Media Release
September 18 2007
WorkChoices: a mood for change?
With
WorkChoices looming as the defining issue of the coming federal
election, it won’t just be politicians throwing punches in the campaign
ring.
In the right corner, waiting to join the fray, are employers; in the left, the unions. Or so we’re led to believe.
This week, representatives from employer groups and unions, as well as the community, service, education, government and policy sectors are coming together to examine how women are faring under WorkChoices and the new Welfare to Work legislation – with a view to making things better.
Our Work Our Lives 2007, the second national conference on women and industrial relations, will be presented by the University of South Australia and the South Australian Working Women’s Centre at the Lakes Resort on Thursday September 20 and Friday September 21.
Conference organiser and research fellow at UniSA’s Centre for Work + Life in the Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies, Dr Helen Masterman-Smith says the multidisciplinary conference is unique in that it brings together people from across a wide range of sectors.
“One of the key aims of this conference is to facilitate dialogue between people from a variety of sectors with a stake in the lives of working women,” Dr Masterman-Smith says.
Conference delegates will hear the latest research into pay equity, work/life balance and vulnerable workers.
“Some women are doing quite well out of the economic boom but, as a lot of the papers to be presented suggest, others are falling behind,” Dr Masterman-Smith says.
“And it’s pretty clear that we have some major questions around work and life in Australia. These papers go to the heart of issues around the growing social and wage inequality in Australia and what the situation is for women.”
It is not all doom and gloom, however. Dr Masterman-Smith says researchers have detected “a mood for change and for new policy directions” among the most progressive employers and sections of the government.
“That is not to say it’s necessarily a majority opinion. While there’s a lot of rhetoric, we haven’t really got too many runs on the board in terms of what we need to do to improve the lot of working women. This is illustrated by funding threats to the conference co-organiser, the Working Women’s Centre SA,
“That is why we’re engaging with those who are at the leading edge of trying to make those changes. We’re really looking to move that agenda forward at this conference.”
Keynote speakers include New Zealand MP and women’s issues advocate Maryan Street; Canadian economist and director of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, Margaret Hallock, who has published widely on tax reform, labour unions, pay equity, and women and the economy; and ACTU president Sharan Burrow. SA Unions will also host sessions on maternity leave, young women workers and the Your Rights at Work campaign.
Our Work Our Lives 2007 is a collaboration between UniSA and the Working Women’s Centre, a network of not-for-profit, community organisations that support women employees or women who wish to work, whatever their age, ethnicity or work status, by providing a free and confidential service on work-related issues.
Our Work Our Lives 2007
National conference on women and industrial relations
Lakes Resort, West Lakes
Thursday September 20 and Friday September 21
The full conference program can be found here.
Contact for interview
- Dr Helen Masterman-Smith office (08) 8302 4197 mobile 0423 298 685 email helen.masterman-smith@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
- Vincent Ciccarello office (08) 8302 0578 mobile 0434 603 457 email vincent.ciccarello@unisa.edu.au