What's Being Done: Gender Discrimination in Australian Workplaces?

This essay investigates the issue of gender discrimination against women in Australian workplaces, highlighting the prevalence of the gender pay gap and under-representation of women in leadership positions. It examines various initiatives undertaken by the Australian government and other organizations to combat this discrimination. The essay discusses programs like the CEO Challenge Australia and Gender Equality Project, workplace training, and the implementation of diversity policies. It evaluates the effectiveness of these measures, including the role of the ASX Corporate Governance Council and the impact of flexible working arrangements. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of treating gender equality as a fundamental right and promoting women's economic participation through better workplace opportunities, addressing challenges like workplace flexibility and inequity in pay.

essay

What is being done in Australia to decrease gender discrimination AGAINST WOMEN in
the workplace?"
Introduction
Workplace discrimination against the women is prevalent and found to be the major issue in
Australia. Hence, it is suggested that in Australian workplaces, there are different institutions
working on gender pay gap where women continue receive 17.5% less in the average weekly
earnings than men. There is some under representation of the women in the leadership positions
in the public and the private sectors. The gender gap is set with the retirement income and the
savings which includes how the children, people with the disabilities are there due to frailty. This
question will investigate about what is being done for the decrease of workplace discrimination
in Australia. There are some of the evaluated measures that have been taken by the Government
of Australia which are discussed below.
1.1 Workplaces could be a key setting to prevent any violence against the women but there is a
need of prevention program where the report focus on 15 workplaces and the organizations from
the corporate, community and the recreation. It has been seen that workplaces are contributing
towards improving the gender equity but has not been able to cover the pay gap of 17.9%. The
individual staff and the managers need to be trained for the signs to respond appropriately to the
women, and refer to support services only. The example is like how CEO Challenge Australia
and White Ribbon Workplace Accreditation Program is working with the employers to raise the
awareness through proper staff training along with the practical change in the policy like the
leave for domestic violence. (Australian Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2011, 2012).
To make a move, it is suggested that the National Employment Standards work on the protection

from the grounds of discrimination with the setup of the family and better responsibilities for the
women and men, in regard to employment. (Australian Government, Department of Human
Services). Hence, programs like Gender Equality project are becoming popular in the workplaces
for the women inorder to decrease the gender discrimination ad to raise awareness of the gender
basing with the transformation of the structural barriers.
1.2 The evaluation is based on how the programs are tailored for the workplace. For example, to
ensure the prevention activities, the organizations like Darebin City Council have worked on
appointing a dedicated position to oversee the work. (Australian Government, 2013). The
success of the decrement in the gender discrimination could be evaluated through the survey
from the staff with planning all the prevention activities and promoting equity, respect across the
race, sexuality and the ability. The equity in the private sector, in 2011, with ASX Corporate
Government Council works on the implementation of the diversity policy which requires to list
the companies and then set a particular target based on the report of the explanations. (Fair Work
Ombudsman) The ASX is based on the increase of the senior executive management positions
with the oversight of the progress. The report from KPMG has been able to evaluate the gender
pay gap improvement which includes the skills, experience, education level and the tenure. There
has been a shift in the global conversations with the issues related to the change in attitude for
the pay equality. The important development is for the equal remuneration along with
encouraging the Australian Government to expand the right to request to a broader range of
workers.
1.3 Conclusion

There are different organizations which need to work on holding and stopping the treatment of
the gender equality as an issue rather it should be considered as a birth right for every individual.
The gender equality in education and at work allow the society to work with the full human
potential in a productive manner. (Australian Government, 2013). Australia is working on the
women education and how it is possible for them to increase the women’s economic
participation with better workplace opportunities. The major challenge is about the lack of
workplace, flexibility or the inequity in pay which leads to the less number of women who works
on career potential mainly due to the social and the structural limitations.

References
Australian Human Rights Commission, Annual Report 2011 (2012) p135.
At http://humanrights.gov.au/about/publications/annual_reports/2011_2012/index.html
Australian Government, Department of Human Services, ‘Paid Parental Leave Scheme for
Employers’. At http://www.humanservices.gov.au/business/services/centrelink/paid-parental-leave-
scheme-for-employers/
Australian Government, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous
Affairs, ‘Paid Parental Leave: Dad and Partner Pay’. At http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/our-
responsibilities/families-and-children/programs-services/paid-parental-leave-scheme/paid-parental-
leave-dad-and-partner-pay
Fair Work Ombudsman, ‘Flexible Working Arrangements’.
At http://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment/flexible-working-arrangements/pages/default.aspx
Australian Government, ‘Fair Work Act amendment broadens right to request workplace flexibility’,
13 February 2013. At http://deewr.gov.au/news/fair-work-act-amendment-broadens-right-request-
workplace-flexibility