WA has the nation’s highest gender pay gap at 25.3%, 7% higher than the national average. The Think Tank Committee released its final report which says WA needs to implement greater job flexibility, more meaningful equality targets and better access to child care. The report found that at the current rate of change it would take more than 300 years to have an equal number of male and female CEOs.
WOW, come on WA, we need to have a look at the conscious and unconscious practices and attitudes that are preventing gender equality.
On a more unusual note a woman who said her genital pain (post-surgery) was aggravated due to being bullied by a work colleague has lost her worker’s compensation claim on the basis that the evidence didn’t suggest that the work colleague had acted inappropriately.
While the complainant was not successful it does highlight that an employer can be responsible for mental injuries as a result of workplace bullying
Not related to the workplace but in relation to the provision of services (also protected by the same EEO laws) a University that allowed a public lecture given by a Muslim group has come under fire because the group directed a female journalist (Alison Bevege) to the back of the room while the men sat at the front. She is claiming she was discriminated against- the matter is yet to be decided by the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal.
Raises an important issue about the intersection with religious beliefs and discrimination laws.
Another one related to the provision of services, with a positive slant, involves a Queensland café who had to tell a customer to leave after they told a breastfeeding mother to cover up!
Breastfeeding in cafes is lawful under the Federal Equal Opportunity Legislation.
One in relation to bullying but this time where an employee was (alleged to be) bullied by a client. Ms Wilson alleged that she was abused by a patron and this caused her to suffer psychiatric illness which her employer was responsible for.
It raises some interesting questions around the duty of care an employer has to its employees to provide a safe workplace in relation to abusive clients. This case however focused more on the credibility of the complainant Ms Wilson and she was ultimately found to not be credible and her action didn’t succeed because of this.