Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697637471171.pdf (Australia)
Select Committee on Job Security Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2601 By online submission 2 November 2021 Dear Select Committee on Job Security, The Working Women’s Centre SA welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission on the terms of reference of the Committee.

The Working Women’s Centre SA is a community legal centre that provides free and confidential information, legal advice and representation to vulnerable workers residing in South Australia about their rights at work.
We are experts in gender-based employment issues and consult with thousands of women yearly about their experiences in the workforce.

The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the ways in which insecure and precarious work has exacerbated the vulnerability of many Australian workers.

This submission highlights the link between insecure work and gender inequality, as well as the particularly negative impact of this type of work on young people, especially during the pandemic.
We urge the Committee to consider the disproportionate impacts of insecure work on women, young people and other vulnerable workers.

With this in mind, we make the following recommendations with the purpose of improving gender equity and intergenerational equity: Recommendations There are many steps that can be taken to address job security.

The following recommendations are important steps for the COVID-19 recovery: 1.

Invest in the creation of secure jobs for women in feminised sectors, 2.
Commit to minimum job security requirements in services that receive government funding, 3.

Increase the number of current graduate positions available in the Australian Public Service, and Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209 4.

Encourage employers in all sectors to commit to improving job security as a protective factor against gendered violence.
A commitment to minimum job security requirements would mean government tender processes and funding contracts would mandate job standards for organisations receiving government funding to provide services.
Insecure work, gender inequality, and young people 67.7% of Australian part-time workers are women.1 For employees over the age of 15, a greater percentage of women work in casual jobs (26.4% compared to 22.5% of men).2 Women aged 15-34 are more likely to work casually than women of other ages.3 Women and young people are also more likely to work multiple jobs, which can also indicate job insecurity.4 The impact of job insecurity on women and young people Casual workers face much greater insecurity, as they do not receive paid sick or annual leave, they face unpredictability regarding their hours of work, and employers can terminate their contracts without notice.
Casual workers face issues such as wage theft, lack of stability, and the risk losing work if they try to negotiate for better conditions.5 Insecure work makes it difficult to stay home when sick, which also creates risks especially in the context of a pandemic.

Women also face a significant gender pay gap.


Insecure work, which leads to gaps in employment, less potential for wage growth and fewer working hours is a significant contributor to the gender pay gap.6 The pandemic has exposed the insecurity of casual workers, as many lost their jobs due to shutdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions.

This was especially the case for those who were not eligible to receive JobKeeper.
COVID-19 is associated with a collapse in secondary employment.7 From March to April 2020, there were 7% fewer main jobs and 33.4% fewer secondary jobs.8 Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209 The greater representation of women in both part-time and casual work highlights how the negative impacts of insecure work, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, have been much greater for women, and young women in particular.

Temporary visa holders are also overrepresented in insecure work.
In a national survey of temporary visa holders, almost three quarters of respondents to the national survey lost most, if not all, of their work due to COVID-19.9 Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that the number of full-time employees remained relatively stable for both genders during the pandemic, which indicates the importance of secure employment, particularly during times of economic uncertainty.10 Please see the Working Women’s Centre report Loss of Work, Isolation and Worry for further information on the impact of COVID-19 on young women and how this connects to insecure work.
Insecure work and gendered violence Insecure work contributes to power dynamics that are linked to gendered violence, which refers to violence that is connected to gender inequality, including domestic violence, workplace sexual harassment and sexual assault.
1 in 3 Australian women have experienced violence perpetrated by a man since the age of 15.11 1 in 3 people in Australia have experienced sexual harassment at work in the last 5 years; 39% of women and 26% of men.12 Workers who are employed insecurely may be more likely to experience sexual harassment at work.13 In a 2009 study, researchers found that Australians in insecure employment were more likely to have experienced unwanted sexual advances at work than other workers, even when the data was adjusted to take age and gender into account.14 Job insecurity can deter victims from reporting assault and harassment.
Most women experience barriers to reporting harassment, but women in insecure work are at greater risk of losing their job than those in secure employment.

Fears of repercussions for reporting are not unfounded.
In a 2018 survey by the Australian Human Rights Commission, it was found that among workers who had filed a formal report; 19% were labelled a trouble- maker; 18% were ostracised, victimised, and/or ignored by colleagues; 16% had their shifts changed; 11% were denied workplace opportunities; 7% were transferred; and 6% were demoted.15 Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209 The economic inequalities driven by insecure work can also increase women’s vulnerability to gendered violence outside of the workplace.
A lack of financial independence can trap women in abusive relationships out of economic necessity.16 The COVID-19 pandemic is connected to increases in domestic violence in Australia.

A survey of 15,000 women in May 2020 found that two-thirds of those who had experienced violence during the first few months of the pandemic said the violence had either started or escalated during that time.17 Having a secure job helps women to protect themselves against the impacts of gendered violence.
A study of households found that secure employment reduces the prevalence of domestic violence, with the incidence of violence against women found to be lower if women possess regular employment.18 More broadly, families in which the woman has a greater level of independence are less likely to experience violence.19 The Victorian Royal Commission into Family and Domestic Violence also received submissions to this point, stating ‘financial security is a significant protective factor in victims gaining freedom from abusive partners’.20 It is estimated to cost $18,000 to leave an abusive relationship and find a safe place to live.21 Improving the economic rights of women can prevent violence by ensuring that women can avoid ‘dependence on violent men.’22 In the workplace, job security allows workers to speak out about issues or report sexual harassment without fear of losing their job.
For all these reasons, we see job security as a significant protective factor against gendered violence.

We outline this in more detail in our report: The Protective Power of Job Security.

Improving equity through job security Because women and young people are disproportionately affected by insecure work, measures taken to address insecure work have the potential to contribute to gender equity and intergenerational equity.
Every step that is taken to create secure jobs, or improve the security of existing jobs, is likely to benefit women.
Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209 Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209 References 1 ‘Labour Force Status by Sex, Australia,’ Australian Bureau of Statistics, accessed 28 October 2021. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and- unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release#data-downloads 2 ‘Gender Indicators, Australia,’ Australian Bureau of Statistics, accessed 14 March 2021. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/gender-indicators- australia/latest-release 3 ‘Gender Indicators, Australia,’ Australian Bureau of Statistics, accessed 14 March 2021. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/gender-indicators- australia/latest-release 4 Ryan Batchelor, ‘Many jobs, little support: Multiple Jobholders and the COVID-19 recession,’ The McKell Institute, November 2020. https://mckellinstitute.org.au/research/articles/many-jobs-little-support-multiplejobholders- and-the-covid-19-recession/ 5 ‘Addressing the fragility that comes with precarious work,’ National Youth Commission Australia, 11 February 2021. https://nycinquiry.org.au/addressing-the-fragility-that-comes-with-precarious- work/ 6 Alison Pennington, ’Women’s Casual Job Surge Widens Gender Pay Gap’, The Australia Institute, March 2021. https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Womens- Casual-Job-Surge-Widens-Gender-Pay-Gap-CFW.pdf 7 Ryan Batchelor, ‘Many jobs, little support: Multiple Jobholders and the COVID-19 recession,’ The McKell Institute, November 2020. https://mckellinstitute.org.au/research/articles/many-jobs-little-support-multiple-jobholders- and-the-covid-19-recession/ 8 Ibid.
9 Laurie Berg and Bassina Farbenblum, ‘As If We Weren’t Humans: The Abandonment of Temporary Migrants in Australia During COVID-19,’ Migrant Worker Justice Initiative, 17 September 2020. https://www.mwji.org/covidreport 10 ‘Loss of work, isolation & worry: the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on young women,’ The Working Women’s Centre SA, 29 April 2021, page 13. https://wwcsa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Report-Loss-of-work-isolation-and-worry- 29-April-2021.pdf 11 ‘Personal Safety Survey, Australia, 2016’, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 8 November 2017, https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety- australia/latestrelease (accessed via OurWatch) 12 ‘Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Inquiry Report’ Australian Human Rights Commission, 2020, Executive Summary.
https://humanrights.gov.au/ourwork/sexdiscrimination/publications/respectworksexual- harassment-national-inquiry-report2020#fn2 13 ‘Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Enquiry Report 2020’, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2020, Page 19. https://humanrights.gov.au/our- work/sexdiscrimination/publications/respectworksexual-harassment-national-inquiry- report2020 14 Anthony LaMontagne et al, ‘Unwanted sexual advances at work: Variations by employment arrangement in a sample of working Australians,’ Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2009.
Page 176. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1753- 6405.2009.00366.x 15 ‘Respect@Work: Sexual Harassment National Enquiry Report 2020’, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2020, Page 36. https://humanrights.gov.au/our- work/sexdiscrimination/publications/respectworksexual-harassment-national-inquiry- report2020 16 Beth Goldblatt, ‘Violence against women and social and economic rights: deepening the connections’, University of Technology Sydney Law Research Series, 2019. http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UTSLR S/2019/5.html Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209 17 Hayley Boxall et al, ‘The prevalence of domestic violence among women during the COVID-19 pandemic,’ Australasian Policing, Vol.
12, No.
3, Sep 2020: 38-46. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/inf ormit.435862482298266 18 Bina Agarwal & Pradeep Panda, ‘Towards Freedom from Domestic Violence: The Neglected Obvious’, Journal of Human Development, 2007, page 372. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1 080/14649880701462171 19 ’Change the Story – A shared framework for the prevention of violence against women and their children in Australia’, OurWatch, VicHealth & ANROWS, 2015, page 24. https://www.ourwatch.org.au/resource/change -the-story-a-shared-framework-for-theprimary- prevention-of-violence-againstwomen-and-their-children-in-australia/ 20 ‘Summary and Recommendations’, Victorian Royal Commission into Family and Domestic Violence, 2016, page 93. http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Report s/RCFV Full Report 21 Australian Council of Trade Unions, ‘Inquiry into Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence’, Australian Council of Trade Unions, 2020, https://www.actu.org.au/media/1449502/actusub.pdf 22 Beth Goldblatt, ‘Social and economic rights to challenge violence against women – examining and extending strategies,’ South African Journal on Human Rights, 2019, page 173.
Interactive.pdf.

Select Committee on Job SecuritySubmission 209