The Australian government's commitment to equal employment opportunity
has resulted in the enactment of anti-discrimination and affirmative action
legislation at both the federal and state level and the development of a number
of labour market, training and social policies specifically designed to remove
impediments to women's employment. The Affirmative Action (Equal Employment
Opportunity for Women) Act is pivotal to the removal of discrimination in
organisations, but its effectiveness has been hindered by the restructuring of
organisations on a divisional basis, a lack of understanding of the nature of equal
employment opportunity and the role of affirmative action programs among some
employers and employees, and the choices women make about their employment
and training. A number of innovative policies have been developed by large
organisations to deal with these barriers to the effectiveness of affirmative action
programs and the creation of EEO and they provide useful models for other
organisations.
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