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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 5 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1320 ..

MS DUNDAS (continuing):

The 1998 pay equity case in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission compared skills and wages of beauty therapists to those of mechanics, and compared the skill levels and wages of librarians with those of geoscientists and did a case study comparing pay rates of child-care workers in private sector long day care with engineering assistants in the metal industry.

These cases found that the work of female dominated occupations had been substantially undervalued relative to so-called male occupations requiring similar levels of skill. Although a number of factors contribute to this pay disparity, it is reasonable to conclude that sex discrimination is part of the story.

The solution to this problem is quite complex and will almost certainly require new approaches from the federal government. Child care must be accessible and affordable, so reform of career paths and remuneration must proceed with great care. The ACT government could progress reform of the sector, as they are doing, by undertaking a review of the problems in the sector and identifying priorities for reform.

It is obvious why a skilled diploma graduate worker would not want to stay in a job that pays only $11.65 per hour. But we need to know whether this is the biggest reason for the shortage in skilled child-care workers or whether there are any other problems that need to be addressed. We also need reliable data on the scope of the staffing shortage and the number of child-care graduates who are leaving the sector.

Sustainability of the child-care industry is important, because if child-care places fail to meet demand, or if places become unaffordable for families who want to access care, it will be predominantly women who are denied the right to work.

No-one has properly costed the contribution of the child-care industry to Australia's economy, and the contribution to the lives of women on a personal level may never be quantified. An examination of these broader issues is what we are calling for today.

It is time we got the child-care industry on a sustainable footing, underpinned by a profession in which workers are recognised and respected.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations) (3.39): Ms Dundas' motion is a timely one and one the government welcomes. In recent months I have become increasingly aware of the difficulty child-care services are facing in recruiting and retaining staff, particularly qualified staff. This is a concern to me personally but also to the government as a whole.

I announced earlier today that the ACT government will be undertaking a project to examine the issues associated with recruiting and retaining staff in child care and related work force planning issues. This is work which has been under way in the ACT government for some time.

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