1
Fair Work Act 2009
s.157—FWC may vary etc. modern awards if necessary to achieve modern awards objective
Gender undervaluation – priority awards review
(AM2024/19, AM2024/20, AM2024/21, AM2024/22, AM2024/23)
JUSTICE HATCHER, PRESIDENT
VICE PRESIDENT ASBURY
DEPUTY PRESIDENT O’NEILL
DEPUTY PRESIDENT SLEVIN
DEPUTY PRESIDENT GRAYSON
SYDNEY, 11 OCTOBER 2024
Gender-based undervaluation – priority awards – Commission’s own motion – Children’s
Services Award 2010 – Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award
2010 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and Aboriginal
Community Controlled Health Services Award 2020 – Health Professionals and Support
Services Award 2020 – Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 – request for research.
[1] This statement concerns a request by the ACTU for the Commission to conduct and
publish research in these proceedings.
[2] The ACTU made the initial request in its submission filed on 11 September 2024.1 In a
statement issued on 20 September 2024, the ACTU was invited to explore with the other parties
whether they could reach a consensus as to whether the Commission should undertake the
requested research.2
[3] On 4 October 2024, in correspondence to the Commission, the ACTU confirmed the
nature of research it was requesting and provided advice as to the outcome of its discussion
with other parties:
Further to the issues raised at paragraphs [23]-[24] [of the 20 September 2024 statement], we
have sought the support of all relevant parties (copied to this email) in approaching the
Commission on a consensus basis in order that the Commission may conduct and publish
research in relation to the following matters:
1. the number of people who work in the industry and/or occupation codes corresponding
to the specific award classifications being reviewed (excluding the Social, Community,
Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award) (‘the categories’);
2. how those numbers have changed over the past 10 years, depending on what time series
the micro data maintains;
3. a breakdown or cross-tabulation of employment by age and gender within the categories;
4. measures of average and median wages within the categories;
[2024] FWCFB 393
STATEMENT
AUSTRALIA FairWork Commission
[2024] FWCFB 393
2
5. measures of wage dispersion (e.g., how many people within the categories work for, say,
less than 20% below the average);
6. breakdown or cross-tabulation of method of pay-setting within the categories (Award,
enterprise agreement, individual contract);
7. breakdown or cross-tabulation of employment status within the categories (full-time,
permanent part-time, casual, OMIE).
. . .
The above data is requested for all awards in these proceedings with the exception of the
SCHADS Award.
There has been minimal engagement with our request. We have received (and answered)
questions concerning our request.
We understand that our request [] is not opposed by the Dental Assistants Professional
Association or the Phlebotomists Council of Australia, and that it is supported by the other union
parties.
In the circumstances, we would request that a member of the Commission be made available,
as indicated in the Statement, to assist in progressing this issue.
[4] We note that much of the information sought was provided in the Stage 1 report, but
there has since been a new release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Survey of
Employee Earnings and Hours (EEH) in 2023, so an update of that information can be
undertaken.
[5] Further, the EEH microdata includes a variable named ‘award code’ which can provide
information on some employer and employee characteristics by modern award, subject to
sufficient sample size and clearance protocols. This variable was used to present information in
research undertaken by Commission staff in A profile of employee characteristics across
modern awards and more recently the Data profile - Pharmacists and the Pharmacy Industry
Award 2020
[6] Staff of the Commission have made a preliminary assessment regarding the probability
of obtaining the data requested by the ACTU. With the exception of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners and Aboriginal Community Controlled
Health Services Award 2020 (ATSIHW Award), that assessment has established the following:
a. it is likely that the information requested in items 1, 2, 3 and 7 of the list at [3]
above, which rely on Census data, can be obtained by the Commission; and
b. the data requested at items 4, 5 and 6 of the list at [3] above will likely rely on
data from the EEH.
[7] It should be noted that the EEH data may require approval from the ABS for publication
which may impact the extent to which the request can be accommodated. This will not be able
to be confirmed until the data is analysed.
[8] Staff of the Commission have previously found that data relating to the ATSIHW Award
is not available through ABS EEH microdata due to insufficient sample size. The Commission
is taking further steps to identify whether the requested information can be gathered in relation
to this award via other data sources.
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/consultation/gender-based-occupational-segregation-report-2023-11-06.pdf
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/wage-reviews/2022-23/profile-of-employee-characteristics-across-modern-awards-2023-03-03.pdf
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/wage-reviews/2022-23/profile-of-employee-characteristics-across-modern-awards-2023-03-03.pdf
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/sites/am2024-19/am202419-pharmacists-pharmacy-industry-award-data-profile-300824.pdf
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/sites/am2024-19/am202419-pharmacists-pharmacy-industry-award-data-profile-300824.pdf
[2024] FWCFB 393
3
[9] We have considered the ACTU’s request for information, and its proposal that a member
of the Commission be made available to assist in progressing the issue as to whether a consensus
can be achieved with respect to this request. It appears to us that the ACTU has already made a
reasonable attempt to engage with other parties about the issue. Given the limited time between
now and the commencement of the hearing in these matters, we do not think that it would be
useful for the Commission to spend time further engaging with parties to see if a consensus can
be reached in relation to the ACTU’s request. The information that is sought consists of
objective quantitative/numerical data which is open to use by any party. Consequently, we have
formed the provisional view that the Commission should obtain and publish the data requested
to the extent that it is able to do so.
[10] Parties are invited to email any comment on the provisional view to awards@fwc.gov.au
by 4:00 pm (AEDT) on Thursday, 17 October 2024.
PRESIDENT
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer
PR780166
1 ACTU submission, 11 September 2024 [38], [40(f)].
2 [2024] FWCFB 382 [23]–[24].
THE FAIR WORK FAI COMMISSION THE
mailto:awards@fwc.gov.au
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/sites/am2024-19/am2019-anors-sub-actu-120924.pdf
https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/decisionssigned/pdf/2024fwcfb382.pdf
