Unfinished Business - Affirmative Action for Women

[Denese Gray <Denese.Gray@jcu.edu.au>]

Unfinished Business  -  Affirmative Action for Women

The long-awaited review of the effectiveness of the Commonwealth's
Affirmative Action legislation has been released, with the Government's
responses to its recommendations.  Undertaken by an independent committee
chaired by Deanne Bevan, Director of Employee Relations for McDonalds
Australia, the review included consultation with all parts of the community,
including universities.

The resulting report, called Unfinished Business - Equity for Women in
>Australian Workplaces, concluded that the Affirmative Action law fulfills
a valued and valuable role, and that it could be made more efficient and
effective for both women and business.  The legislation will remain targeted
to women rather than broadened to include other equity groups. It will
continue to exempt private sector businesses consisting of fewer than 100 staff.

Key recommendations include:

 * general name changes - the Review found that the term 'Affirmative
Action' is too often confused with the American perceptions of quotas and
preferential treatment.  The Australian Act will therefore be renamed the
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act, and the Affirmative
Action Agency will have the descriptive, although hardly catchy, title of
Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency

 * continued and increasing emphasis on the merit principle

 * replacement of the former requirement for consultation with unions with
a general statement of support for consultation.

 * biennial reporting to replace the current system of annual reports, and
an expanded system of waiving reporting requirements for organisations
which satisfy specified criteria

 *'Naming' of non compliant organisations, and contract compliance will
remain

 * the establishment of an Advisory Board to advise the Minister for
Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business on the most effective
operation of the Act.

For details of how to obtain copies of the full report, the Executive
Summary or the Government's response paper, please contact the Manager,
Equal Opportunity, on extension 4164, or email Denese.Gray@jcu.edu.au

Denese Gray
Manager, Equal Opportunity
James Cook University

Telephone   :(07) 47 81 4164/47 81 5016
Facsimile   :(07) 47 81 5240