• A proper and meaningful test for affidavits submitted with respect to the issue of pay equity which may be triggered by either the QIRC, the ADCQ, a party entitled represent the employees covered by the proposed agreement, or the relevant Minister.
• This “pay equity” thresh-hold or test should be available to a party with appropriate standing to access, such as the relevant trade union or an affected trade union.
• Such a test would include considerations such as the coverage of industrial instruments at that workplace, access to representation, evidence of good faith bargaining, etc.

2.  Reversal of recent amendments which allow agreements to be certified against the wishes of the relevant union where the majority of other unions have signed the agreement.

3.  Public sector bargaining standards or a Code of Conduct for the employer ought to be developed and applied so that public sector negotiators are aware of the standards expected to be applied in terms of their conduct.

4.  The application of JEMs as a tool for consistent job evaluation outcomes must be further examined and steps taken to remove as many flaws as possible from the actual process of evaluation.

5.  Action should be taken in consultation with relevant unions by the state government to seriously review the short-comings of the JEMs system as recently identified by Mercer Consulting, and further work done to ensure that the system does not continue to undervalue work traditionally performed by women.  This could be undertaken on a project basis by the relevant stake-holders and achieved in a productive and cooperative manner.

6.  The Qld government should recognise it’s responsibilities to workers as an employer of choice in the current environment and improve it’s consultative arrangements with unions around major decisions such as privatisation and government procurement to ensure that :

• Workers don’t lose important protections by privatisation or PPP’s
• Pay and conditions don’t diminish by stealth as ownership changes
• Contractors don’t profiteer by government contracts at the expense of workers
• State government workers and private sector workers don’t end up working in the same workplace or service delivery area on different rates of pay for work of similar value
•  A review of women’s participation and access to Board appointments and senior executive positions should be conducted
• Mentoring and secondment opportunities within the public sector should also be reviewed and assessed

7.  Further research needs to be done on the capacity of the Queensland Government to impact upon the significant disadvantages that precarious workers in the federal system now face.

8.  Consideration be given to the capacity of the ADCQ being provided with additional resources to play a greater proactive role with respect to pay equity issues, which may involve sharing responsibilities or cooperative arrangements with the QIRC, eg. Examination of affidavits accompanying certification applications for agreements.

9.  Government Procurement guidelines should be much more prescriptive in terms of expectations of private providers to government, and provide for stringent contractual requirements and monitoring.  Other states have made important and sensible commitments in this regard and these should be reviewed with a view to adoption in Queensland.

10.  The Queensland government should ensure that the provision of “corporate welfare” or incentives to business do not undermine the employment stability or pay and conditions of existing workers, eg. Virgin was actively assisted to set up in Queensland without checks or requirements placed on them with respect to pay parity with other airlines workers.  The devaluation of female work in the industrial instruments subsequently adopted has remained unchallenged to this day.

11.  Monitoring of the impact of WorkChoices as well as other factors such as housing and child care affordability, the growth of precarious employment, and the spread of market loadings for specific groups is desirable, however consideration needs to be given to exactly what can be achieved alongside the collection of data.  Assessment and analysis of the data, as well as a clear mechanism for the production of recommendations by whatever body may be so empowered is critical.

12.  An Industrial Relations Survey should be re-introduced and it’s findings published regularly.

13.  White-collar workers rarely see Improvement Notices or Prosecutions arising out of the government’s Workplace Health & Safety legislation.  Recent experiences of ASU members clearly show that there is a serious knowledge deficit within the Division which translates into poor handling of complaints associated with white-collar work, such as fatigue from poor rostering, work intensification, and bullying and harassment.  A review of the operation of the Division of Workplace Health and Safety should be conducted with a view to assessing the relative resourcing allocated to white-collar health and safety issues, including prevention, monitoring and timely access to assistance.  Such a review should explore opportunities for joint research projects and traininig with stakeholders that will redress this inequity.

14.  An independent body should be given the power to investigate pay equity across industries and occupations taking into account the decentralisation of the current wages system and the differential outcomes achieved to date with respect to the AQF and skills-based work value systems.  This may be the QIRC, ADCQ, or other specialist body such as a Pay Equity Unit.  It is important, in our view, that one body be given key responsibilities rather than functions and accountabilities be dispersed.  For this reason, we believe that the role and responsibilities, as well as desirable outcomes for the existing Office of Women be reviewed in consultation with major stakeholders.  Whilst the Office of Women has played an important role in the past, we are concerned about the continued pigeon-holing of so-called women’s issues which allows other sectors of the government and private business escape scrutiny on many key issues of importance to Queensland families and workers.  The ASU would like to see pay equity as an issue mainstreamed and allocated real resources alongside a common set of principles and the capacity as well as commitment to achieve meaningful social change in very difficult circumstances.  Such commitments ought to include a process to allow recommendations to relevant Ministers regarding access to and provision of government services, such as housing, health and aged care, and child care.

15.  Funding should be made available to community sector organisations who wish to review and re-value the work done by their workers so as to remove the disincentive to pay better (having to choose between pay rates and the number of workers who are funded to be employed).  Future funding should be indexed.

16.   A Code of Practice on Pay Equity should be developed for the information of and implementation by both the government and private sectors.

17.  The government should review the context and conceptual framework in which the above issues are viewed.  Pay equity should not routinely be considered to be only a women’s issue.  It affects many men who also work in traditionally female dominated occupations.  It affects families.  It is a complex issue which interacts with other structural aspects of the labour market and economy and cannot be hived off and considered apart from key problems such as child-care and discrimination generally.  It is not just about encouraging women to work in non-traditional occupations.  It is about a proper and meaningful evaluation of the work that is currently performed within the economy by a predominantly female workforce which suffers from serious disadvantages in terms of job security and career pathing.  The continued marginalisation of this issue will not benefit Queensland women, men, or their families.  Any meaningful measures must consider this, and must ensure that we don’t create isolated bureaucracies or toothless tigers for the sake of appearances, versus substantive progress.  The Queensland government has much to be proud of, and we believe a fundamental shift to build on past achievements is now what is needed, particularly in the face of such a radical reversal of progress seen in the last 12 months of the implementation of the federal WorkChoices legislation.   Whatever recommendations are ultimately forthcoming, they will not be successful without a commitment to implement, monitor, and assess.  This will take resources and a commitment to ensure that other stakeholders are adequately resourced so that the best outcome can be achieved.