Equal pay is still a dream for most Australian women

The Sydney Morning Herald 3 September 2013:

The pay gap in favour of men has widened in two of Australia's most female-dominated industries.

The health care and social assistance sector has the biggest gender pay gap in the country even though women outnumber men by four to one. Full-time men in that sector are paid 32.3 per cent more on average than full-time women, up 1 percentage point in the past year. Two other sectors - finance and insurance and professional, scientific and technical services - also have an average pay gap in favour of men of more than 30 per cent.

In retail trade, where 56 per cent of the workers are women, the gender pay gap widened by 3.4 per cent in the past year, second to construction where the average gender pay discrepancy increased by 4.9 per cent.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency says the gender pay gap across all sectors of the Australian economy stands at 17.5 per cent. That's 2.6 percentage points higher than it was in 2004 and one percentage point higher than it was in 1995. The average full-time woman now earns $266.20 less each week than the average full-time working man, an annual difference of $13,842.....

Average super payments for women ($63,412) are 42 per cent less than men's ($109,609), the ACTU report says.

Abbott and Hockey condemn National Disability Insurance Scheme to limbo if Coalition wins government

This was Australian Federal Opposition Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey writing to concerned citizens in June 2013:

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott at a press conference on 30 March 2013:

It would appear that neither of these Coalition politicians want to see the National Disability Insurance Scheme launch in 2013-14 or become fully realized by 2018, as planned by the Gillard Government, if they place so many pre-conditions on its implementation.

UPDATE 2 May 2013:

The Opposition Leader has still not given his unconditional support to the levy and continues to misrepresent known details of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

UPDATE 3 May 2013:

Abbott & Co continue to lay the ground work to roll back NDIS funding if they gain government; 

deep misgivings within the Coalition about the potential for its cost to explode in the next decade.

In 2013 Australian universities are still predominately the professional training ground of the middle and upper classes while government schools remain the main education providers. So which level of education is most in need of increased government funding?

Once the Gillard Government had announced funding measures to underpin its policy response to the Review of Funding for Schooling Final Report December 2011 (Gonski Report) there was an immediate and predictable outcry regarding the government’s intention to remove $2.3 billion from direct/indirect tertiary education funding commencing in 2014.

Leaving aside the obvious wealth of some of the older universities, is this outcry justified? Should Australian taxpayer dollars continue to be spent at record levels on higher education or should these be spent in a more immediately equitable manner with the eventual aim of increasing the education standard of the population?

Australian Society

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009–10 twenty-three per cent of the Australian population lived in low income-low wealth households. With sixty-one per cent of female single parents and forty-nine per cent of single male parents living in low economic resource households.

Economic hardship often means that people experience a relatively low material standard of living. For people who live in economic hardship, access to economic resources that provide for the consumption of goods and services such as food, housing, clothing, medical care and so on are limited Low economic resources can also restrict a person's ability to be included in the society around them, and limit their opportunities to create the life they want.

The Universities

The Higher Education Base Funding Review Final Report (O c t o b e r  2 0 11) states that: In 2007, total government funding to the higher education sector was $8 billion, of which base funding was $6.4 billion. In 2011, total government funding had reached close to $12 billion, of which $8.5 billion is base funding. It is estimated that in 2013, total government funding will be $13.6 billion and total base funding will be $10 billion.

A further $500 million will come from the Education Investment Fund for the tertiary sector over the next five years, although it is not yet known what proportion of these funds will be allocated to universities.

According to the Department of Industry, Innovation, Research and Tertiary Education: From 2012 to 2015 the Gillard Government will invest $58.9 billion in higher education and that funding for university student places in 2013 was 10.1 per cent higher.

The majority of students enrolled at Australian universities still come from middle or high socio-economic status backgrounds.

While university enrolments in Australia have more than doubled in the last two decades, students from low SES backgrounds are three times less likely to enter university than those from high SES backgrounds……

An obvious barrier to a student’s entry into higher education is non-completion of secondary school and general poor academic achievement. As noted above, the literature identifies that secondary education non-completion rates are much higher for low SES, Indigenous, and regional and remote student groups than they are for others. The evidence points to a strong negative correlation between low SES and secondary school completion and thus entry to higher education.

The Australian Council for Education Research media release indicates that in 2013 an estimated 14.3 per cent to 18.5 per cent of domestic university undergraduates in Australian universities in 2013 come from a low socioeconomic background.

Primary and Secondary Schools

Government schools remained the main provider of school education in Australia, with a total of 2,342,379 students, compared with 736,595 students attending Catholic schools, and 511,012 students attending Independent schools…..

..in absolute terms Indigenous student numbers in government schools, 149,307, far exceeded the number in non-government schools, 26,750….

In 2012 the apparent retention rate for all students was 79.9%, with the female rate of 84.3% being 8.5 percentage points higher than the male rate of 75.8%.

In 2012, the rate varied considerably across affiliations: 75.8% in government schools, 82.1% in Catholic schools, and 91.8% in Independent schools, the latter down from a high of 94.9% in 2009…..

Between 2011 and 2012, the apparent retention rate for Indigenous males rose by 3.1 percentage points to 49.2%, and for Indigenous females rose by 1.6 percentage points to 52.9%. The apparent retention rates from Year 7/8 to Year 10 for these students were significantly higher at 96.9% for males and 100.0% for females.

Women In Politics: Let's reach another milestone in the September 2013 Australian Federal Election

Source(s): Parliament of Australia, Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia, 2010

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Measures of Australia's Progress, 2010:  

The proportion of federal parliamentarians who are women has risen markedly over the past 20 years. On 1 January 1986, one in twenty members of the House of Representatives were women (5%) rising to more than one in four (27%) by the beginning of 2008. Similarly, close to one in five senators were women in 1986 (18%) rising to more than one in three in 2010 (36%) (AEC 2009; Parliament of Australia 2010b).

In the federal government ministry, as at the end of June 2010, there were nine female ministers and parliamentary secretaries (representing 23% of ministers and parliamentary secretaries), including the Prime Minister The Hon Julia Gillard MP and a further three who were Cabinet members. Around 17% of shadow ministerial and parliamentary secretary positions were held by women (Parliament of Australia 2010b).  

The Sydney Morning Herald 29 March 2013:

When she announced her new ministry last Monday, Julia Gillard made history. For the first time, women make up one-third of the Australian government. Although the cabinet remains unchanged, the promotion of three women into the ministry has radically altered the gender balance of the government.

There are four women, including Gillard, in the 20-member cabinet which in itself is a record (and the numbers were even better before the resignation of Nicola Roxon as attorney-general this year).

But it is the outer ministry where the radical change has occurred. Gillard promoted three women: Sharon Bird, Catherine King and Jan McLucas. This means that six of the 10 members of the ministry are women. That's 60 per cent. That's unprecedented in Australia.

L–R: Penny Wong, Tanya Plibersek, Jenny Macklin, Julia Gillard, Kate Lundy, Kate Ellis, Julie Collins

Australian Prime Minister with some of the federal ministers

Janelle Saffin and Gillard Government deliver! $4 million for a community health centre in Yamba

THE HON WAYNE SWAN MP

Deputy Prime Minister

Treasurer

THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP

Minister for Health

THE HON JANELLE SAFFIN MP

Member for Page

MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, May 4, 2012

$4 million for a community health centre in Yamba

The 2012-13 Budget will deliver a vital new health facility in Yamba.

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek today announced that $4.3 million will be provided to build a new community health centre in the town.

“The Gillard Government is delighted to be directing funding toward a facility which will provide important health services to local families,” said Ms Plibersek.

“These capital works will be a major boost for the local economy while they are being carried out, and will provide health care services to thousands of residents of Yamba, Iluka, Maclean and other areas of the Lower Clarence once they are completed.”

Member for Page Janelle Saffin said existing service gaps, particularly in relation to oral health and mental health, will be addressed as part of the project.

“Access to quality health care, which will meet the increasing demand for services and attract doctors and nurses to our region, is the number one priority for residents in Yamba,” said Ms Saffin.

“The funding will go toward new outpatient clinics and facilities for local GP services, mental health and dental services.”

“I would like to pay special tribute to Yamba-based health campaigner, Jim Agnew OAM, who has been lobbying for this facility for many years.”

Funding for the community health centre was made available from the Gillard Government’s Health and Hospital Fund (HHF.)

The application was assessed by the independent HHF Advisory Board.

This centre is one of a large number of projects being funded by the HHF in the 2012-13 Budget to help regional health service networks manage the expected increase in demand for services over the coming years.

Funding for the hospitals will be made available from the Gillard Government’s Health and Hospital Fund (HHF.)

The application was assessed by the independent HHF Advisory Board.

This development is one of a large number of projects being funded by the HHF in the 2012-13 Budget to help regional health service networks manage the expected increase in demand for services over the coming years.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said: “As a Labor Government, we will always manage the economy in the interests of working people, and that means delivering a surplus while making room for critical investments in health infrastructure like the one here in Yamba.”

For all media inquiries, please contact Simon Crittle (Plibersek) on 0466 773 531 or Peter Ellem (Saffin) on 0437 303 875

STATEMENT BY JANELLE SAFFIN MP ON CLOSURE OF BONALBO HOSPITAL 24/7 EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT & NURSING SERVICE

Statement by Janelle Saffin MP on Bonalbo Hospital

I express my dismay at the actions of the Northern New South Wales Local Health District’s administration in closing the 24/7 nursing operation at Bonalbo Hospital, and call upon the Board to immediately reinstate it.

I was at Bonalbo Hospital on Saturday with the nurses and I promised them that in addition to my earlier letter to the Chief Executive Chris Crawford and the Board, that I would make a public call for the immediate reinstatement for the 24/7 nursing operation.

I realise it is a matter of state administration, but I take a very strong interest in health, securing much needed Federal funds locally, so I cannot stay silent when a community is left abandoned, as is the case in Coraki as well.

I question what is going on with our local health services?  

I was at the public meeting in Bonalbo last year, discussing how to handle the departure of the local GP.

With the permanent GP gone, it is important to keep as many of the health services as possible, and give the community a sense of security regarding their health.

This also allows them to keep faith in the health service, while attempts to attract another GP or two GPs to the Bonalbo township and district are continuing.

When the decision was taken to cease the 24/7 nurses’ shifts in Bonalbo, without consultation about how things would work with the 11.00 pm to 7.00 am shift axed, I let Mr Crawford know that I was appalled.

I said in my letter to him, that: “There is fear now in our small communities, both Bonalbo and Coraki, that you and the Board are set on closing their hospitals and neither community believes you when you say that you will restore their health services.”

I have now told the nurses, the SOS Action Committee and locals to go to the Board, as they are our community representatives.

 

The current interim Bonalbo model of operation, with doctors brought in from neighbouring towns, has been lauded by health representatives, including Board members, as a good model for  the residents of Coraki and district, who have not only lost their hospital due to the disrepair of the facility, but have been left without alternative services.

I am waiting to hear the announcement that some emergency services will be reinstated there while a health services plan is done.

.

There have been so many calls for the immediate reinstatement of the 24/7 service from concerned community members and key representative organisations.  These include Kyogle Shire Council, the NSW Nurses Association, the local NSW Nurses Association members, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ representatives and all Bonalbo and district residents.

 

The NSW Nurses Association has said that: “People usually only call on health services during the night when things are serious, so it is important that this community has sufficient capacity to respond during the night.”

The local nurses, through the NSW Nurses Association, have asked a list of some 29 questions which raise serious issues that need to be addressed immediately, including that of nurses’ security.

The list includes critical questions such as:

• Who will carry the hospital and drug cupboard keys and how would they be passed from one nurse to the next; for example, to get keys from evening shift nurse to morning shift nurse where the morning nurse will usually be a different nurse?
• Once the nursing night shifts cease, where does the Local Health District plan to keep the key for the alternative helipad if a helicopter evacuation was required through the night as the usual helipad has been flooded four times in the past 10 years? Is the Health District aware that it takes an average of four hours to mobilize helicopter retrieval?  

It is bad enough to axe the 24/7 nursing operations, but to then not manage the process is negligent.

 

Kyogle Shire Council, in its letter to Mr Crawford, has stated categorically that: “The decision to cease the provision of Emergency Services at Bonalbo Hospital between 11.00 pm and 7.00 am will result in unacceptable risk to the health and well being of our community and is completely at odds with previous guarantees provided to the Bonalbo community at public meetings that there would be no reduction to health services.”

It is clearly up to the Board members to ensure that there are no reduction to health services and I am asking them to continue this service of 24/7 coverage with nurses.

Contact: Janelle Saffin 0418 664 001.   

Australian Society: Keeping up with the Joneses

A brief look at some of the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics series Measures of Australian Progress 2010:

HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIC WELLBEING AND PROGRESS

In the decade to 2007-08, the average real equivalised disposable household weekly income for people in the low income group increased by 41%.
Over the same period, the average real equivalised disposable household weekly income increased by 46% for middle income people.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES

Overall, in 2004-05 and 2008, average real equivalised gross weekly household income for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was around 61% of the corresponding figure for non-Indigenous people.

HOUSEHOLD WEALTH

.... in both 2003-04 and 2005-06 the 20% of households with the lowest wealth accounted for just 1% of total household net worth at an average of $27,000. In comparison, the wealth of households in the highest net worth quintile accounted for 59% of total household net worth in 2003-04 and 61% in 2005-06, at an average of $1.7 million per household (ABS 2007a)

INCOME SUPPORT RECIPIENTS

In 2007-08, over half (55%) of low income households received government pensions and allowances as their principal source of income.

The proportion of households whose main source of income was government pensions and allowances has generally declined over the decade 1997-98 to 2007-08. Over this period, lone person households, where the reference person was aged 65 years and over, were the most likely to receive government pensions and allowances as their main source of income (78% in 1997-98 and 76% in 2007-08). In 2007-08, 45% of one parent families with dependent children received government benefits as their main source of income, decreasing from 54% in 1997-98. Factors contributing to the general decline over this decade in government pensions and allowances as householders' main source of income may include: strong jobs growth, the closure or phasing out of some payments, and tightening of eligibility criteria to receive some payments (ABS 2010a).

LEVELS OF HOME OWNERSHIP

Home ownership rates have been fairly stable at around 70% for many decades. As measured in the ABS Census of Population and Housing, in 1971 the home ownership rate was 69% and in 2006 it was 70%, with small fluctuations around 70% in the intervening Censuses.

LOW INCOME RENTAL AFFORDABILITY

Rental affordability for low income households (that is the proportion of housing costs to gross income for low income renters) has remained constant over the past 10 years (28% in 1997-98 and 27% in 2007-08).

(a) Year ending 30 June. Data unavailable for years 1999, 2002, 2005, and 2007 and have been interpolated.

HOMELESSNESS

For one group in the homeless population, information obtained from government-funded specialist homelessness agencies, and compiled by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, showed that during the year 2008-09 there were 204,900 people (one in every 105 Australians) who received support at some point during that year. More females (62%) than males (38%) received support, while males were slightly more likely to have repeat periods of homelessness. The most common reason for seeking assistance was due to domestic or family violence (22% of support periods), relationship or family breakdown (10%) and other financial difficulty (8%). Due to changes in data collection methods, these estimates cannot be directly compared with previous years (AIHW 2010).

EDUCATION

Between 1997 and 2009, there has been a continuing rise in the proportion of people with a vocational or higher education qualification (from 46% to 63%), continuing a trend seen for several decades.
This increase has largely been driven by the rise in the proportion of people with a higher education qualification (ie. a bachelor degree or above) - rising from 16% in 1997 to 27% in 2009. The proportion of people with a vocational qualification also increased, although at a much slower pace, rising from 30% in 1997 to 34% in 2009, with most of this increase occurring prior to 2005.

EMPLOYMENT

Over the last decade the annual average unemployment rate for Australia has generally decreased, from 6.9% in 1999 to 5.6% in 2009.
However, between 2008 and 2009 the unemployment rate increased by 1.4 percentage points, reflecting the recent economic downturn.

Over the last three decades the proportion of employed people working part time has risen from 16% to 29%, while over the same period the underemployment rate rose from 2.7% in 1979 to a high of 7.7% in 2009. Since 2000, there have been more underemployed people in Australia than unemployed.

HOURS WORKED

The average number of hours worked per week has decreased over the last three decades, falling from 35.7 hours per week in 1979 to 32.8 hours per week hours in 2009, largely due to an increase in the proportion of people working part time. The average hours worked by full-time workers rose during the 1990s, peaking at 41.3 hours per week in 2000, but decreasing to 39.7 hours per week in 2009. The average number of hours worked per week by part-time workers increased slightly over time, from around 15 hours in the 1980s to approximately 16 hours from 2000 onwards.

The proportion of employed people who worked 50 hours or more a week increased from 14% in 1979 to 19% in 1999, before falling to 15% in 2009 during the recent economic downturn. The proportion of employed people who worked very long hours (60 hours or more a week) increased from 7% in 1979 to 9% in 1992, where it stayed until 2000 before declining to 7% in 2009.

The Battle of the Rates continues in The Daily Examiner as Orams gets trounced

The rate debate

IN response to Graham Orams' letter (Rate Response, DEX May 13) I would like to make three points.
Firstly, I was pleased to read that Graham accepts that in reality 'Residential A (Yamba,
Wooloweyah) and D (inc Angourie) pay higher rates than Grafton... because of higher average land values'.
It is in recognition of the huge range in 'land values' across the Valley that CVC sets different ad valorem rates for different areas and rightly so.
A flat dollar-value rate would see some residents paying ridiculously high amounts. Secondly, Graham stands by the claim that 'dollar-for-dollar, Grafton and Junction Hill residents still pay the highest rates'.
This is a claim which has been repeated by a number of others in recent months and it is false.
The 2008/09 CVC Management Plan (p66) shows that Residential B (Maclean, Lawrence, Townsend) at an ad valorem rate. of 0.6320 is the highest.
What is more, the 2009/10 CVC Plan (p68) shows that Res B (Maclean, Townsend) at 0.7181 and Res F (Lawrence) at 0.7040 will both be significantly higher than 'Grafton' at 0.6049.
Despite being false, this claim was used to lobby for relative rate reductions in the 2009/10 Plan.
It has succeeded in having Grafton rates frozen while all other areas will be increased by
3.5 per cent or more, particularly Maclean (2009/2010 CVC Plan pp65-6e).
Thirdly, Graham uses a hypothetical Grafton property with a rateable land value (not market value) of $700,000 to again try to suggest that Angourie residents are not paying enough. This is misinformation at best.
In the interests of fair debate, I provide the following real figures calculated from the CVC Management Plans relating to residential properties: In 2008/09 Residential
A (inc Angourie) made up 4.6 per cent of residential properties in the Valley but contributed 5.7 per cent of the residential rates or 1.24 times their share.
Residential D (Yamba, Wooloweyah) had 15.9 per cent of properties and contributed 19 per cent of the rates, 1.19 times their share.
Residential E (Grafton, Junction Hill) had 34.6 per cent of the properties and contributed 39 per cent of the rates, 1.13 times their share.
These figures show that 'Grafton' residents have indeed been paying more than their fair share.
But so too are Residential A and D.
To claim that Res A and D should pay even more has nothing to do with equity.
The CVC Plan for 2009/10 (p65) acknowledges the imbalance and attempts 'to achieve a little more equity' as Graham puts it.
However, it focuses only on reducing Grafton's share and increasing 'Maclean and Lawrence'.
In light of the actual figures I am not sure why Res A and D were not given similar relief,
particularly when their land values will continue to rise faster than other areas in the Valley.
In 2009/10, there will be little change in the share paid by Res A and D while Res E will reduce their contribution to 1.09 times their share -a significant win for 'Grafton' ratepayers, not so for A and D.
Put simply, Grafton rates have been held at 2008/9 levels while all others have gone up, some significantly more than others.
Their valiant attempt to establish fair and equitable rates will always be a problem while
ever they are tied to 'land values'.
This juggling act will be repeated every year.
I urge CVC to move away from this method and adopt a better and fairer rating model in future years.
I would strongly urge all residents to look at the Draft CVC Management Plan 2009/10, available from council offices and on the CVC website, to make your own informed judgement based on real facts.
There is a public meeting at Iluka Community Hall -Wednesday, May 20, 5pm and at Treelands Drive Community Centre Yamba -Thursday, May 21, 5pm.
Public meetings in other centres were held last week.
Also be aware that submissions regarding the Draft will be accepted up to Friday, June 5.

RON LOVERIDGE, [The Daily Examiner, 20 May 2009]

Snail-paced travel reform in NSW

At long last pensioners living in the Clarence Valley and other parts of rural and regional NSW are about to receive some sort of equity with their counterparts who reside in Sydney and its hinterland.

The Daily Examiner (3/1/2008) reports:

North Coast Busways customers will be able to buy $2.50 Regional Excursion Daily (RED) tickets from tomorrow.

RED tickets will provide pensioners with unlimited travel within the local route bus network. They will be sold by bus drivers.

People with a valid Australian Government Pensioner Concession Card, NSW Seniors card or a War Widowers card are eligible for the tickets.

Contact South Grafton Busways depot on 6642 2954 for more details.


Why, one must ask, has it taken the NSW Government so long to extend to the pensioners of rural and regional NSW bus travel concessions that have been available for what seems like donkey's years in the Sydney metropolitan area and more recently in the area that stretches from the Hunter, via the Blue Mountains, to the Illawarra?