Page 4475 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 19 November 1991
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I am referring to the artillery corps, the armoured corps and the engineers. It is stated in these rather glossy brochures. It seems to me that the only one of the services in which women are allowed to enter this Ready Reserve program is the Army. This means that, under this new scheme, two-thirds of the services are not available to that is, women are not able to enlist under the Ready Reserve scheme in either the RAAF or the Navy. For example, as I have already indicated, the RAAF recruitment pamphlet says:
What does it take to get in? You'll have to be male ...
This statement would appear to be in conflict with the proposed legislation that is before us, because clause 7 states:
This Act applies to discrimination on the ground of any of the following attributes:
(a) sex;
(b) sexuality;
... ... ...
In relation to unlawful discrimination, in subclause 10(1), it says:
It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person -
(a) in the arrangements made for the purpose of determining who should be offered employment;
... ... ...
(c) in the terms or conditions on which employment is offered.
So, it would seem that, once this proposed legislation is passed and becomes law, unless there is equivalent Federal legislation to override it, employment within the Ready Reserve will be in breach of the ACT discrimination Bill, as I like to call it. We could argue that this scheme, therefore, is aimed essentially at promoting male occupancy of positions within military and civilian life because the scheme promotes the idea that personnel involved in the Ready Reserve are able to have success in civilian careers.
Does this very important proposal, which was launched by the Prime Minister, mean that women are to be denied additional assistance in gaining employment? That is a very interesting point that I think we should consider because, as I have already indicated, the RAAF policy says
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