Gender and Laws

Looking for gender disaggregated data for use in submissions and advocacy work? The ABS Census data includes lots of useful info. There will be three data releases from the 2011 Census - put these in your diary so you can grab the data relevant to your work as it becomes available. This info is from www.abs.gov.au:

There will be a three-phased release for the 2011 Census data.

Core demographic data items will be available in the first data release (21 June 2012) and others that require more detailed processing will be released as part of the second release (30 October 2012). The supplementary data release, or third release, relates to the dissemination of highly specialised products (such as SEIFA and the Census Sample Files). The third release will begin on 28 March 2013, with products released progressively until the end of 2013. This will finalise all Census data output for the 2011 Census.

Phil Lynch

In her maiden speech to Parliament in 1998, Australia’s new Attorney-General spoke of her long-term vision for the nation’s legal system. For Nicola Roxon, values of fairness, dignity and equality were recurring themes. The Australian Human Rights Commission will no longer be “chronically underfunded”, she said. Women will be “truly equal”. Protected by “workable sex discrimination legislation”, they will be appropriately represented as judges and around boardroom tables.

SMH Thursday 15 December 2012

Kelly Burke

''WOMEN and men might be treated the same at work, but when things really change is when women want to go off and have a child. They will take maternity leave and all of a sudden they are treated differently, as if they don't have the same aspirations or ambitions any more.''

Those words were spoken by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, in 1995.

Speaking as the former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Ms Bryce said many employers still harboured deep misgivings about maternity leave. Maternity leave, she concluded, continued to be viewed differently to other forms of leave in the workplace.

Ms Bryce's observations were made in response to a class action launched by 2400 female employees across Australia against the Commonwealth Bank, over allegations of denied promotions and access to generous retrenchment programs because they were on maternity leave.

The women won their case in the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission but the decision was subsequently overturned by the Federal Court in 1997.

Earlier this year, Australia became one of the few remaining developed nations to introduce a paid parental leave scheme, further enshrining in law a woman's right to take time out of work to give birth without having to sacrifice her career. But when it comes to indirect discrimination involving maternity leave, it is not clear how much has really changed since that failed landmark class action against the Commonwealth Bank 14 years ago.

Not a lot, Giri Sivaraman, a principal in employment and industrial law with the legal firm Maurice Blackburn might argue, as he prepares another case against the bank alleging discrimination against an employee over the issue of maternity leave. It is the fifth such case against the bank the firm has handled in as many years.

''It's astounding that one of the big four banks has ignored the law completely,'' he says.

His client, Elly Sugianto, a former finance manager with the Commonwealth Bank, is preparing to launch action against her employer at Fair Work Australia.

Ms Sugianto alleges she was discriminated against after returning to work from maternity leave and being told she was no longer required.

''What made me very angry was they told me to stay at home from now on,'' she says. ''They said 'we're happy for you to catch a cab and go home. It's best you stay at home'.''

Ms Sugianto is expected to seek a six figure compensation package, arguing that the Commonwealth Bank failed to guarantee her position when she went on maternity leave and failed to consult her on plans to make changes to her position. Under the Fair Work Act, an employer must comply with both these requirements by law.

In a prepared statement, the bank declined to directly respond to Ms Sugianto's allegations.

A copy of the bank's parental leave policy was forwarded to the Herald but a spokesman declined to say how many of its employees have launched legal action on the grounds of pregnancy and parental leave discrimination.

Ron Merkel QC from Victoria has been announced as the winner of the 2011 Human Rights Medal at the Australian Human Rights Commission’s annual Human Rights Awards in Sydney today.

Nineteen year old Tshibanda Gracia Ngoy from Berkeley in NSW has been announced as the winner of the Young People’s Human Rights Medal.

Last week saw the passage of laws that will strengthen Australia’s commitment to human rights.

Australian Human Rights Commission President Catherine Branson QC said passage of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Bill 2010 and the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) (Consequential Provisions) Bill were major steps forward in the protection of human rights.

“Passage of this legislation will help to make sure that a dialogue about human rights accompanies every piece of legislation introduced into the federal Parliament,” Ms Branson said.

“This will provide a new transparency in our law-making and require the Government to think twice before passing laws that breach human rights.

“Importantly, it will also compel the Government to explain to the Parliament and the public when it thinks it is necessary to override human rights considerations when passing laws.”

She said the Commission supported the proposed Joint Parliamentary Committee as an important mechanism at the parliamentary level to ensure that the human rights impact of legislation is fully considered as part of the policy development process.

“We hope that over time the Committee’s operation will contribute to broad acceptance and understanding of human rights in Australia, and that its role will be seen as an accepted and expected level of scrutiny for all proposed legislation,” she said.

The new legislative regime also provides for the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission to become an ex-officio member of the Administrative Review Council.

On Wednesday 23 November the Senate passed the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011,

“The Government takes the issue of addressing and responding to violence very seriously.  Family violence and the fear of family violence remain prevalent in our community and it is unacceptable that this continues to affect our families and our children” Mr Robert McClelland, Attorney General said.

The Government made a number of amendments to the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 in response to recommendations made by the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs’ report on the Bill, which will improve the effectiveness of the Bill in prioritising the safety of children in parenting matters.

“The Government thanks the Senate Committee for their valuable work which has helped refine the measures in this important legislation, and all those who made submissions during the Senate Committee’s inquiry” Mr McClelland said.

The amendments to the family violence measures of the Bill passed will:

• provide certainty around the commencement date of the provisions of the Bill, and which matters the amendments will apply to,
• simplify drafting of the new provision requiring the court to give greater weight to the protection of children from harm when determining what is ‘in a child’s best interests’, and
• better define what a court can consider in relation to family violence orders as part of considering a child’s best interests.

The Committee’s recommendation for an education campaign about how the amendments will affect separating families has also been accepted by the Government.

The Government supports happy healthy relationships between children and their parents.  As such the Family Law Act will continue to promote a child’s right to a meaningful relationship with both parents where this is safe for the child.

It is the Government’s strong view that all family violence and abuse of children is serious and it is important that the law sends this message clearly.  It is also crucial that resources to help children in need are prioritised so that those children most at risk can be easily identified and helped.

Mr McClelland also welcomed the recommendation made by the Australian Greens that a comprehensive risk assessment framework for family violence and child abuse be explored.

“It is important that professionals in the family law system are able to identify and address family violence and child abuse in the early stages of entering the family law system.

“I am pleased to announce that the Attorney-General’s Department has recently contracted Relationships Australia South Australia to develop a standardised frontline screening process to identify safety risks for clients across the family law system.

“A key aim of this project is to create a shared understanding across all disciplines in the family law system about the predictors of risks to safety, how they can be better identified and how to effectively respond to these risks.

“I welcome the Senate’s passage of this important piece of legislation.  These are significant reforms which will increase protection for children and their families from abuse and family violence” Mr McClelland said.

The Senate Committee’s report is available online at:

www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/legcon_ctte/family_law_familyviolence/index.htm