Equal Pay: The Evolutionary Process 1984-1994

Abstract

Equal pay in Australia has been implemented with varying degrees of success since the first historic equal pay decision was handed down in 1969. The purpose of this paper is to trace the evolution of the equal pay process in the federal industrial relations sphere, with major emphasis on the period from the mid-1980s to the recent legislation that provides for equal remuneration for work of equal value as a legislative right. The mechanisms for processing equal pay are exam ined, drawing on the experience gained from various cases in which implementa tion of equal pay was the goal. Emphasis is given to recent experience in the Family Court Counsellors Case to illustrate the impact of enterprise bargaining on the equal pay process. The paper concludes that the equal pay process has developed greater objectivity over time, thereby enhancing the flexibility of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission's work value principle for the pur poses of evaluating work in feminized occupations. The conclusion is also reached that enterprise bargaining, which is known to disadvantage women, has also been the catalystfor equal pay as a legislative right—although the value of that right in an enterprise bargaining environment is questioned.