Australian Unions welcome the Fair Work Commission’s decision handed down today that workers under five priority awards have had their pay historically undervalued based on gender.
Using improvements to workplace laws introduced by the Albanese Government in 2022, the Fair Work Commission’s ruling is set to lift minimum pay rates for a wide range of occupations.
Among those set to benefit include pharmacists on the award who will receive a 14.1 per cent lift to their pay phased in over the next three years.
The Commission is also proposing substantial pay rises of up to 35 per cent for a wide range of occupations, including health professionals, dental assistants, and pathology collectors. Early childhood education and care workers will also see their award pay rates lifted over five years, with an initial 5% increase from 1 August this year.
Unions are concerned, however, that proposed changes to the Social and Community Services Award will have unintended consequences that could disadvantage some workers.
This will be raised by unions with the Commission, which will consult interested parties further on changes to classification structures to reflect their decision and the timing of any increases.
These changes, if carried out, will directly increase the wages of an estimated 175,000 workers paid under those awards and indirectly assist a further 335,000 whose agreements are underpinned by those awards.
The Commission’s decision follows evidence from over 130 witnesses, 5 experts and 15 days of hearings in December 2024 to consider fair rates of pay in the five priority awards.
The Fair Work Commission’s review of gender-based undervaluation is the result of the Albanese Government’s workplace relations reforms in late 2022, which Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and the Coalition voted against.
The ACTU’s latest gender pay gap report, ‘Minding the Gap’, revealed that stronger workplace laws were a major factor in the gender pay gap shrinking three times faster under the Albanese Government than under the previous Coalition Government.
The laws added gender equality as an objective of the Fair Work Act and empowered the Fair Work Commission to order wage increases for workers to address jobs that had been undervalued on the basis of gender.
Prior to the changes, there had only been one successful case under the old equal pay laws in thirty years, which were largely unworkable. Since the new laws came into operation, equal pay has been achieved for workers in aged care, which achieved pay rises of up to 28.5 per cent.
The Fair Work Commission has invited parties to make further submissions on its provisional reviews around new classification structures with hearings to be scheduled after 3 May 2025.
Quotes attributable to ACTU President, Michele O’Neil:
“Unions welcome today’s landmark ruling by the Fair Work Commission, which recognises that working Australians should not be undervalued and underpaid because of their gender.
“For too long, jobs where the majority of workers are women have been paid less.
“Discounting women’s work has contributed to the gender pay gap and worsened cost-of-living pressures for households.
“This ruling is only possible because working women in their unions campaigned for stronger laws to lift wages in undervalued sectors – laws that the Albanese Government introduced, and that Peter Dutton and the Coalition voted against.
“With further submissions due after the election, these pay rises could be at risk if Peter Dutton is elected.
“The gender pay gap is closing three times faster under the Albanese Government than under the previous Coalition Government – and that shows who wins elections matters.
“Unions know there is still a lot more work to do to achieve gender equality. We will campaign to protect the laws that have paved the way for these life-changing pay rises.
Unions have identified that there are some unintended consequences in today’s decision for social and community service workers that they will ask the Commission to correct.”
