threadbare retirement income....All the women
I know who have young children are exhausted most of the time. Feminism wasn't about
producing overworked women who are expected to bear children and to work as many hours
as they can fit in so the family can survive. 184

Successfully balancing paid work with caring responsibilities remains a major
challenge for a large number of Australians. With women continuing to carry the
majority of Australia's unpaid caring work, creating workplaces that support women and men to balance paid work and share caring responsibilities is critical to
achieving gender equality. 185

Australians are juggling their paid work with caring for their children, their
grandchildren, relatives with illness and disability, or their ageing parents. Yet
there remains a notable gap in support provided by governments and employers in
allowing women and men to meet these responsibilities. Australia remains one of only
two OECD countries without a legislated paid maternity leave scheme. Paid maternity
leave is accessed by only around one third of employed pregnant women. 186 The use of paid paternity or parental leave by male partners is
even lower at 25 per cent. 187

Over one third of fathers with young children are currently working more than 50
hours per week. 188 With the rapid ageing of our population
there will be increasing pressure on workers to balance the caring of elderly parents
with their paid work.

Under the theme of Work and Family Balance over the Life Cycle, the
Commissioner sought to hear about contemporary experiences of Australians balancing
paid work and caring responsibilities. Are flexible work and family friendly practices
widely available? Are they working effectively? What are the challenges for employees
and employers? Most importantly, what can be done to better support Australians to
balance work and care over the life cycle?

4.2 Choice or constrained choices?

4.2.1 What we heard

One of the key questions raised with the Commissioner under this theme was about
choice: whether decisions about paid work and family responsibilities are guided by
genuine personal choice or by compromises arising from external pressures. Many women
raised as an issue the complexity of the messages that they receive about having
children, having a career or staying at home. The dominant view throughout the
Listening Tour was that workplace policies and structures and the expectations that
accompany paid work limit the choices that women and men make about managing their
family responsibilities. However, some participants held the view that having children
is an active personal choice, and argued that there should not be an expectation on
governments or employers to support such personal decisions.

The language of choice does not reflect women's experiences of work and
family

One participant from the Adelaide community consultation pointed out the problems
with the 'language of choice':

This language of choice is very troublesome... [It is] not choice
but compromise. [The statistics] don't show what proportion of women want to work part
time...[W]e need to get some real statistics on what people would be
doing [if they had choice]. This country runs on unpaid overtime.
189

One woman remarked on the mixed messages that women receive about parenthood and
workforce participation:

It's a mixed message that all women who want children are getting, about working and
being in the workforce, but also staying home for their child.... You
get criticised for putting them in child care and going back to work, but then you get
shat on by the government if you want to stay at home and be with them. 190

Women's choices are bound up in social expectations about women's roles as
carers

One woman commented on the expectations placed on women around caring
responsibilities:

...I would have to say that... there is a
general expectation that women will look after the child care, put their careers on
hold regularly or stop...their careers completely and then move on
back into the work force at another time. 191

Another woman described her feeling of being trapped by her caring responsibilities
despite having flexibility with her own company:

My children are three and a half and nineteen months and I have my own company and
[the pressures] would be the same in any environment. For mothers there is a physical
necessity to care...I felt very trapped that I needed to be there
[with my children]. Even in my company it was hard to make it work.
192

Contemporary Australian families want to 'have it all'

One woman labelled the pressure felt by contemporary Australian women as a lifestyle
choice:

I have been married 50 years. I did stay home with the kids, and we managed. When we
wanted something, we saved for it. We took 38 years to pay off our home. I went back to
work when our children went back to school. Now, young married ones want everything
straight away. So they both have to work to keep up this lifestyle.
193

Another man was firm in his belief that children were a personal choice, as was his
partner's decision to stay at home:

A lot of people are afraid to use the [word] 'choices'. My wife and I chose to have
a child ... so it was our choice for one of us to stop working. And
we lived in a suburb where we chose we could afford a house on one income. We don't
drive flash cars, we're a two-car house, and it was our choice...I
think people are scared to take responsibility sometimes for what they want to do. My
wife, at the moment, is a domestic goddess. She doesn't need to work, so she doesn't.
She can out-earn me about four times my income...per year, if she
chooses to work. But she's a psychologist, a psychiatrist, one of those
two...[S]he doesn't work, so she just stays at home, and manages the
house. And that's a full time job looking after the kids and looking after the house.
She states that that's a full time career choice for her.
194

Commitment is needed from both women and men to create genuine
choice

One contributor to the blog suggested that change requires a commitment from both
women and men to provide genuine choices:

I agree that both men and women are not commonly afforded 'real' choice when it
comes to sharing time in raising children and spending family time. I know there are
many surveys that reflect women's wants in this area, but is there data available that
would support men's claims that they would, ideally, prefer to work less and spend more
time at home? There will be little change in existing employment arrangements unless
both men and women are prepared to demand change. 195

4.3 Flexible work practices

4.3.1 What we heard

Listening Tour participants made very clear to the Commissioner the need for
employers not only to put in place flexible work practices, but to embrace them and
actively promote them at the highest levels. There was a strong view that the current
way work is structured favours the 'ideal worker' who is male, without any visible
caring responsibilities and able to exceed full time hours of work.

At the heart of flexible work needs to be a commitment to job redesign. Listening
Tour participants made it clear that where flexible work policies were an 'add on'
instead of built in to work practices across an organisation, they did not deliver.In
addition to job redesign, there is a need to shift organisational culture to make
flexible work mainstream. This requires leadership to model and champion flexible
work.

Some male participants told the Commissioner that whilst flexible work policies were
often available to them, unsupportive workplace cultures meant they did not take them
up. Many participants told us that unless women and men take up flexible work in equal
numbers, the male bread winner model will remain unchallenged and unchanged.

There is a fundamental mismatch between unpaid caring work and workplace
structures and practices

Many participants told the Commissioner that the structure of work does not take
into account the realities of people with caring responsibilities, referring to rigid
hours and the emphasis on 'presenteeism'. Given that women continue to undertake the
large majority of unpaid caring work, the current structure of work presents a
significant barrier to women's equal participation in the paid workforce.

One woman described her frustration with the difficulty she experienced finding work
that would allow her to fulfil her caring responsibilities:

I followed my husband around so wherever he has had a job I've had to either find a
job or just sit back and watch the world go by. It has been difficult because at
certain points of my life I've had a young child that I've really wanted to look after
or be with a little bit more then a full time job would allow me to be with her. So,
it's the inflexibility of the work place that I found really difficult to deal with. 196

One female participant commented on the artificial separation of caring from working
life, which shaped her own experiences of unpaid and paid work:

We need to see caring for children as a fact of life. Caring for children isn't very
well integrated into the workforce. When I was caring for [my] children I was totally
disconnected from the world of work. When I came back to work I wasn't able to fit in
breastfeeding into my work schedule. As a general attitude, women with children are not
accepted into the world. The only way I could see it happening is to have child care in
the workplace so mothers could drop out to breastfeed in the morning tea break.
Employers need to take on the responsibility of understanding what it is to be a parent
and what caring involves. The employer should [have] training to know the importance of
breastfeeding and importance of having kids around. 197

Another woman commented on this barrier between working and caring roles, by
pointing to the lack of understanding that employers in the mining industry have for
the family circumstances of their employees in fly in/fly out jobs:

Employers have very little understanding of the pressure this puts on families.
[With f]ly in/fly out work there is an] expectation that women will cope. There is no
respite for women - you're it! I regularly collapse[d] when my
husband got back. 198

A contributor to the Listening Tour blog made a similar comment about the divide
between public policy on work and family issues, specifically in relation to schooling.
The contributor points out that this mismatch pressures women into taking on full time
caring or part time working roles:

The great frustration for me is the big mismatch between so much public policy
relating to work and family... All state school students get twelve weeks leave each
year... But the mandatory leave provision for parents is only four weeks. This means
the vast majority of working parents cannot cover the leave of their children, and this
is a source of great anxiety when they are primary school age. The same with the
working day - there is a great mismatch between school hours and working hours, and
again this is the source of enormous stress. My family uses enormous amounts of
emotional resources just planning to ensure we are able to provide care for our
children around work - before we even begin to look at whether we can have time off
together as a family. This suggests [industrial relations] arrangements are still
written by men for men...and therefore assume the woman will either
remain at home or take a 'hobby' job so she can provide care in the hours and weeks
their children are on leave. 199

Flexibility in the workplace needs to be available to more
employees

One lesbian co-mother noted the particular obstacles encountered due to workplaces
not recognising her family responsibilities as a parent in a same-sex relationship:

My partner and I have an 8 month old baby. We are both women. Our plan was that we
would both work 3 days per week so that we could share the care of our daughter and
both still continue our careers. It hasn't been that simple - there is a dearth of
meaningful part time work available. .... And if it is hard for men,
it is just as hard, maybe harder, for a non-birth mum lesbian to have her family needs
recognised by her workplace. Unless you have a very progressive workplace it is hard to
be recognised as a 'real' parent, even though you have taken on all the real
responsibilities of parenting. 200

One employer said that flexibility needed to encompass a broad range of work and
life issues:

Flexibility [means the ability] to work under the terms that you want to work
- take an overseas trip, study commitments, family commitments.
These are important and [are] recognised as key retention issues. We need to think more
broadly to flexibility than just flexible work arrangements. [201]

Flexible work practices will also have the benefit of retaining mature age workers
and facilitating phased retirement. This will become necessary with the ageing
population and skills shortage. 202

The Working Women's Centre of South Australia raised menopause as a matter for
workplace flexibility. There are measures that can be put into place to support women
during this time including flexible work arrangements and access to natural light. This
highlights the need to recognise that flexible work arrangements will be necessary for
men and women at a number of different points in the lifecycle. [203]

Employers need to make a strong commitment to job redesign and
training

Generally, employers agreed on the business imperative to introduce and promote
flexible work and family friendly policies, particularly as an attraction and retention
strategy in the current climate of a skills shortage. Employers identified job redesign
as a priority issue and essential in delivering flexibility in the workplace. [204]

The need to adopt flexible work practices as a measure to attract and retain women
was recognised by one employer at the Adelaide Business Roundtable:

We've just picked up a staff member who we think will be very good, because she
couldn't work 5 days a week in another job...So I'm saying that the
smart businesses will pick up these really talented women. [205]

Another employer pointed out that re-evaluating the measurement of work outputs was
an essential part of job redesign and flexible work:

We need to rethink how we measure commitment to an organisation. As an input we have
traditionally measured time as opposed to value output. We need to be more creative in
our thinking. 206

Flexible work arrangements need to be modelled and championed at the highest
levels

Some participants observed that flexible work arrangements can be disadvantageous to
career advancement because they are not yet standard practice, nor completely embraced
by the organisational leadership. One woman commented on her fear of flexible work
hindering her career advancement:

It is difficult to make a choice and negotiate this choice without being
disadvantaged. For example, if I wanted to go flex [work flexible hours] I would not be
taken seriously and my [opportunities for] advancement would be diminished. [207]

The availability of flexible work arrangements is often dependent on supportive
individuals, rather than codified workplace policies. This can leave people vulnerable
when there is a change in management. On this point, one woman noted:

If you have an understanding employer you might be ok, but if you don't you'll be up
the creek without a paddle. It is so dependent on the relationship with the
[individual] employer. Policies and legislation should be put in place so that women
are not so vulnerable [when there is a change in management]. [208]

On the other hand, where flexible workplace policies do exist, some participants
noted that these policies are often not supported by workplace cultures. In one focus
group, participants remarked that policies do not often filter through to workplace
culture:

Policies are there but the workplace culture doesn't support flexibility. It's more
the looks you get when you leave to pick up the kids, and pressures in the work place. 209

Men can be particularly constrained by negative workplace cultures. A woman at the
Darwin community consultation said that her male partner worked full time because his
workplace culture pressured him to, despite it making more financial sense for her to
work full time:

You really have to push for work and family balance. I work part time so that I can
pick up the kids from work. It would work better for us financially if my partner
worked part time but his workplace culture won't allow it. He doesn't feel he can ask
for part-time hours because he's a male and it's outside the realms of the workplace
norm. 210

There was a strong emphasis on the need for senior leadership to support and
champion flexible work in order for it to become mainstream and accessible. One woman
made the case for role models of flexibility in her contribution to the Listening Tour
blog:

We would love it if my husband could also work flexibly to care for our son. I work
three days per week in the office; the other two I'm contactable but at home caring for
our 1 year old. My husband is a relatively junior member of the management team at his
company and while he is keen to change his days, he says that no other male at his
level or above works flexibly. A lack of role models means he is not so confident about
approaching [Human Resources] or his own manager to talk about the issue. It's awkward
for both men and women, because the time of your life when you're having kids is also
the time when you're trying to build your career and profile. ... Having role models -
who tell the warts and all story - makes a big difference. [211]

Men need to be supported and encouraged to take up flexible
work

Some Listening Tour participants told the Commissioner that current workplace
cultures do not support men taking up flexible work practices. There is still
significant pressure on men to be the primary breadwinner and adhere to the full time
'ideal worker' model. 212 One focus group participant suggested
that there was a difference between white collar and blue collar industries, with white
collar industries being more likely to support men in flexible work arrangements. 213

One woman's experience highlights the expectation on men to be the primary
breadwinner:

Culturally, it is really difficult for men to take up family friendly [work
arrangements]. When my child got chicken pox, we were going to each take a day off. But
when my husband rang his workplace, they said "who wears the pants in your family?" 214

Having senior men who are role models for flexibility encourages and supports other
men to take it up. One participant shared her husband's story of using flexible
practices because his manager did:

My husband worked under a manger who was a single father, he needed flexibility so
my husband was afforded flexibility. Modelling is very important. [215]

Importantly, if men are to take up flexible work in equal numbers to women, there is
a need to close the gender pay gap to avoid economic disadvantage. [216] When asked if there was one thing the Commissioner could do towards
gender equality, one participant pointed to the cultural change that was required for
men and women to use flexible work practices equally:

[I would like the Commissioner to advocate to] change the culture of Australia so
that women and men can balance their family responsibilities. We need equal access to
flexible work with no economic disadvantage. 217

There are a number of examples where men have taken up flexible work arrangements
successfully. One male focus group participant shared his experience of using flexible
work practices:

[W]hen we had our child my wife was earning more than I was so it made financial
sense, as well as her desire, [for me] to stay at home for a very short period of time.
I think we lasted about eight months. But I was lucky to have a fairly flexible working
arrangement where I could work from home two days a week and go in to the office the
other three days. 218

Some men expressed their desire to partake in a greater share of family
responsibilities and reiterated the need for employers to support this. When asked what
would be the ideal work and family arrangements one man responded that his ideal would
be "to work less, spend more time with the family, go to the sports days." He added
that when it came to spending time with his children "their mum does it all now". 219

There is strong evidence that flexible work can be beneficial to both the
employee and employer

Employers and employees who are using flexible work arrangements told us that when
flexibility is negotiated and meets the dual interests of the employer and employee, it
works effectively. 220

One manager commented on the need to think laterally in order to develop mutually
beneficial positions for employers and employees:

I've got a girl that actually started back with me today...she said, "These are the
shifts I can work", and I said, "Fine, good, no problem". And it fits around the child
care arrangements, around the arrangements with her husband, who's also in the
organisation. I think in 2008 we've got to think a bit more laterally than just
throwing them back into 8.00am to 4.00pm jobs or part time jobs...if
they want to work other hours. 221

A key obstacle to implementing flexible work practices is the misconception that
presenteeism delivers productivity. One participant suggested that there is an
underlying distrust in workplaces that if an employee moves outside of mainstream work
practices that they cannot be trusted to do their job. There is a lack of
acknowledgement amongst employers that productivity levels can go up if people are able
to work in a way that suits their lifestyle. 222

Participants suggested that employers need to be innovative and use
telecommunications and other technologies to enhance flexibility. One employer
commented that a change in attitude on the "out of sight, out of mind" philosophy is
required to achieve greater acceptance to flexible work. [223]

A Darwin based community organisation told the Commissioner that they had to
radically change their workplace culture because of a skills shortage. Due to limited
funding they were unable to offer staff competitive remuneration, but they have
introduced systems to allow people to work from home through remote access. This has
made a positive difference in recruiting and retaining skilled staff. The quality of
the work is better now and the reputation of the centre amongst stakeholders and
clients has improved. 224

4.3.2 Research and literature

The following research projects were brought to the attention of the Commissioner
during the Listening Tour.

Work and family balance

Marian Baird from the University of Sydney reported on her research with Damian
Oliver on the development of a Work and Family Index. An audit of all work and family
policies in the Australian States and Commonwealth has been undertaken and will be
released in early 2008 as the 'Work-Family Index - Where does
Australia Stand Globally?' This work will provide valuable comparative benchmarks of
Australia's public policy positions. 225

John Murray from the University of Sydney is undertaking doctoral research in the
area of work and family balance over the life cycle. Murray is conducting qualitative
interviews with individuals at different points in the life cycle to uncover the gender
differences in the way people anticipate being a parent and its impact on their paid
career progression. His preliminary findings suggest that gender is a key factor in
guiding decisions about parenting, with women feeling the pressure to choose between
paid work and family formations and men feeling the pressure to be primary
breadwinners. 226

The Centre for Work + Life at the University of South Australia has established the
Australian Work and Life Index, a national survey of work-life outcomes amongst working
Australians. The survey will be undertaken annually. 227

Work and family balance in the United Kingdom

Sarah Wise from the University of Sydney reported on research projects conducted in
the United Kingdom on work and life balance. Her review has focussed on how work and
life policies (parental leave, right to request, working time directive) have actually
been experienced. She has also researched workplace culture examining what makes a good
employee and a good employer organisation. Her research from the United Kingdom
highlights the need for integrated work and life policies rather than 'tack on' ones,
to ensure that policies continue to be implemented when resources are tight. [228]

4.3.3 Policy and project ideas

The following policy and project ideas were suggested by participants in the
Listening Tour.

1. Legislation should be introduced to make family-friendly working arrangements
   mandatory across the board. 229
2. Across the board training should be provided for managers on the practical
   implementation of job redesign. 230
3. There should bevisible role models in senior positions who are juggling work and
   family within workplace to encourage work and life balance. [231]
4. The International Labour Organisation Family Responsibilities Convention should
   be properly implemented and employers should be educated on its principles
   andapplication. 232
5. Cities should be made more livable and services, especially public transport,
   more accessible to make work and life balance easier. [233]
6. The right to refuse additional or excessive overtime should be considered
   alongside the right to request flexible work arrangements. [234]
7. Legislation should be introduced to ensure that every position has to be
   advertised as available on a flexible work arrangement. [235]
8. A minimum of six weeks of annual leave for parents should be provided, and
   opportunities for primary care givers to work split shifts or additional hours at
   home as a first step toward genuine family friendly hours. [236]
9. There should be a scheme where women and men can bank time, through salary
   sacrifice, which can be used for a broad range of things including family
   responsibilities. 237
10. Flexible work arrangements should be made available to mature age workers to
    change the nature and extent of their workforce participation. [238]

4.4 Availability of quality part time
work

4.4.1 What we heard

Listening Tour participants frequently cited the lack of quality part time work as a
barrier to women's workforce participation and career progression. [239] Issues raised in relation to this topic include the need for more
part time work to be available at senior levels, the need for employers to recognise
part time work as equally productive and for more men to take up part time work.

There is a lack of quality part time work

The availability of quality part time work was raised consistently for many women,
particularly those returning to work after caring for children or those wanting a
phased retirement. 240 One contributor shared her personal
difficulties in finding a permanent part time role:

Since the birth of my eldest ten years ago I have only ever seemed to have had the
option of short term contract work or full-on full-time jobs, so I have done countless
contracts for the sake of flexibility and had a lot of unemployment and job-hunting in
between...In all that time, I have never achieved my wish to find
permanent part-time work. If I had my time over I would not have missed the time with
my children but I have grieved for the loss of my career potential as I put the hard
yards in the early stages of my career and then missed out for ever after on meaningful
part-time roles. 241

Women also raised the issue of being deskilled when they took part time work, and
the lack of career progression opportunities. However, when asked what would be the
ideal work and family arrangements part time work remained the best current arrangement
for many women with caring responsibilities. One participant responded, "I would want
to work part time to keep my mind and skills up". 242

The perceptions of part time work as less productive or more costly to
employers need to be challenged

Amongst employers, there was a view that part time work presented both challenges
and opportunities. One manager pointed out that part time work "is a pain in the
neck...but you get people who want to hit the ground running and work
hard". 243 On the topic of job share, one employer noted the
difficulty of finding people with the same skills set who can work together. 244

Some participants held the view that part time work was not as productive as full
time work. 245 However, some challenged this perception with
one woman stating, "I've never worked so hard as when I job shared because you are
always looking out for the other person". 246

In a similar vein to flexible work, there was a view that unless men started to take
up part time work in larger numbers, it will remain undervalued and under acknowledged
by employers. 247

4.5 Sharing of unpaid work

4.5.1 What we heard

Closely linked to the topic of flexible work was the discussion of how caring
responsibilities and unpaid work is shared within families. Participants brought the
Commissioner's attention to the gendered assumptions and norms about caring and the
lack of social and economic value placed on unpaid work.

Gendered assumptions and norms influence everyday decisions in families

Although participants cited financial reasons as a basis for decision making around
sharing caring responsibilities, many also raised the gendered assumptions and norms
that influence everyday decisions in families. For example, one woman shared her
experience of "automatically" attending to a sick child:

We have a situation where our daughter was sick and I took an annual leave day to
look after her. Then a week later I was like, why did I just assume that role? Next
time, you're going to take the day off. It's just an automatic reaction. [248]

A male focus group participant commented on the "unspoken expectation" that "if
someone is going to stop work it's normally going to be mum". [249]

For many women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, the idea of
sharing family responsibilities was both amusing and unrealistic. One woman of Chinese
background said that her expectations were simpler.

If we don't argue and there is food in his plate... that will be already good. If my
husband doesn't ask me for food on his plate and for soup in his bowl that would be
really good. It has to be under the nose. 250

In a focus group with lesbian mothers, a researcher reported that for the majority
of lesbian families, both parents work part-time and share the care equally. One mother
reported that her children do not see a big difference between their two parents: "[w]e
both work, we both cook meals. So the modelling is very equal". 251

Some men argued that gendered assumptions and expectations are heavily ingrained and
unlikely to change even across generations. One young man in a focus group remarked on
his own upbringing and argued that traditional assumptions about gender will persist
well into the future:

[G]ranted my father was making more money than my mother who was quite a good
journalist too, but... and it sounds terrible, there is no way in the world he would
have stopped working because he was born in 1950 in Gundagai so he's the father, he
makes the money and she cooks the dinner, do you know what I mean by that? ... I don't
know whether everyone discloses that openly but I think there's an element of that in
all of us. And even when if I have children in 15 years time, while it may have been
beaten down in the present era of more equality and so on, I will still have that
belief because I just think you do. 252

Men want to undertake a greater share of caring
responsibilities

Some men reported wanting to undertake a greater share of caring responsibilities
and unpaid work, but felt impeded by rigid workplace cultures and social norms. 253 One example was provided where a man wanted to "go out from
work to pick up [his] children" but found it difficult because of the cultural
expectation placed on men to not be seen as caregivers. 254

One men's service provider organisation reported that men who undertake primary
caring responsibilities to support their female partners return to work often question
their role as men and their masculinity. He suggested that role models were important
to encourage men to feel proud about taking on caring responsibilities and unpaid work. 255

Male participants conveyed mixed reasons for wanting to undertake caring
responsibilities. One male participant wanted to spend more time with his children to
fulfil his own ambitions about fatherhood, not necessarily to share the load with his
partner:

I regretted not spending time with [my] children when [I] did night
school... You don't realize it until 20 years later when you've shot
yourself in the foot. It's not about the mother - I don't care about
her or relieving her of her duties. 256

Another man reflected on the idea that paid work was necessary to affirm masculinity
and male pride:

It's a self affirmation thing...the work you do [and] the income
you bring in...it's not a dividing thing between working and caring. 257

4.5.2 Research and literature

The following research projects were brought to the attention of the Commissioner
during the Listening Tour.

The distribution of unpaid work between men and women

Michael Bittman from the University of New England reported on his research
analysing time-use as a way of documenting the distribution of unpaid work between
women and men. His longitudinal and cross-sectional research found that men's time on
domestic and child care responsibilities is very resistant to change, but women's is
extremely variable in terms of their responsibilities to others. Based on the research,
he recommends three key policy instruments be implemented: family friendly labour
market measures; substitutes for unpaid work (whether provided by the market or by
government); and the tax transfer system. 258

The Universal Basic Income for unpaid work

Judith Willis from the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University explores the
idea of a Universal Basic Income, based on a system of reciprocity for unpaid work. Her
paper argues that a Universal Basic Income can contribute to gender equality by
'promoting equality based on sameness within a new norm for both men and women.' 259

4.5.3 Policy and project ideas

The following policy and project ideas were suggested by participants in the
Listening Tour.

1. There should be an early education campaign for young men around their role in
   caring responsibilities. 260
2. There should be a mentoring program for young fathers. 261
3. A public awareness and education campaign should be developed around the value of
   unpaid work to encourage more balanced sharing of responsibilities. 262
4. Communal caring systems should be introduced widely to encourage the sharing of
   care within communities. 263
5. The Catholic Bishops group were in favour of a 'family wage' to support one
   parent being able stay at home and one parent being able to work. They recommended
   that the minimum wage needs to be re-evaluated to assess whether a family can be
   supported by it. They argued that the current transfer payments system discriminates
   against a person who chooses to remain at home when children go to school. 264

4.6 Paid maternity leave

4.6.1 What we heard

The need for paid maternity leave was strongly supported throughout the Listening
Tour with the large majority of participants agreeing that it is a long overdue reform.
The points raised by participants in relation to paid maternity leave include: that
women outside of government and large corporations are currently missing out; that the
onus on businesses to pay leads to discrimination against women; and that there is a
need for workplace policies to support paid maternity leave.

Paid maternity leave is a basic right for working women and long
overdue

There was a view that paid maternity leave should be a basic right, in recognition
of the need for mothers to recover from childbirth and establish a bond with the baby,
and to redress the disadvantage that mothers experience in the workplace due to
motherhood. 265

One attendee at a community consultation shared her experience whilst overseas. She
gave birth to twins in Germany and got 15 months paid maternity leave with a
superannuation contribution. She said, "It is a disgrace that Australia has no paid
maternity leave. No improvement in [women's] workforce participation is possible
without it". 266

In a letter to the Commissioner one woman notes the cultural change that is needed
to support paid maternity leave:

The government needs to create the climate of acceptance [for paid maternity leave].
I was recently speaking to a Swedish man who employed something like one hundred people
[and] he said [about their paid maternity leave system],"It's only 2 years". We need
that same acceptance here. 267

There was a sense that it was possible to introduce paid maternity leave in
Australia without much fuss, but that the political will to do so is lacking. One
participant commented that "[w]e have the economy, we have the
system...all that is lacking is the political movement". [268]

Women who need paid maternity leave the most are currently missing
out

The women who currently have access to paid maternity leave are those working in
government or large corporations, leaving those women working in low paid industries,
small businesses or the community sector without. 269 One woman
commented that "[i]t's the very elite group in our society that gets paid maternity
leave, the average doesn't." 270

One woman working in the retail sector recounted her experience of having to go back
to work two days after giving birth:

The fact that we don't have paid maternity leave is a disgrace. When my second child
was born, my husband wasn't working, so I had to go back to work after a caesarean
after two days. I had no choice. It would make a huge difference if we got 14 weeks to
be able to physically recover. 271

Another woman spoke of having to work late into her pregnancy and then take annual
leave:

I worked up until I was 38 weeks pregnant then took 2 weeks of annual leave because
I didn't have access to paid maternity leave. 272

A participant at a community consultation raised her concerns about being able to
afford to live on one income without paid maternity leave:

We need government-funded [paid maternity leave] as a right. No longer can you pay a
mortgage on one income. 273

Paid maternity leave will help attract and retain skilled
labour

One employer reported to the Commissioner that he introduced paid maternity leave at
the request of staff because he wanted to create the best possible environment to
attract and retain quality staff. For this organisation, paid maternity leave is part
of a suite of family friendly and flexible work policies. The employer reported that
paid maternity leave makes it easier for women to move in and out of work, commenting
that "the benefits outweigh the costs by increasing productivity". 274

The National Foundation for Australian Women raised concerns about the loss of
superannuation, difficulties returning to work and reduced workforce attachment as some
of the problems associated with the lack of a paid maternity leave system. They argued
that the baby bonus doesn't contribute to addressing these issues. They referred to the
Swedish model as a good example, where payment for three years is provided to the
family and it is the family's decision on how it will be split up. 275

Current paid maternity leave proposals will not apply to contract workers or
the self employed

One women's group argued that paid maternity leave favours women in the paid
workforce who have been there for the required period of time to qualify, whilst
contract workers and self employed women missing out. 276 The
Women's Access Alliance said:

We are opposed to paid maternity leave because some women will never be eligible for
it. They may not be in the same employment for long enough. We need to allow [women] to
do whatever is best of their family. We need to increase the maternity payment and
direct some of it into superannuation. 277

Opposition to paid maternity leave is based upon the idea that children are
a personal or lifestyle choice

Some opponents believed that children were a personal or lifestyle choice and that
the government or employers should not bear the cost of this choice. One male
participant said, "Why should employers pay for a lifestyle choice?" 278

A contributor on the Listening Tour blog added the following view:

I'm not really sure I understand the idea behind paid maternity leave. To me, it is
completely unfair that government workers receive it whilst others don't except for the
small percentage in the private sector.... I fully agree in the need to have more
flexible working arrangements for all including parents, but that if you have a family
I can't see why employers/government should be financing it. 279

Requiring businesses to pay may lead to further discrimination against
women

There was also a concern raised that requiring business to provide paid maternity
leave would lead to further discrimination against women by employers. 280

4.6.2 Research and literature

The following research project was brought to the attention of the Commissioner
during the Listening Tour.

The use of parental leave in Australia

At the Sydney Academic Roundtable, Marian Baird reported on her research examining
the use of parental leave in Australia. 281 A survey of 3500
parents found that among parents who were in paid employment during the 12 months prior
to the birth, around 30 per cent of mothers and 35 per cent of fathers did not meet
criteria for eligibility for Australia's statutory 52 weeks of unpaid parental leave.
Reasons for non-eligibility included: self-employment; not being with the same employer
for 12 months prior to the birth; and not working for an employer for the full 12
months. Around one third of mothers who were employed in the period leading up the
birth accessed paid maternity leave. Less than one quarter of fathers who were employed
in the period leading up to the birth used paid paternity leave.

4.6.3 Policy and project ideas

The following policy and project ideas were suggested by participants in the
Listening Tour.

1. Legislation should be introduced to make paid maternity leave accessible across
   the board for all types of employees - permanent, temporary and casual. 282
2. If there is a government funded paid maternity leave scheme, employers should pay
   a minimum of 9 per cent superannuation contributions while women are on leave. 283
3. Government funded services and community organisations should be funded to
   provide the same paid maternity leave entitlements to their staff as government staff
   entitlements. 284
4. Women with less than 12 months prior service should be eligible for paid
   maternity leave. 285

4.7 Parental and paternity leave

4.7.1 What we heard

There was repeated support for parental and paternity leave throughout the Listening
Tour. Some held the view that an emphasis on parental leave was important to encourage
men to take up a greater share of caring responsibilities and therefore critical to
achieving gender equality. Some participants argued that a non-gendered approach was
necessary to break the entrenched male primary breadwinner model. 286

Paid parental leave will provide greater decision making capacity to parents
about paid work and caring

A young female focus group participant said that paid parental leave was the next
step forward from paid maternity leave:

I would like to see paid parental leave, not just paid maternity leave. There's a
lot of campaigning going on at the moment for paid maternity leave, and a lot of the
women's groups and the politicians say that we need that as a first step. I think we
need to go bigger and broader than that, and it needs to be paid parental leave for
both parents. 287

One woman highlighted that parental leave gives greater decision making capacity to
the family about who stays at home and who is in paid work:

[We need to r]emove the label 'maternity' leave...why not have it
available to both genders? I still think that the woman can come back to work [after
child birth] - I came back from having my baby after three days. 288

A blog contributor highlighted the need for equality between women's and men's paid
leave entitlements so as to prevent discrimination against women:

I do have concerns as to not having equal paternity and maternity leave. The danger
in women being entitled to a greater period of leave to that of men is that employers
may look less to employing women over men as women would have more time off work and
thus the employer lose[s] a particular skill set/employee during that period. I would
hope that there would be an equal maternity and paternity leave of say 3 months each
for both parents or, alternatively, a shared caring scheme of some sort. In any case,
any scheme should ensure that women are not disadvantaged over men in their search for
work. 289

Men want paid paternity leave to support their role as fathers

A men's advocate group brought attention to the need to ensure that parental leave
is considered alongside paid maternity leave:

Our new fathers...talk about physically aching at being away from
their new babies - at the pain of missing the first step, the first word. A national
system of paid parental leave is long overdue. However, establishing a paid maternity
leave scheme without a simultaneous parallel paternity leave scheme will simply serve
to reinforce the old "female home-maker, male breadwinner" roles that have served
modern society so poorly. 290

In a male focus group, when asked about the availability and use of paid paternity
leave, most men who had access to paid paternity leave took it although nobody took
unpaid leave when a child was born. 291

One contributor to the blog shared his experience of becoming a new parent:

My wife had the benefit of paid maternity leave (12 weeks) and it really helped.
Friends who don't have such things find it much harder - one mother I know went back to
work in about a month which was too soon for her. It's pretty tough in the first few
months especially for new mothers so anything the government can do would help... As
for paternity leave - 2 weeks is a good help - many fathers take annual leave to be
around to help out, so this [would be] welcome, also if it was mandated and government
paid then it'd get around hard case employers rejecting the leave. It's not a huge
amount of time off for the dads but I think it's worth pushing for in the beginning. 292

4.7.2 Policy and project ideas

The following policy and project ideas were suggested by participants in the
Listening Tour.

1. A government funded paid parental leave scheme that includes fathers should be
   introduced. 293
2. A paid parental leave system should include equal entitlements for women and men. 294
3. There should be a minimum of one month's paid leave for fathers that can be taken
   at any time in the first 12 months of a child's life. [295]

4.8 Child care

4.8.1 What we heard

The cost, availability and quality of child care were raised consistently during the
Listening Tour. Participants indicated to us that the rising cost of child care was
influencing decisions about women's paid workforce participation. Many were finding it
difficult to find before and after school care. Many people are increasingly relying on
grandparents and other informal types of care. Some parents also commented about the
social pressures placed on them not to place their children in child care.

The cost and limited availability of quality child care is placing a serious
financial burden on parents, often influencing their decisions about paid
work

Many women put forward the cost of child care as a major barrier to paid workforce
participation. 296 One woman noted the particular difficulties
around the cost of child care for low paid workers:

You often lose that [financial] independence just with child care fees. I work in
child care that charges about sixty-six or seventy dollars. I was amazed. If you work
in a lower paying job then it does hurt. You might as well think of giving up your job
and caring for your child. 297

One man likened the cost of child care to paying another mortgage:

I'm from North Queensland, so we don't have any family here...long
day care is not cheap, we have two [children] there now, 3 days a week, $65 per day per
child... We are effectively paying another mortgage. 298

Another man explained that the cost of child care could mean that both parents
working created a financial loss for a family:

The cost of child care and not having that family support, outweighs the dramas that
go with having to go to work. There's one period of time where I know Anne was working,
and it was costing more with child care, parking and whatever, for her to work. 299

One participant claimed that child care benefits made it more affordable:

My experience is that people think child care is more expensive than it really is
because once you work out the child care benefit etc, it's not as bad as it
looks...[You n]eed to sit down and do the sums before you make
assumptions about what is affordable. 300

One woman reminded us of the internal struggle that many women face in deciding to
enrol their children to child care:

Choice about child care is huge for every woman. It is an emotional and economic
conflict. In a community that is conservative you are seen as not a good mother if you
use child care. Also is not worth the money. [For me, the] balance is $10 a week extra
and [it is] not worth it [to] not to be with my child. 301

In addition to the cost, many parents raised their concerns about the availability
of child care. One woman commented on her decision to work part time instead of full
time for this reason:

My daughter has just gone into child care. I wanted to go back to work full-time but
I could only get child-care three days a week so I had to go back part-time. 302

Families are increasingly using grandparents and other informal networks for
child care

Many parents were seeking assistance from grandparents to save on child care costs
and make ends meet. Grandparents commented on the financial and health stresses
stemming from this, impacting on grandmothers in particular. 303

One contributor to the blog wrote of his family's reliance on grandparents for
help:

We're lucky that the grandparents can take our kid for a day a week, saving us a
fair bit on child care each year, as well as giving them more contact with the baby. It
does bother me that we're sucking up their time and I guess it will get worse when he
goes to school and we run out of holidays. I can't really see much else of a solution
though - child care is barely affordable as it is. 304

Another woman emphasised the stress on her mother of undertaking extra caring
responsibilities:

Without my mother providing me with practical support supporting my children and
buying clothes from them, I wouldn't survive. But there is a lot of stress for my mum
too in supporting eight grandchildren all up. 305

The Anti-Discrimination Commission in Tasmania has observed a number of older women
taking part-time work to care for their grandchild while the mother goes to work
full-time and cannot afford child care. They noted the detrimental impact on the
finances of the grandmothers in this situation. 306

At the Perth community consultation one participant commented that "there are now a
whole generation of women who have raised their children and then they find themselves
with another unpaid role". She added that many of these grandmothers may have other
caring and community responsibilities too. 307

Parents are having difficulty in finding before and after school
care

The hours of full time work present a challenge for parents of school age children,
particularly those with limited access to before and after school care. One participant
from the ACT noted, "The 9am to 3pm school hours are difficult. Someone has to pick
[the kids] up. Picking kids up from pre-school is hard too". 308

A participant in the Launceston community consultation drew attention to the
problems with accessing before and after school care in regional areas of Tasmania. 309 In Melbourne, a participant at the community consultation
emphasised the point that care responsibilities don't stop with babies and that
adolescents often need more care:

The belief that once kids are at school, [the need for child care is] all over is
clearly mistaken. 310

4.8.2 Research and literature

The following research project was brought to the attention of the Commissioner
during the Listening Tour.

Child care policy in Australia

In their book, Kids Count: Better early childhood education and care in
Australia, Barbara Pocock and Elizabeth Hill have examined the structure of
Australia's system of early childhood education and care, in particular the
relationship between Commonwealth expenditure (amount and structure) and its impact on
measures to improve the quality of services. 311

4.8.3 Policy and project ideas

The following policy and project ideas were suggested by participants in the
Listening Tour.

1. The taxation of onsite child care should be reviewed as well as accounting
   systems so that child care can be considered as part of running costs for
   organisations. 312
2. Education departments should review school hours and school holidays to better
   fit with working life. 313
3. A public awareness and education campaign for affordable, quality and accessible
   child care should be developed. 314

4.9 Carers

4.9.1 What we heard

The need for greater support of carers of people with disability and older people
was raised in a number of states. 315 Given the large majority
of carers are women, this is a significant issue relating to gender equality.
Participants told the Commissioner of the need to extend workplace flexibility to all
carers, the inadequacy of carer payments, and the limited services in regional areas
placing extra pressure on carers. These were highlighted as problems that would
intensify in the face of the rapidly ageing population.

Carers are under personal and financial stress

One participant in the Launceston community consultation shared her mother's
experience, highlighting the personal cost of being a carer:

The lives of carers are affected by what is going on in the lives of the person they
are caring for like how well they are at that time. Carer Payments are inadequate
especially to pay for all the health problems of the person being cared for and it ends
up costing the carer. My mother cannot contemplate working even part time because she
is the sole carer of my brother. If she wants to go away for a while or go on holiday
it is very expensive. My mother got quotes for private support between $8,000 and
$32,000 and the care needed by my brother is not 24 hour care. 316

She also described the difficulty of accessing disability services due to services
being cut back to metropolitan areas only. The limited availability of services places
an additional burden on carers in regional areas. 317

At the Perth community consultation, one woman brought attention to the need for
appropriate aged care services for culturally and linguistically diverse people. She
found it difficult for her mother to access mainstream services because she spoke
limited English. She said:

I had to juggle six respite arrangements. Only one could speak my mother's language.
In the end I was lucky enough to have an employer who gave me twelve months leave.
There is an assumption that carers will give up work and not have a career to care. We
need services that are appropriate for culturally and linguistically diverse people,
and we need support to care for people ourselves. 318

Carers need the right to request flexible work

Carers Australia reported that there are 2.6 million family carers and 500,000 are
primary carers. Of these, 70 per cent are women. The caring role is calculated to be
worth $30.5 billion to the Australian economy. Carers Australia raised the need for
workplaces' flexibility policies to extend to carers as well as parents. They also
noted their concern with the government's proposed National Employment Standards, where
the right to request flexible work conditions is limited to parents of young children
only. 319

To assist the workforce participation of carers, Carers ACT (Australian Capital
Territory) has initiated an employee carers' program where a worker is sent into the
workplace to act as a mediator between employer and carer/employee to negotiate
flexible work arrangements. The program has been running for twelve months with only
two workers. There is large demand for this program and a backlog which demonstrates
the need for broad legal protection against discrimination for carers as well as a
legislated right to request flexible work conditions. 320

4.9.2 Research and literature

The following research projects were brought to the attention of the Commissioner
during the Listening Tour.

Workplace support for carers

The Taskforce on Care Costs has found that current Government services and workplace
support for working carers is inadequate, leading to reduced levels of workforce
participation. 321 Research from a Newspoll survey and various
focus groups found that 34 per cent of carers said their job or career had suffered
because of the competing demands of their caring responsibilities and 44 per cent of
carers chose a role below their skill level to give them the flexibility they
require.

Caring and the ageing population

The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling conducted a study for Carers
Australia projecting the future demand for and supply of informal carers of older
persons (persons aged 65 years and over) in Australia. 322 The
impetus for the study was changing trends in terms of the ageing of Australia's
population and a change in the balance of care, from formal care to informal care
provided in homes. The study projected a significant increase in the numbers of older
persons likely to need informal care in Australia between 2001 and 2031 along with a
smaller increase in the numbers likely to be carers. The study projected that carers
will remain predominantly female changing from 71 per cent female in 2001 to 68 per
cent female in 2031.

The health and wellbeing of carers

The Australian Centre of Quality of Life at Deakin University has undertaken the
largest ever survey into the health and wellbeing of Australian carers. [323] Carers have been found to have the lowest collective wellbeing of
any group yet studied. More than one third of carers were found to be severely or
extremely severely depressed. More than one third of carers were found to be
experiencing severe or extreme stress. More than half of the respondents had a
household income less than $30,000 per annum. Even carers in fulltime employment have a
$7,200 deficit in household income compared with the national population

4.9.3 Policy and project ideas

The following policy and project ideas were suggested by participants in the
Listening Tour.

1. A twelve month carers' leave scheme similar to maternity leave should be
   introduced. 324 A contribution to superannuation should be
   made by employers when employers are on carers' leave. [325]
2. A DVD or other educational resource should be distributed widely to workplaces
   and employers to communicate the specific issues and flexibility requirements for
   carers. 326
3. Training should be provided for employers on flexible work and carers
   highlighting the potential benefits of providing flexible work arrangements. [327]
4. Federal legislation should be introduced to protect carers from discrimination. 328
5. There should be a review of current carers' leave provisions to examine whether
   they are adequate in providing necessary support for carers. [329]

4.10 Hours of work

4.10.1 What we heard

Long hours of work, particularly for men, are having an impact on women's and men's
ability to share family responsibilities. For both male and female low paid workers,
participants reported the need to work long hours to meet the cost of living. [330] This has flow on effects to being able to manage caring
responsibilities.

Long hours are ingrained in workplace culture

One male participant from the financial services sector commented on workplace
culture as an important factor in encouraging long hours of work:

Long hours are addictive. Working sixty hours a week becomes normal. In June we have
a big spike of work around eighty to ninety hours a week but in August we tell people
to go back to normal hours... Absenteeism in July, August and
September is huge because everyone is sick. 331

When asked what would be the ideal work and family arrangements one man commented,
"Even an eight hour working day would be ideal." 332

A focus group participant highlighted the irony of many men working long hours to
get ahead so that they can have time with the family. He said that many men feel locked
into working long hours to provide for their families as the primary breadwinner. 333

One contributor to the blog discussed working hours and the need for employees to
have control over their hours of work:

When we stop being an economy and return to being a society, then we have a chance
at recovering our lives. At the moment, far too many people are doing the work of one
and a half people on one person's pay. [They are doing] 45-60 hours per week on 38
hours pay. And they're the 'lucky' ones... For an economy with a
supposed shortage of workers, workers have very little real power or capacity to
control their own lives. This is true of so-called 'knowledge workers' as well as
unskilled. 334

Some employers also recognised that there is a growing trend of job intensification
alongside an increase in working hours. This has significant impacts on the ability of
employees to manage paid work and family responsibilities. [335]

4.11 Job security

4.11.1 What we heard

The Commissioner heard that job insecurity, particularly in low paid industries, is
increasing the pressure on individuals balancing work and family because of financial
worries.

Job insecurity is placing additional pressure on families

One man commented on feeling the pressure to be the primary breadwinner, a stress
exacerbated by job insecurity:

It is a stress, always at the back of my mind because it could happen. I could lose
my job...I have worries about how my family will eat. [336]

In the same focus group, another participant raised his concerns about providing for
his family in the event that he is injured at work:

If we get sick badly we don't get sick pay and insurance doesn't kick in for two
weeks so there's no pay for the family. 337

Women in low paid work have limited bargaining power and are vulnerable to
job insecurity

Asian Women at Work reported that WorkChoices has contributed to a significant fear
amongst workers about losing their job. They said that this fear about job security
meant that they do not question poor employment conditions or ask for pay rises. 338

Some migrant women workers spoke of their fear of ringing in to say that their
children are sick:

Many workers feel a great fear to ring up the employer to say I can't come in because
children are sick. And if you ring up on a Friday or Monday, then you don't get paid.
It is so difficult to get work, and we don't feel able to negotiate. 339

Women in the care industries expressed their concerns about their job security,
despite the skills shortage in this area. They said it was common for management to
threaten their jobs if they asked for any flexibility. 340

4.12 Bibliography

Asian Women at Work Action Group, 'Workplace Issues for Migrant Women Workers and
Responses Needed from Federal Government' (2007)

Australian Bureau of Statistics, How Australians Use Their Time, 2006, Cat no.
4153.0, (2008)

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Pregnancy and Employment Transitions,
Australia, Cat no. 4913.0 (2005)

Cummins, Robert, Hughes, Joan et al, 'The Wellbeing of Australians - Carer Health
and Wellbeing' (Australian Centre of Quality of Life, Deakin University, 2007)

Hill, Elizabeth and Pocock, Barbara 'The Childcare Policy Challenge in Australia' in
B Pocock and A Elliot E Hill (ed), Kids Count: Better early childhood education and
care in Australia (2007)

Kelly, Simon and Percival, Richard 'Who's going to Care? Informal Care and an Ageing
Population' (National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, 2004)

Taskforce on Care Costs, '2007 Report The Hidden Face of Care: Combining Work and
Caring Responsibilities for the Aged and People With a Disability' (Taskforce on Care
Costs, 2007 )

Whitehouse G, Baird M, Diamond C and Hosking A 'The Parental Leave in Australia
Survey: November 2006 Report' (University of Queensland, 2006)

Willis, Judith 'Financing Transitional Labour Markets: Factoring In Unpaid Work - Do
We Need a Universal Basic Income?' (Paper presented at the 'Transitions and Risk: New
Directions in Social Policy' Conference, Centre for Public Policy, University of
Melbourne, 2005)

Women's Electoral Lobby Australia Inc., '2007 Federal Election: the Issues at Stake'
(2007)

Working Women's Centre of South Australia, 'Notes from workshop on Pregnancy,
Menopause and Work-Life Balance' (2007)

^top

---

[184]Jane, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website

Australian Bureau of Statistics, How Australians
Use Their Time, 2006, Cat no. 4153.0, (2008)

[186]Australian Bureau of Statistics, Pregnancy and
Employment Transitions, Australia, Cat no. 4913.0 (2005)

[187]G Whitehouse et al, The Parental Leave in
Australia Survey: November 2006 Report (2006)

[188]Australian Bureau of Statistics,
‘Australian Social Trends 2006' Cat No 4102.0 (2006)

[189]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Adelaide Community Consultation' (2007)

[190]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 1 (2007)

[191]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 4 (2008)

[192]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[193]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Salisbury City Community Consultation, South Australia' (2007)

[194]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 4' (2008)

[195]Anonymous, Blog entry (2008) at 31 January
2008

[196]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 4 (2008)

[197]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[198]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[199]Anonymous, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights
and Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 10 February 2008

[200]EH and KH, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights
and Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 29 January 2008

[201]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Sydney Community Consultation' (2007)

[202]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[203]Working Women's Centre of South Australia, 'Notes
from workshop on Pregnancy, Menopause and Work-Life Balance' (2007)

[204]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Equal Opportunity Practitioners Association, Brisbane. '
(2008)

[205]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[206]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Business Roundtable' (2008)

[207]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Murray Bridge Community Consultation, South Australia' (2007)

[208]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[209]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 4 (2008)

[210]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[211]Kate, Blog entry (2007) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 26 November 2007

[212]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Dads on the Air, Men's Health Information & Research Centre and
other' (2008)

[213]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Men's focus group 6 (2008)

[214]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[215]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Salisbury City Community Consultation, South Australia' (2007)

[216]See ‘Economic Independence for
Women' for more detailed findings on this topic.

[217]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[218]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 3' (2007)

[219]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 1' (2007)

[220]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Adelaide Business Consultation with CEDA' (2007); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission, 'CEDA CFO Forum' (2008); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Chamber of Commerce Business Roundtable' (2007); Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission, 'Melbourne Business Roundtable' (2008)

[221]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 4' (2008)

[222]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Brisbane Community Consultation' (2008)

[223]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Business Roundtable' (2008)

[224]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[225]Marian Baird, 'Summary of research for Sydney
Academic Roundtable' (University of Sydney, 2007)

[226]John Murray, 'Summary of research for Sydney
Academic Roundtable' (University of Sydney, 2007); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission, 'Notes from Sydney Academic Roundtable, co hosted by Women and Work
Research Group,' (2007)

[227]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Adelaide Academic Roundtable co-hosted by the Centre for Work and Life, University
of South Australia' (2007)

[228]Sarah Wise, 'Summary of research for Sydney Academic
Roundtable' (University of Sydney, 2007)

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 'Notes from Sydney Academic
Roundtable, co hosted by Women and Work Research Group,' (2007)

[229]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Adelaide Community Consultation' (2007)

[230]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[231]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 3 (2007)

[232]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[233]The Australian Federation of University Women Inc.,
'March 2008 Submission to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner' (2008)

[234]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Sara Charleworth, RMIT' (2008)

[235]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Brisbane Community Consultation' (2008)

[236]Anonymous, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights
and Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 10 February 2008

[237]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Equal Opportunity Practitioners Association, Brisbane. '
(2008)

[238]Email from Council on the Ageing Queensland to
Elizabeth Broderick, 18 April 2008.

[239]See ‘Economic Independence for
Women' for further detailed findings on this topic.

[240]Email from Anonymous to Elizabeth Broderick, 28
January 2008.

[241]Jane, Blog entry (2007) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 5 December 2007

[242]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Murray Bridge Community Consultation, South Australia' (2007)

[243]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[244]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[245]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 3' (2007)

[246]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[247]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[248]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 1 (2007)

[249]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 3' (2007)

[250]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 2 (2007)

[251]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 8 (2008)

[252]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 3' (2007)

[253]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Brisbane Community Consultation' (2008)

[254]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Mackay Community Consultation, Queensland' (2008)

[255]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Men's focus group 6 (2008)

[256]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[257]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[258]Michael Bittman, 'Summary of research for Sydney
Academic Roundtable' (University of New England, 2007); Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission, 'Notes from Sydney Academic Roundtable, co hosted by Women
and Work Research Group,' (2007)

[259]Judith Willis, 'Financing Transitional Labour
Markets: Factoring In Unpaid Work - Do We Need a Universal Basic Income?' (Paper
presented at the 'Transitions and Risk: New Directions in Social Policy' Conference,
Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne, 2005)

[260]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[261]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Men's focus group 6 (2008)

[262]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Adelaide Business
Consultation (2007)

[263]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[264]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[265]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 8 (2008); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 'Perth Community Consultation'
(2008)

[266]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[267]Letter to Elizabeth Broderick, 5 February
2008

[268]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[269]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Unions Tasmania' (2007)

[270]Adelaide Community Consultation

[271]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[272]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Chamber of Commerce Business Roundtable' (2007)

[273]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Adelaide Community Consultation' (2007)

[274]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 'CEDA
CFO Forum' (2008)

[275]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with National Women's Secretariats' (2007)

[276]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[277]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Sydney Community Consultation' (2007)

[278]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[279]Anonymous, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights
and Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 7 March 2008

[280]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[281]M Baird, G Whitehouse, C Diamond C and A Hosking
'The Parental Leave in Australia Survey: November 2006 Report' (University of
Queensland, 2006)

[282]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Brisbane Community Consultation' (2008); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission, 'Meeting with Equal Opportunity Practitioners Association, Brisbane. '
(2008); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 'Melbourne Community
Consultation' (2008)

[283]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Equal Opportunity Practitioners Association, Brisbane. ' (2008); Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[284]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Darwin Community
Consultation (2008)

[285]Women's Electoral Lobby Australia Inc., '2007
Federal Election: the Issues at Stake' (2007)

[286]The Australian Federation of University Women Inc.,
'March 2008 Submission to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner' (2008)

[287]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 1 (2007)

[288]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 4 (2008)

[289]Chris, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 21 February 2008

[290]Greg Andreson et al, 'Issues for Australian Men and
Boys: Briefing paper for meeting with Ms Elizabeth Broderick Sex Discrimination
Commissioner and Commissioner Responsible for Age Discrimination' (2008)

[291]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[292]Rad Dad, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 27 February 2008

[293]  The Australian Federation of University Women
Inc., 'March 2008 Submission to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner' (2008)

[294]Chris, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 21 February 2008

[295]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Men's focus group 6 (2008)

[296]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Mackay Community Consultation, Queensland' (2008)

[297]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 1 (2007)

[298]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[299]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 4' (2008)

[300]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Salisbury City Community Consultation, South Australia' (2007)

[301]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Murray Bridge Community Consultation, South Australia' (2007)

[302]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Canberra Community Consultation' (2008)

[303]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Mackay Community Consultation, Queensland' (2008); Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission, 'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[304]Rad Dad, Blog entry (2008) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 4 March 2008

[305]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women's Corporation, Redfern, NSW'
(2007)

[306]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Anti Discrimination Commission, Tasmania' (2007)

[307]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[308]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Canberra Community Consultation' (2008)

[309]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[310]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[311]Barbara Pocock and Elizabeth Hill, 'The Childcare
Policy Challenge in Australia' in B Pocock A Elliot and E Hill (ed), Kids Count:
Better early childhood education and care in Australia (2007); Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission, 'Notes from Sydney Academic Roundtable, co hosted by
Women and Work Research Group,' (2007)

[312]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 'CEDA
CFO Forum' (2008)

[313]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[314]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Business Roundtable' (2008)

[315]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Canberra Community Consultation' (2008); Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission, 'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007); Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission, 'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[316]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[317]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Launceston Community Consultation' (2007)

[318]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Perth Community Consultation' (2008)

[319]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Carer's Australia, Canberra' (2008)

[320]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Canberra Community Consultation' (2008)

[321]Taskforce on Care Costs, '2007 Report The Hidden
Face of Care: Combining Work and Caring Responsibilities for the Aged and People With
a Disability' (Taskforce on Care Costs, 2007 )

[322]Simon Kelly and Richard Percival, 'Who's going to
Care? Informal Care and an Ageing Population' (National Centre for Social and
Economic Modelling, 2004)

[323]Joan Hughes Robert Cummins et al, 'The Wellbeing of
Australians - Carer Health and Wellbeing' (Australian Centre of Quality of Life,
Deakin University, 2007)

[324]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[325]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Equal Opportunity Practitioners Association, Brisbane. '
(2008)

[326]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Carer's Australia, Canberra' (2008)

[327]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Carer's Australia, Canberra' (2008)

[328]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Carer's Australia, Canberra' (2008)

[329]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Melbourne Community Consultation' (2008)

[330]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 6 (2008)

[331]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 3' (2007)

[332]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 5' (2008)

[333]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Men's focus group 6 (2008)

[334]Steven, Blog entry (2007) Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission Listening Tour website at 27 November 2007

[335]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Meeting with Equal Opportunity Practitioners Association, Brisbane. '
(2008)

[336]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 1' (2007)

[337]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission,
'Men's focus group 1' (2007)

[338]Asian Women at Work Action Group, 'Workplace Issues
for Migrant Women Workers and Responses Needed from Federal Government'
(2007)

[339]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 5 (2008)

[340]Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sex Discrimination Commissioner's Listening Tour - Women's focus group 6 (2008)