Women
Standing up for women’s rights at work
Union members are leading the fight for gender equality in the workplace, ensuring that all women receive fair wages, equal opportunities, and workplace protections. This section highlights how collective action is securing paid parental leave, fighting gender pay gaps, and pushing for policies that support women’s job security and career advancement. By standing together, union members are creating safer, fairer workplaces for all women.
Ending workplace discrimination and gender inequality
Women continue to face challenges such as workplace harassment, unequal pay, and job insecurity. Unions are actively working to enforce stronger anti-discrimination laws, increase superannuation for women, and ensure flexible work arrangements that support working mothers and caregivers. These ongoing campaigns give women the power to challenge inequality and demand better conditions at work.
Join the movement for fairer workplaces
Union members are pushing for real change, from stronger workplace protections to better wages for women in low-paid industries. By becoming a union member, you help drive the fight for equal rights at work, ensuring that all women have the same opportunities, pay, and respect in the workplace.
View our articles below for more information about Gender Equality and Women’s Rights in the workplace!
Union-backed win for paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave will save lives
July 28, 2022
For over a decade, unions campaigned for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave in the NES so that no worker would miss out. We were met with constant opposition by the former Coalition Government, but we never gave up. Today, while we celebrate the introduction of paid FDV leave into parliament, we also stop and remember all the lives lost too soon and the struggle that continues.
Women with disability grapple ‘administrative burden’ of the NDIS
July 22, 2022
Paperwork and bureaucracy should never stand in the way of people with disability accessing essential support. But cutting through this red tape is not only a structural barrier, but also a burden that has fallen mainly on women.
Early Pay Access apps: employee benefit or employer trap?
July 15, 2022
‘Early Pay Access’ apps are increasingly popular in Australia under the guise of an employee ‘benefit’ – but ultimately they take advantage of already vulnerable workers.
We can never take workers’ rights for granted: Here’s what the Roe v Wade decision could mean for you
July 2, 2022
As working women in the United States take to the streets in outrage, Australian workers can see clearly how important it is to understand our own rights and ensure they remain protected.
Working towards a strong future and decent retirement: Collective action is the only answer
July 1, 2022
Employers didn’t offer up super contributions with unprompted goodwill – the right to superannuation was entirely union member driven and won. Today the whole nation benefits. That is the power of collective action.
Goodbye superannuation threshold, hello stable retirement
June 29, 2022
It’ll soon be time to check those pay slips because you may be one of the workers soon to have a permanent boost to your superannuation.
No jobs on a dead planet: what climate activism has to do with LGBTQIA+ workers’ rights
June 24, 2022
Workers in unions have always stood up for LGBTQIA+ rights, and this includes fighting for climate justice, as climate change is an LGBTQIA+ issue as much as it is a worker’s issue.
The ‘mental load’ leads to burn out for women
June 17, 2022
The mental load is defined as ‘emotional and cognitive labour’ made up of all of the logistical tasks that have worry, stress or emotion attached to them – thinking about planning dinners, kids parties and clean school uniforms for example. Unlike domestic labour, there is no end to the mental load.
Paid Family and Domestic Violence leave on track to cover all workers
Around 11 million workers in Australia may soon have access to paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave. New Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke has committed to enshrining the leave in the National Employment Standards (NES) as a top priority.
Workers across the world win a new fundamental right
June 10, 2022
A safe workplace seems like it should be the bare minimum right for all workers…