With the suffragettes at the vanguard of the movement in 1903, women’s rights have had a provocative history. In the same year that these influential ladies took radical action to get women’s voices heard, the Australian government passed an act to allow women to vote and stand in the 1903 federal election – making Australia the first country where women were allowed to run for parliament. However, it’s a staggering fact that indigenous women were entirely overlooked at this time and, existing under a veil of double discrimination, were not granted the vote until 1962. Many countries across the globe, including Australia, have made substantial progress since then and there’s no denying that women’s rights have come a considerably long way. The principle of Equal Pay for Equal Work was established in in the first federal pay case in 1969. Prior to this Australian legislation allowed employers to pay women a minimum rate of 25% less than their male counterparts for doing the same or equivalent job. In 1974 the Australian Conciliation Arbitration abolished the family wage concept. Previously men’s wages were paid at a family rate, enabling them to provide for their ‘dependants’ even if their status was ‘single’. Before this date, a woman’s wage was set to provide for herself and herself only, with no consideration of women providing for their families. The Sex Discrimination Act was officially passed in 1984 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex, gender identity, relationship status, sexual orientation or intersex status. More recently, The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 was passed requiring all employers to ‘promote gender equality in the workplace’.
A stark divide
Despite obvious positive steps, the disconcerting truth is that women are still deprived of the basic right of equality in the workplace and the discriminatory barrier termed the ‘glass ceiling’ is still one of the most controversial aspects of employment. Although women’s participation in the workforce has increased, they are underrepresented in the higher ranking, decision making positions. It takes longer for women to reach these positions and they are still paid less when they get there. Data released this year by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that the National gender pay gap is at a record high. Showing an increase of 1.4% on the previous year’s 17.4%, the pay gap now stands at 18.8%. These gender pay gap statistics also state that men in full time employment earn “ a n average of $1,587.40 a week… while women earn an average of $298.20 less.” In today’s society women are dominating the Australian education system with more completing university degrees than men – so it’s difficult to understand why they’re struggling to get to the top rungs of the corporate ladder. The views of an outdated patriarchal society, fuelled by damaging stereotypical opinions on what women ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t do’ are one of the main causes. Another is the stigma associated with pregnancy and maternity leave in the business world, with many women unable to return to their careers or returning to a lowered wage. Due to these deeply ingrained societal views many women in business are holding back, or in the words of Sheryl Sandberg, not prepared to ‘lean in’ to career progression. A recent article in The Guardian addresses this issue of unconscious bias: “…women’s unconscious beliefs about career advancement could be holding them back from reaching the top… from assuming you need to take on more ‘masculine’ characteristics to succeed, to doubting your abilities and strengths.”
Equal Pay Day
According to WGEA, Equal Pay Day marks the number of extra days that a woman has to work in order to receive the same wage as a man. The statistics show that in 2014 Australian women had to work a total of 66 extra days to earn the same amount.
Closing the gap
Executive Manager of The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), Dr Carla Harris believes that “It is very concerning to see the national gender pay gap at a record high.” However, she also states that there is a ‘silver lining’ and ‘some of the industries with the biggest gender pay gaps have reduced them in the past year’. In 2010 The Australian Human Rights Commission’s Gender Equality Blueprint identified ‘women in leadership’ as one of its five key priority areas for achieving gender equality alongside:
- Balancing paid work with family and caring responsibilities
- Ensuring women’s lifetime economic security
- Preventing violence against women and sexual harassment – through strengthening national gender equality laws, agencies and monitoring
According to the WGEA, to achieve this businesses must:
- Provide equal remuneration for women and men for work of equal or comparable value
- Remove the barriers to the full and equal participation of women in the workforce
- Give full and genuine access to all occupations and industries, including to leadership roles for women and men – through the elimination of discrimination on the basis of gender, particularly in relation to family and caring responsibilities for both women and men.
Glenda Korporall, Editor of the The Australian, who compiled a list of the country’s 50 most powerful women in business, believes that things are improving for females. She hopes that the list will inspire women to aspire to higher levels:
“The more we identify and point to the people doing well, the more women are encouraged to aspire to those positions and the more society can see just how many talented and deserving women we have.”
She also told Women’s Agenda the encouraging news that her research led to a ‘trend of new companies installing women from the outset’ and also in ‘senior leadership roles’. However, despite this welcome news, the uncomfortable truth remains – that being a white male in Australian business is still the most privileged position. Whist we are making progress, we are still looking forward to a world where women can enjoy the same opportunities and where businesswomen will be defined by their capabilities and hard work rather than the supposed ‘limitations’ of their gender.
