Work +Family Policy Roundtable Submission to Thevictorian Government S
11 December2015
Work +Family Policy Roundtable Submission to theVictorian Government’s
Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work
Professor Anthony Forsyth
Chair of Inquiry
Email:
Dear Professor Forsyth,
The Work and Family Policy Roundtable (W+FPR) is pleased to make a brief submission to the current Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work. As set out in the following pages, the Roundtable is made up of researchers with expertise on work and family policy. Its goal is to propose, comment upon, collect and disseminate research to inform good evidence-based public policy in Australia. We currently have 31 members from 18 Australian universities and research institutions.
The W+FPR has had a long interest in employment regulation and practice and has been particularly concerned with the trades-offs in terms of insecure work (in the form of casual work, degraded part-time work and increasingly, via sham contracting) many worker-carers make to be able to meet their care responsibilities. Work-family and gender-based research evidence reveals an Australian system which lags behind the requirements of the changing workforce and results in unintended consequences as workers and employers attempt to ‘morph’ their arrangements around existing workplace regulation.[1]The regulation of employment and the extent to which this regulation is enforced and monitored at both federal and state levels is critical to the wellbeing of women and men and – beyond work - to children and the nature and health of our communities. It is also critical to labour supply, fairness and the productivity of our workplaces and economy.
Despite this the recent Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Framework has failed to recognise the continuing difficulties faced by worker-carers, overwhelmingly women, in a system still built around an ‘ideal’ unencumbered worker. Moreover it has supported increased employer-orientedflexibility via decreasing penalty rates for workers in feminised sectors such as retail and hospitality. This gender blindness by the Productivity Commission to ensuring employment regulation is inclusive of worker-carers, underscores the critical need for a gender lens to be applied to any analysis carried out by the Victorian Inquiry. We thus strongly support the call by the VTHC (We Are Union Women) in their submission to you that the Inquiry’s deliberations beframed by an understanding that insecure work is a gender equality issue and that therefore any recommendations or proposals must acknowledge and incorporate a gender dimension.
We are not in a position to make a detailed submission to the Inquiry but are providing relevant W+FPR submissions and reports we have prepared over the last three years. Much of the content in the attached documents draws on our collective research expertise in the area of employment and gender (in)equality. While the scope of the current Inquiry is limited to Victoria, we believe many of ourrecommendations and findings in relation to the provisions and operation of the Fair Work Act 2009 are just as pertinent to the Victorian Inquiry. We would specifically like to draw your attention to the importance of the Victorian government’s role as an employer in its own right and in providing leadership and coordination in developing and articulating a whole-of-government strategy to ensure effective access to decent jobs, including for worker-carers.
Attached are W+FPR Submissions relevant to your Inquiry:
- 19 September 2015 - Joint Submission with the University of Sydney Women and Work Research Group in response to the Draft Report of the Productivity Commission Inquiry into the Workplace Relations Framework
- 13 March 2015 - Joint Submission with the University of Sydney Women and Work Research Group to the Productivity Commission Inquiry on Workplace Relations
- 5 September 2014 - Submission in response to the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning
- 22 April 2014 – Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning.
- April 15 2013 - Submission to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committees’ Inquiry into the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2013
- W+FPR 2013 Election Benchmarks and Election Evaluation
We would be happy to expand upon thesesubmissions and documents and to provide any specific additional research evidence the Inquiry may require.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Elizabeth Hill, Professor Sara Charlesworth, Professor Barbara Pocock,
(Co-convenors W+FPR)
Contact:
Professor Sara Charlesworth ()
.
What is the Australian Work + Family Policy Roundtable?
The Roundtable is made up of researchers with expertise on work and family policy. Its goal is to propose, comment upon, collect and disseminate research to inform good evidence-based public policy in Australia.
The W+FPR held its first meeting in 2004. Since then the W+FPR has actively participated in public debate about work and family policy in Australia providing research-based submissions to relevant public inquiries, disseminating current research through publications for public commentary and through the media.
The Roundtable is a network of 31 academics from 18 universities and research institutions with expertise on work, care and family policy.
Dr Elizabeth AdamsonUniversity of New South Wales
A/Prof Siobhan AustenCurtin University
Prof Marian BairdUniversity of Sydney
Prof Rowena BarrettQueensland University of Technology
Dr Dina BowmanBrotherhood of St Laurence & Uni of Melbourne
Dr Wendy BoydSouthern Cross University
Prof Deborah BrennanUniversity of NSW
Prof Bettina CassUniversity of NSW
Prof Sara CharlesworthRMITUniversity (co-convenor)
Dr Kay CookRMIT University
A/Prof Rae CooperUniversity of Sydney
Dr Lara CorrAustralian National University
Prof Fellow Eva CoxJumbunna Indigenous House of Learning (UTS)
Prof Lyn CraigUniversity of NSW
Dr Marianne FenechMacquarie University
Prof Michele FordUniversity of Sydney
Prof Suzanne FranzwayUniversity of South Australia
Alexandra HeronUniversity of Sydney
Dr Elizabeth HillUniversity of Sydney (co-convenor)
Dr Jacquie HutchisonUniversity of Western Australia
A/Prof Therese JeffersonCurtin University
A/Prof Debra KingFlinders University
Dr Fiona MacdonaldRMIT University
Prof Paula McDonaldQueensland University of Technology
Dr Virginia MapedzahamaUniversity of New England
A/Prof Jill MurrayLa Trobe University
Prof Barbara PocockUniversity of South Australia (co-convenor)
A/Prof Frances PressCharles Sturt University
Dr Leah RuppannerUniversity of Melbourne
Prof Alison PrestonUniversity of Western Australia
A/Prof Belinda SmithUniversity of Sydney
Dr Meg SmithUniversity of Western Sydney
A/Prof Lyndall StrazdinsAustralian National University
Prof Trish ToddUniversity of Western Australia
Prof Gillian WhitehouseUniversity of Queensland
Key Principles of the W+FPR
The W+FPR has 12 key guiding principles to inform its work and comment. We believe that in principle, work and family policy proposals should:
1. Recognise that good management of the work-life interface is a key characteristic of good labour law and social policy.
2. Adopt a life-cycle approach to facilitating good work-family interaction.
3. Support women and men to be workers as well as mothers, fathers and carers, and actively encourage fathers as carers.
4. Facilitate employee voice and influence over work arrangements.
5. Ensure sustainable workplaces and workers (e.g. through ‘do-able’, quality jobs and appropriate staffing levels).
6. Ensure gender equality, including pay equity.
7. Protect the well-being of children and other dependants.
8. Ensure predictable hours, earnings and job security.
9. Promote social justice and the fair distribution of social risk.
10. Treat individuals fairly, regardless of their household circumstances.
11. Ensure flexible working rights are practically available to all workers through effective regulation, education and enforcement.
12. Adopt policy and action based on rigorous, independent evidence.
See for details of the W+FPR and its activities.
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[1]egPocock, B., and Charlesworth, S. (2015) “Multilevel Work–Family Interventions Creating Good-Quality Employment over the Life Course.”Work and OccupationsDOI: 0730888415619218; Pocock, B., Charlesworth, S., & Chapman, J. (2013). “Work-family and work-life pressures in Australia: advancing gender equality in ‘good times’”?.International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy,33(9/10), 594-612.