Working Women’s Centres nationwide may close

National Working Women's Centres (NWWCs) in Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia are facing closure as a result of verbal advice by Julia Gillard's office that the Federal Government will not renew their funding. The ASU is urging you to support the Centres and the workers they assist by sending an email asking for funding to be maintained.

The loss of Federal Government funding will be devastating to the future of the Centres. It will almost certainly result in a dramatic reduction in services delivered and in loss of staff. It may indeed result in closure of some or all of the Centres. You can read more about the Centres and what they do below.

NWWCs have received federal funds (including establishment costs for four centres) since 1994. During WorkChoices, the Centres were hardest hit with the Howard Government forcing them to restrict their advocacy by having the threat of loss of funding over their heads in light of any public comment.

During this time it was considered that some Centres had accepted the Howard Government's punitive stand on women and their rights, particularly the rights of those most marginalised but we know they tried valiantly to resist! You may recall our participation in the fight to defend the Tasmanian Working Women's Centre in 2006 - the evidence of Howard's reign to silence was apparent, but where NWWCs could, they stood strong.

The clients of NWWCs are most likely to be on low incomes, marginalised and lack the capacity to pay for a service. The NWWCs deliver high quality services to women who are at most risk of social exclusion and in turn to provide government with meaningful information about the issues socially excluded women face in relation to employment.

We are seeking your support for these Centres. You can do this by filling in a support email form to be sent to Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, asking her to stop the funding cuts. You can send the email here:

Send an email to Julia Gillard 

Please help us to keep the National Working Women's Centres open!

About National Working Women’s Centres and what they do

National Working Women's Centres (NWWCs) provide information, advice and support to vulnerable women. NWWCs focus their service provision on the most vulnerable women such as indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse and young women.

The NWWCs provide assistance to women who are not able to gain assistance from any other source i.e. non union members, low income women, women with language barriers. The NWWCs have provided assistance to thousands of women to do the following:

• Resolve their issues at work diplomatically and amicably so that they can get on with their job and support their families.
• Regain a sense of self worth and justice via formal complaints processes in forums such as Anti Discrimination Commissions and the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

The NWWCs have also provided community education on a range of topics such as basic rights, enterprise bargaining, discrimination, workplace bullying and family friendly workplace practices.

NWWCs have a sound track record of contributing to research and practical projects that enhance women's roles in their workplaces - e.g. paid maternity leave, workplace bullying, outwork, the impact of legislative changes on women, the impact of domestic violence on women and their workplaces. NWWCs have given a voice to vulnerable women at high policy levels, where their voices are not always heard.

The NWWCs have a long history of providing industrial relations services to these women, since 1994 in the case of Queensland and the Northern Territory and 1979 in the case of South Australia.