Page 559 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 19 May 1992
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equal status with men. Mr Michael Lavarch, MP, who was chair of the inquiry committee, concluded:
Women are at best only half way to being equal.
He provided some startling statistics, and I would like to enumerate some of them: Firstly, women's wages are currently, on average, 87 per cent of those of men; more than half of the women in the paid work force in Australia earn less than $21,000 per annum, while two-thirds of men have an income greater than $21,000; and Australia's senior business managers, public servants and professionals are five to 10 times more likely to be men than women. Mr Lavarch commented:
Evidence suggests that indirect discrimination is rife in both the public and private sectors. While the operation of EEO programs and related sex discrimination legislation has achieved much in improving women's equality of opportunity, the committee however expected greater gains, for instance, in the public sector given the apparent successful implementation of EEO programs.
Of course, Madam Speaker, women who are of non-English-speaking background, who are Aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders or who have a disability are often doubly disadvantaged and are even less well represented in the workplace than men of those groups. Further steps are needed to relieve the effects of past discrimination, to eliminate present discrimination and to ensure that future discrimination does not occur.
This Government is committed to social justice. This commitment is spelt out at the beginning of the ACT Labor Party policy platform and includes equity in the elimination of disadvantage caused by unequal distribution of economic resources and power, as well as industrial rights, and equality in ensuring the effective exercise of these rights. Fundamental to this is the provision of equal opportunity in gaining employment and advancing in it.
Madam Speaker, the Government believes that equal employment opportunity makes good business sense. We are not advocating that people get jobs, or advance in them, because of their gender, culture, race, or physical or mental attributes. Equal employment opportunity aims to allow access to the full range of applicants and encourages open competition so that the best person is chosen for the position, giving the ACT an efficient and productive work force.
These Bills complete the legislative framework underpinning the Government's policy to promote equality of opportunity in the work force and provide the basis for the consistent implementation of EEO principles and practices across the ACT Government Service. However, our policy already recognises the point that Mr Lavarch made - that legislation and programs alone are not enough. We want to go further and change attitudes within the workplace to value diversity, especially the need for positive measures to develop an appreciation and understanding of different blends of values, cultures, races and gender.
We will introduce further training for managers and selection committee members. We have also released a practical guide for managers to implement EEO in the workplace. Although we are changing the face of employment in the ACT Government Service, we have a long way to go. Diversity within the work
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