Legally, the pendulum in Australia swings in favour of the working woman who also wants to raise a family. Companies employing women returning from maternity leave, for example, are expected to offer their female employees the opportunity to work part-time if they wish, as a WA Equal Opportunity Tribunal determined recently in a test case. (HREOC, WA Dental Nurse).

For those companies who refuse employees parenting rights as part of their employment conditions, there are many precedents where Australian law courts have ruled in favour of employees, for example:

• Hickey vs. Hunt: In 1998, a Sydney lawyer, Marea Hickey, was granted $95,000 for being discriminated against after returning to work part-time from maternity leave.

Furthermore, it appears sexual harassment is alive and well in Australia – but the penalties for employers who allow such practices in the workplace are severe. 

• A nationwide survey of Australian employers and employees conducted as recently as 1999 found that a small but significant percentage of employers believe sexual harassment is GROWING in the marketplace.
• In Queensland and Western Australia specifically, almost 1 in 10 expressed the opinion that sexual harassment was on the rise. Sixteen per cent of men, and 25 per cent of women, believed that harassment was “still rife” in the Australian workplace.

Respondents indicated that casuals appeared to bear the brunt of sexual harassment, while the media industry achieved the worst profile. In all, 63% of respondents in this industry said sexual harassment was “typical” (Morgan and Banks, Australian Jobs Index Survey, February, 1999).