Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694571115037.pdf (Australia)
Committee Secretary Senate Education and Employment Committee PO Box 6100 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600 Family Assistance Legislation Amendment Package) Bill 2015 (Jobs for Families Child Care Submission from the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW The Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW (NSW AD B) thanks the Senate Education and Employment Committee for the opportunity to contribute to its inquiry into the provisions of the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment Care Package) Bill 2015 (the Bill).
(Jobs for Families Child The NSVVA.DB exists to promote equality of opportunity between all persons and eliminate unlawful discrimination on a number of grounds, (including pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding), disability, age, homosexuality, marital or domestic status, carer's responsibilities, and on transgender grounds.
including race, sex The package set out in the Bill is intended to "help parents who want to work, or who want to work more, by providing a simpler, more affordable, more flexible and more accessible child care system".

This objective is strongly supported by the Board.

The measures are designed to encourage more families to increase their involvement with paid work and are targeted to those who need it, being low to middle income families and families experiencing disadvantage.
Again, strongly supports these aims.

the Board A women's issue?

the Amendment Bill does not specifically target women, Whilst more than men.

This is because, childcare responsibilities and are far more likely to work part-time or stop working altogether in Australia, women still perform the bulk of in order to care for their children.
it will impact women PO Box A2122, Sydney South NSW 1235 I Level 4, 175 Castlereagh Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph (02) 9268 5555 I F (02) 9268 5500 I TTY (02) 9268 5522 I Freecall1800 670 812 I Enquiries (02) 9268 5544 www.antidiscrimination.justice.nsw.gov.au Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66 In 2014 the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling released its report Child care affordability in Austretie' (the NATSEM Report).
It stated: "when discussing workforce participation and the impact of childcare accessibility we are mostly talking about female participation.

undertake most of the child-rearing responsibilities.

A previous [report] related activities, spend approximately two more hours per day on employment while women spend around two hours a day more on domestic related activities and childcare.
,,2 In Australia, women still found men For families where the youngest child is 5 years or younger, only 26% of mothers work full time.

Where children are in formal care, around 42% of mothers work part time, with 21 % of mothers who do not use formal care also working part time.

These figures compare to around 90% of fathers working full-time, type of care their children receive".
regardless of the In spite of this large disparity between male and female parents in their levels of workforce participation, most families now need both parents to be in paid work.

the Second Reading Speech for the Amendment Bill, the Minister acknowledged that "having two parents in paid employment has become a necessity for most families because of the changes in our society and economy over many yeers'".
In While family considerations do playa part in decisions related to returning to work, the most commonly reported main reason given by mothers in 2011 who started or returned to work 'to keep their job or their employer had requested their return' (26%), followed by 'financial considerations' esteem' (15%f (15%) and 'maintaining se/f- Financial equality Increasing female participation in paid work is vital to improve financial equality between men and women.
There is still a significant gender gap in both earnings and superannuation savings between men and women in Australia: • About 90% per cent of Australian women will retire with inadequate savings to fund a comfortable lifestyle in retirement.

• One in five women yet to retire has no superannuation 1 Phillips B (2014), 'Child care affordability in Australia', AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report Issue 35, June 2014.
2 Ibid, page 11 3 Ibid, page 12 4 Hansard, Wednesday 2 December 2015, p14433 5 ANZ Women's Report, Barriers to Achieving Financial Gender Equality, ANZ, July 2015, p50 Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66 • Women retire, on average, with around half as much in their superannuation as men • 37% per cent of women reporting having no personal retirement.
6 income at the age of When women's participation in paid work increases, either by working more hours or in higher value jobs, they accumulate higher levels of superannuation savings during their working lives.

This improves their ability to self-fund their retirements and reduces their reliance on the age pension and other benefits.

One of the biggest hurdles for women trying to accumulate sufficient super is the penalty of the interrupted work patterns often required by mothers?
A report by Ernst & Young, Untapped opportunity; The role of women in unlocking Australia's productivity potential, estimated that if 32 year old woman on a salary of $65,000 takes a two year career break to care for young children, she will reduce her superannuation savings by $28,000 compared to a woman who did not take an equivalent career break (assuming a retirement age of 65).
$85,000, she would reduce her superannuation savings by $36,500, and if her salary were $115,00, by $50,0008 the same two year break would reduce her superannuation savings If her salary were .

this gap in retirement savings will further increase if the woman takes Clearly, subsequent career breaks to have more children, or returns to work part-time after having children.
in women's superannuation savings is exacerbated by the "gender pay that Australian women are paid less than Australian men for The shortfall gap", or the amount doing the same work.

This gap has recently risen to around 18.8%9 in Australia, which is the 11th highest gap in the OECD, and above the OECD average of 15.5% 10.

Full-time working Australian women earn on average $295 per week less than men, or $15,000 a year!'.
Extended over a typical 45-year career, the gender pay gap equates to about $700,00012 the financial consequences For women who take career breaks to care for children, if and when they return to work include being paid less than their female and male colleagues who have stayed in their careers without a break, with the added disadvantage that they fall further behind in workplace experience, skills and training.
6 Ibid, page 9 7 Suncorp-ASFA, Suncorp -ASFA Super Attitudes Survey, 2012, p 1-16 8 Untapped opportunity; The role of women in unlocking Australia's productivity potential, Ernst & Young, Australia, July 2013, p5 9 Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2015.
Gender pay gap statistics, p2 10 GECD Employment Database, 2014 11 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014, 6302.0 Average Weekly Earnings, Australia 12 ANZ Women's Report, ibid, page 6 Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66 This impact freelance or consulting basis.
is even greater if a woman returns to work on a casual, part-time, into Financial Gender Equality found that "the human capital and The ANZ Report earnings disadvantages that women incur at this point jeopardise their ability to recover earnings over the long term and have adverse implications for their ability to prepare for retiremenf'13.

in their lives seriously There is a common view that women will retire with access to their partner's income or savings.
While some women undoubtedly will, this is an outdated view of how many Australian women live and does not take into account single women and women who are single when they retire.

Reliance on a partner's income or savings also places women in a position of diminished financial power, which may result in their feeling financially "trapped" and vulnerable to abuse.

Increasing workforce participation is an important way to reduce this inequality and secure greater retirement incomes for women.
The availability and affordability of child care are important women's greater engagement with paid work, which will help reduce financial gender inequity.

Ernst and Young's report estimated that, by working an additional years across their working life, women have the potential additional three to accrue $237,000 of income at today's average earning rates".
factors in encourage Aging population The NATSEM Report says that "if Australia is serious about countering the impacts of an ageing population, using the female participation 'lever' will likely require Government policies that more strongly encourage female workforce participation, alongside continued cultural change around the way women juggle work/life balance.

This future balance will require a stronger child care sector and a greater role for men in the caring of children in the home'"'.
the measures in the Bill will go some way towards encouraging greater female Whilst workforce participation, significant barriers to their participation still exist.

Barriers to participation - parental discrimination In 2014 the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) released the results of its Supporting Working Parents: Pregnancy and Return to Work National Review, which found that parental discrimination in the workplace was not only experienced by women, but also men.
13 ANZ Women's Report, ibid, page 42 14 Untapped opportunity; The role of women in unlocking Australia's productivity potential, Ernst & Young, Australia, July 2013, pS 15 Phillips B (2014), ibid, page 13 Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66 The review found that pregnant employees and working parents experience many different attitudes, and conditions, as well as redundancy and job loss 16. types of discrimination at work, ranging from comments and negative through to loss of training and promotion opportunities, reduction in pay Barriers to participation - affordability and accessibility of child care The review also identified structural barriers facing working parents, which included the limited availability, affordability and accessibility of early childhood education and care services, stereotypes and assumptions about childbearing, parenting and the roles of women and men at home and in the workplace.
The ANZ Report found that the AHRC's "findings suggest parents has a negative impact on men embracing a broader role than 'traditional to take pressure off mothers, while also providing a disincentive for breadwinner' mothers to return to work, or seek promotion in their own righf'17.

the way employers treat Increasing female workforce participation depends on a number of factors, the affordability of childcare and the way the tax and government benefits systems interact with family income.
Currently, as women increase their working hours, they lose childcare benefits and pay more income tax.

This means that women considering returning to, or increasing their engagement with, the workplace, need to balance a number of economic factors, in addition to the practical considerations including around securing appropriate child care and managing the daily drop off and pick up arrangements at the beginning and end of each working day.
The Board fully supports providing the greatest help to those low-to-middle income families, and families experiencing disadvantage, who need it most.

The committee should also ensure the Bill's effect on middle-to-high income families, who will lose entitlements to child care rebate on a sliding scale, increased workplace participation.

is not to discourage women from The NATSEM study found that capital cities tend to offer less affordable childcare compared to regional areas.
The exceptions to this rule are some mining towns, central coast of New South Wales and Tasmania.

The least affordable areas for child care are dotted around Sydney Harbour, where childcare costs can account 9.3% of disposable income, and in Western Australian mining regions where childcare costs up to 11.4% of disposable income.

Some child care centres in these in spite of the high incomes earned by areas charge fees of over $170 per day.
And, the for 16 Supporting Working Parents: Pregnancy and Return to Work National Review, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2104, page 14 17 ANZ Women's Report, ibid, page 44 Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66 many in these areas, child care costs account any other regions in the country".
for a higher share of income than in It is worth noting that families in expensive centres not only pay more for childcare, but often also have much higher housing costs than in regional areas.

Regardless of location, child care expenses peak at a time when many families already face increased financial pressures.

Disposable income is affected by mothers taking lower-paid and unpaid maternity leave, or moving from full to part time work.
This may coincide with a need to move to a larger home and increased household expenses.

This combination of factors, particularly if repeated for further children, has the potential significant paid care.
financial pressure, particularly where families have more than one child in to place even relatively high income earners under It should also be noted that the cost of childcare has increased by almost 10% per annum in the past decade, an increase that is well ahead of the consumer price index at just 3.1 % per annum 19.
Barriers to participation - lack of access to informal care Much of the discussion around child care affordability centres around the costs of formal child care, with around 887,000 families using formal childcare in Australia, with nearly 1.3 million children attending around 13,000 approved childcare centres": In addition to this grandparents and others provide informal care, making this the most used form of care in Australia.
Grandparents provide 23% of all hours of childcare and non-resident parents provide a further 27% of total hours.

It is worth noting however that grandparent care is not available to many families.

Workers without assistance, are most affected by the lack of available informal care.

This group is likely to include many migrants and workers whose jobs require them to relocate.
family support, or with families too far away to provide practical Conclusion The Board supports all measures that will women, and that will help to reduce the significant Australian men and women.

have this effect.
financial It is strongly hoped that the measures in the Bill will inequity between lead to greater equality between men and The Board considers that a review of the operation of the measures should be taken in 2-3 years to measure their effects, and to ensure that the loss of child care rebate 18 Phillips B (2014)' ibid, page 18 19 Ibid, page 6 20 Ibid, page 7 Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66 does not act as a disincentive to women in higher paid and more senior roles engaging more with the workforce.
The Board also hopes that further measures will be considered that will encourage more men to share the parenting role more equally with women, improved opportunities to undertake paid work, reduce their financial disadvantage and improve gender equality in Australia.

to allow women erkyasharian AO Stepan President Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW Date: Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Bill 2015Submission 66