Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1996, published 85th ILC session (1997)

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) - Australia (Ratification: 1974)

The Committee notes the detailed report and attached documentation furnished by the Government. Noting with regret that the report provides no indication concerning the application of the Convention in Tasmania, the Committee requests the Government to supply this information in its next report.

1. The Committee notes with interest the decision of the High Court of 4 September 1996 in a matter in which the States of Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia sought declarations that certain provisions of the Industrial Relations Act, 1988, as amended, were invalid (including those provisions allowing for the imposition of obligations on employers with respect to equal pay in the terms of the Convention). In its decision, the High Court largely upheld the relevant provisions of the Act on the basis that the Commonwealth Government had the power to legislate on these matters under section 51 of the Constitution, which concerns the "external affairs" power of the Commonwealth Government. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act, 1996 (which received Royal Assent on 25 November 1996), has amended and renamed the Industrial Relations Act. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether the new Act has made any changes pertinent to the application of the Convention.

2. The Committee notes the progress made in improving the wage gap, particularly in the area of award or agreed base rates of pay, where the ratio of female to male wage rates was 92.8 per cent in May 1995. It also notes that, at the same date, the ratio of female to male average weekly ordinary time earnings for adult full-time non-managerial employees was 91 per cent; and that the ratio of female to male average weekly earnings for full-time non-managerial adults was 84.1 per cent. According to the Government's report, the disparity in actual earnings is caused partly by differences in discretionary payments (such as over-award payments, allowances and bonuses). The Government also points out that the Sex Discrimination Commissioner has considered that the most pressing areas of inequality are also discretionary payments, together with the evaluation of women's work and skills. In this connection, the Committee notes that, arising out of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner's inquiry into sex discrimination in over-award payments, the Department of Industrial Relations is in the process of preparing a self-audit manual to assist employers, employees and trade unions in identifying and eliminating pay discrimination on the basis of sex (including advice on objective job-evaluation techniques) in the workplace. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any further efforts made to eliminate discrimination in discretionary payments and to furnish a copy of the manual.

3. The Committee notes with interest the terms of the Pay Equity Statement developed by the New South Wales Government in the context of its Pay Equity Strategy. It also notes that the Pay Equity Taskforce, which plays an important role in the Strategy, has undertaken research into, inter alia, the factors which influence the valuing of women's skills, women's access to all forms of remuneration, the role of industrial relations legislation, tribunals and processes in facilitating or inhibiting pay equity, the implications of pay equity for business and employees, and the intersection of industrial relations and the training reform agenda. The Committee looks forward to receiving copies of the Taskforce's recommendations on gender-based wage inequalities.