Work and life
- 2009 Community Leadership seminar series
- Indigenous Women's Mentoring Workshops
- Equal Pay Day 2009
- 2008 Rural Women's Symposium
- Office of Fair Trading publications
- Protecting women against discrimination
Work is a part of Queensland women's daily lives. It may be through a job in the paid workforce, in a volunteer role or caring for family or sick or aged relatives.
Research has highlighted several issues for women's life and work.
Queensland women generally have lower levels of financial security than men and are under-represented in emerging industries.
Families and caring are important issues for all Queenslanders, but particularly for women who usually fulfil caring roles in the family and community.
Women need to be able to balance their work, family and lifestyle commitments. And they need flexible and accessible education, training and employment pathways to help them participate in the workforce.
The Office for Women is working on policies and programs to:
- change the culture around work and what are considered suitable jobs for women,
- enable women to better combine work and family life,
- establish lifelong learning opportunities for women in training and work and
- improve workplace practice and culture to eliminate discrimination.
Policy directions to support Queensland women in the labour market include the following key areas:
- Conditions of employment
- Education/training and skills
- Work/Life balance
- Wages and income
- Occupational segregation
- Part-time work
- Unpaid work
- Childcare
Several of our Focus on Women papers discuss these issues. You can browse our resources and publications by topic.
Find out about the Australian, States, Territories and New Zealand Governments' discussion paper on effectively communicating superannuation and financial literacy messages to women here.
Learn more about work-life balance issues from the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations.
Equal Pay Day 2009 – 1 September 2009
Equal Pay Day is an important initiative aimed at educating the wider community to enliven debate, as well as educating the business community on the benefits of equal remuneration, conducting pay audits, and maintaining fair and equitable workplaces.
In 2008, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) marked Equal Pay Day for the first time in Australia. In 2008, it fell on August 27 - being the date that illustrates the number of extra days many women have to work after the end of the financial year to earn the same as men.
In 2009, Equal Pay Day took place on 1 September – an extra five days on 2008 – due to an increase in the national gender pay gap of one percentage point to 17.2 per cent.
For further information about Equal Pay Day, visit EOWA.
The Office for Women publication Profile: Queensland Women 2009 provides statistics about Queensland women’s income and financial security.
Rural Women's Symposium
In March 2008, Premier Anna Bligh and Local Government Minister Warren Pitt announced plans for three annual regional women's symposiums beginning this year, as part of the Queensland Government Blueprint for the Bush initiative. The first, 2008 Rural Women's Symposium, was held in Roma on 4 September 2008.
The theme for the 2008 symposium was 'Liveability - A Woman's View'. This symposium explored what is currently happening across rural Queensland to help foster and develop roles and opportunities for women.
The purpose was to develop ideas and create solutions to improve the 'liveability' of rural communities for women. The symposium was coordinated by the Office of Rural and Regional Communities in partnership with the Office for Women.
Consultation
In the lead up to the symposium, the Office for Women and the Office of Rural and Regional Communities ran consultation forums in 27 towns across Queensland, to invite women to have their say about life in rural and remote communities. Online questionnaires were available and a Rural Women's Symposium eForum was established. Information gathered through this process was collated into a Consultation Report which provided the foundation for the symposium's agenda.
Blueprint for the Bush Rural Women's Symposium Consultation Report.
Rural Women's Report Card
The Office for Women prepared a report card on the Bligh Government's activity and future plans, especially in relation to rural women, against the Government's vision for the women of Queensland, as detailed in the Women in the Smart State 2003-2008 Directions Statement.
The report card covers areas of
- improving women's health and wellbeing
- promoting opportunities to help women balance their work, family and lifestyle
- improving women's capacity to achieve economic security
- enhancing women's safety
- increasing women's participation in leadership, decision-making and community building.
Rural Women's Report Card introduction and key contacts
Continue to have your say
As a result of the Symposium, the Rural Women's Symposium eForum has been created as an opportunity for an exchange of ideas and discussion between delegates.
Where to from here
Further development of the workshop topics will be analysed in conjunction with the Consultation Report to develop a proposed recommendations report.
The drafting of this report will commence in October/November 2008, and will be published on this website when available.
The report will be provided to Queensland Government departments seeking a whole of Government response to the proposed recommendations.
The Office of Rural and Regional Communities and the Office for Women have started planning the next Rural Women's Symposium to be held in 2009.
Further information is available at the Department of Local Government, Sport and Recreation's Rural Women's Symposium page.
Office of Fair Trading publications
The Office of Fair Trading has a number of handy publications to assist consumers, including Buy Smart, Property Smart, Car Smart and Retire Smart guides.
Last updated: 5 October 2009
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