The union representing Australian public sector, Northern Territory Public Services and Australian Capital Territory Public Service workers today releases the10th What Women Want Survey. This national survey asks Australian women about the key issues in their working lives.
What Women Want provides key insights into longitudinal trends across nation and our public services. This one-of-a-kind report details women's journey to equity across the public and private sector and it highlights the need for urgent government action on gender equity.
The CPSU continues to see concerning data showing ongoing declines in permanent employment, growing prevalence of out-sourcing and casualisation of essential services, and increasing contact outside of work.
This edition of the survey shows again that women want more flexible work arrangements and that their ability to balance work and non-work commitments continues to decline for the fifth year in a row. This has been further stressed by workload pressure and more out of hours contact by departments and agencies.
Insecure work is an increasing issue for all women across the Australian public sector. Since the election of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Government in 2013, concerns about insecure work has almost doubled. Women across the APS are worried about their jobs due to the steady increase in outsourcing and average staffing level cap.
CPSU National Secretary, Melissa Donnelly today said that: "What Women Want details women's journey to equality across the public and private sector, highlighting the need for government action on gender equity."
"The survey found that flexible work arrangements continue to be a key issue for women, whether that's negotiating part-time work, or accessing leaves when you need it. These issues are crucial to women's working lives."
"We know that since 2013 18,908 or 11.4% of public service jobs have been cut under successive Liberal Governments, causing enormous damage to the capacity of the Commonwealth to deliver essential services that all Australians rely upon. It's no wonder women in the public service are worried about their job security!"
"This report shows the real-world impacts of the Government's obsession with outsourcing, and the flow on impact of the ASL cap. The results are clear, public sector women are more than ever worried about their job security. They don't know whether or not they'll have a job next week or next month, and this has huge implications for every aspect of their life."
