Abstract
It has been the experience of the Professional Officers Association that the Industrial Relations Commission has not been the major stumbling block to the implementation of the principle of 'equal pay for work of equal value'. Rather, in the association's sphere of operations, the Commonwealth government has been the greatest obstacle to the implementation of equal pay in the predominantly female professions in its own area of employment, in spite of its stated commitment to the commission's 1972 equal pay decision. In recent years the pay equity lobby has tended to underestimate the influence of the federal government with regard to the application of equal pay. To increase the responsiveness of the system to demands for pay equity for women, greater pressure needs to be brought to bear on the government of the day at the national level by a well-organized women's lobby capable of ensuring that the government's policy commitment in this area is genuine, active and continuing.
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