BLENDING WORK AND FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES
Women constitute 43 per cent of the total Australian
labour force (ABS, 1996). While the majority (57.5
per cent) of these women work full-time, the demand
for part-time work continues to increase, particularly
among women with family responsibilities. The percentage
of women working part-time has grown from 37.6 per
cent in 1986 to 42.5 per cent in 1996. Regardless of
the extent of women's labour force involvement, the
ability to combine family and work responsibilities
effectively, remains a significant challenge.
Industrial
Relations Reform
The Government's Workplace Relations Act 1996 provides
conditions for employers and employees to develop a
more flexible, responsive working environment as well
as a range of benefits and protections for women in
the workplace. Changes to the federal industrial relations
system which will be of particular benefit to women
include removal of restrictions on regular part-time
work and the capacity to formalise workplace agreements
that suit individual circumstances.
Office of the Employment Advocate
Women employees will be able to access independent
advice and assistance on rights and responsibilities
under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 from the Office
of the Employment Advocate (OEA). The Employment Advocate
is required to pay particular regard to the needs of
workers who may be in a disadvantaged bargaining position.
The Office of the Employment Advocate is headed by
Mr Alan Rowe, an independent Statutory Officer, who
is responsible for filing and approving Australian
Workplace Agreements (AWAs) and dealing with alleged
breaches of AWAs and freedom of association matters.
The OEA will promote better work and management practices
through AWAs including arrangements that assist workers
to blend work and family responsibilities.
The Head Office of the Employment Advocate is in Sydney
with offices also located in each State or Territory
Capital. The Australia-wide contact number is: 1300
366 632.
Working Women's Centres
Continued funding has been provided to existing Working
Women's Centres which will play an important role in
assisting women workers to understand and use the new
industrial relations system.
Child Care
The Government is committed to ensuring that all parents
have fair and equitable access to flexible, affordable
and high quality care options. In recognising that
access to child care is essential to women's involvement
in paid work, the Budget provides for continued growth
of additional child care places with an estimated 44,000
new private sector places and a further 39,000 new
community long day care, Family Day Care and outside
school hours care places to be established over the
period 1997-98 to 2000-2001.
Growth in child care places
In June 1991, the number of below school age children
in Commonwealth funded long day care services was 179,940.
By June 1996 this had risen to 413,400. In particular,
the private sector has grown by about 20,000 new places
every year since 1991, when the Government extended
Childcare Assistance subsidies to this sector. This
has greatly exceeded the original forecast of a total
of 28,000 places over the first four years.
The 1997-98 Child Care Reform Package includes a number
of measures to address problems caused by rapid and
unregulated growth. A National Planning System will
be introduced to influence new long day care centres
to locate in areas of unmet need. Private sector places
eligible for Childcare Assistance will be contained
to 7,000 new places for each of the calendar years
1998 and 1999 with a return to unrestricted growth
beyond 1999. The limit will maintain growth of the
industry at a level that is consistent with the growth
in labour force participation of parents with young
children. Funding totalling $9.5 million over four
years has also been set aside to support new community
long day care centres established under the National
Child Care Strategy which are located in disadvantaged
rural and remote areas where no alternative care is
available.
The Government will increase the supply of Family Day
Care by 2,500 places at a cost of $11 million over
the next four years. This acknowledges that families
are seeking greater access to Family Day Care because
it offers more flexible hours, care for family groupings
and quality care in a home setting. These additional
places will alleviate pressures for families particularly
in the rural and remote areas where the private sector
is not establishing child care centres. An estimated
3,200 additional families (4,300 children) will benefit
from this measure.
Non-work related care
From 1 January 1998, a 20 hour per week limit on access
to Childcare Assistance will be introduced for each
child in care for non-work related purposes. The limit
will apply to all long day care and school age services.
This measure improves the targeting of Childcare Assistance
to parents who work, study, train or are seeking work,
consistent with the primary objective of the Children's
Services Programme. It will provide fair and equitable
access for families in similar circumstances. It is
also expected to improve access for an additional 17,000
children due to changes in usage patterns.
Working families and users of Occasional Care services
and Aboriginal or Rural Multifunctional Children's
services will not be affected by this change. Exemptions
to the 20 hour limit will be available to ensure families
in particular circumstances do not lose access to care.
These exemptions will assist families in crisis, children
at risk of abuse or neglect, and a limited number of
services where they are the sole provider of care in
their area.
Funding of $1 million in each of the three years from
1998-99 has been set aside to improve developmental
opportunities available through playgroups for children
with a parent at home, representing a 60 per cent increase
in current government assistance to playgroups.
School age care
Reform of funding for school age care has been a high
priority for the Government. Present arrangements are
inequitable for many families. The Government will
introduce broad ranging reform which will significantly
improve affordability for 70,000 low and middle income
families using Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services.
The reforms will also improve the quality and viability
of OSHC services.
Other child care measures
Childcare Assistance is currently paid in advance to
services to reduce fees in accordance with family entitlements.
On 1 January 1998, the new Commonwealth Service Delivery
Agency will make payments fortnightly in advance to
services based on family entitlements. From 1 January
1999 Childcare Assistance will be moved to arrears
in conjunction with the introduction of a Childcare
Card. Moving payments to arrears will provide consistency
with other family payments made by the Commonwealth
Service Delivery Agency.
The movement to payment in arrears may cause some difficulties
for low income families who have to pay the full fees
in advance for the first fortnight of care. The Department
of Health and Family Services will develop options
with the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency to support
families which have difficulty in meeting this cost.
To ensure families participating in the Work for the
Dole initiative can gain access to appropriate child
care, the Government will arrange and cover the full
cost of child care for participants, estimated to cost
around $0.6 million over two years.
Marriage
and Relationship Education
In recognition of pressures placed on family life today,
the Government allocated an extra $6.1 million over
three years in 1996-97 to foster positive, stable relationships.
In April 1997, 34 new and extended marriage and relationship
education services were launched throughout Australia.
The additional funding targeted to this sub programme
will bring total Commonwealth government expenditure
up to $11.85 million over three years. The marriage
and relationship educations programme is a preventative
programme which focuses on providing information and
skills to foster positive, stable relationships.
Carers
The majority of carers are women. The Government acknowledges
the crucial role of carers and is very aware of the
difficulties they face. Our commitment to the provision
of better services for carers is reflected in the National
Carer Action Plan which was announced in the 1996-97
Budget. The first initiatives include greater access
to respite care and changes to Carer Payment to give
carers more opportunities to take a break and more
choices for those who want to combine caring with part-time
work or study.
The Government will provide further assistance to carers
through:
- increasing the rate of Domiciliary Nursing Care Benefit
(DNCB) from 1 July 1998 to align with the Child Disability
Allowance (CDA). This provides an increase of $16.60
per fortnight from the current rate of $58.30 to $74.90
(an increase of 28.5 per cent) to those receiving DNCB;
- extending Carer Payment from 1 July 1998 to carers
of children under 16 with profound disabilities. From
1 March 1999 the Carer Payment will also be available
to those required to care for an adult as well as care
for or supervise care of that adult's dependent child;
and
- increasing to 63 the number of days that a carer may
take as a break from caring and still remain eligible
for Carer Payment, CDA and DNCB, thus easing the pressure
of their caring responsibilities.
The Government has also decided to extend the Newstart
Allowance activity test exemption for temporary carers
beyond the current 13 week limit in special circumstances.
This increases the scope for the unemployed to provide
care without losing their payment.
The Government has also been made aware of the concerns,
over a long period of time, of the parents of very
disabled children about the effectiveness of the CDA.
In the five years from June 1991 to June 1996, the
number of children receiving CDA rose by an average
of 17.3 per cent per annum well above the annual growth
in the number of children in the population. This has
led to concerns about the administration of the allowance
and the extent to which it continues to meets its objectives.
To address these concerns, from July 1998:
- the Government will introduce new assessment methods
using child disability tables applicable only to new
applicants from July 1998. People already receiving
CDA as at 1 July 1998 will not have their payment affected
by medical review for five years from that date. This
will give current customers a substantial adjustment
period before the new tables are applied to them;
- children who do not meet the criteria for the CDA under
the new tables but who have a chronic medical condition
will qualify for a Health Care Card which will assist
with the cost of pharmaceuticals; and
- under new provisions, families with two or more disabled
children who do not individually qualify for the allowance
may be eligible for a single rate of CDA in recognition
of the combined care responsibility that carers face
in these circumstances.
In accordance with an election commitment, the Government
will also provide:
- continued funding of in excess of $8 million over four
years for information and support services for carers.
These services will mainly be provided through Carer
Resource centres which were established under the 1996-97
Budget; and
- additional support of in excess of $10 million over
four years to persons with dementia and their carers
particularly those in rural areas, by providing financial
support to Aged Care Assessment Teams and leading agencies.
