Women's Rights In Australia

The role and status of women in our society has changed noticeably over the last 150 years. Women had very few legal rights and most societies placed women in an inferior positions compared to that of men. Women were also held to be less intelligent and less creative by nature. This was evident through out many fields such as employment, although over the years many non-legal and legal actions have taken place to change and move women towards equality.
Women's status under Australian law have changed during the 20th century, though women till this day are still being discriminated against, laws have been made to give women the equal rights they deserve. Societies view on women has changed greatly. Women now more than ever have been given
the chance to close the gap between men's and women's rights.
Changing status of women.
New roles of women under the law are very different to those of the past. Women gained many legal rights in the 20th century. The specific rights gained by women during this time in Australia were such laws as the right to vote, gained in 1902 (NSW). The right to sit on a jury, gained from the jury Act 1977 (NSW). The property Act in 1893 (NSW), the right for a women to own a property. The right to equal pay for equal work was granted to most women in 1972 and the social security right, first granted in 1914 under the war pension act. But still minority groups of women were being discriminated against because of their nationality, until 1967 when the constitution was changed by a referendum. Aboriginal women were finally recognized as Australian citizens.
Now women are able to achieve justice through statute and common law as well as access to Non-Legal mechanisms such as Trade Unions, lobby groups, welfare groups and Government agencies. These groups influence government decisions and act as a source of protection for
women.

Legal mechanisms have also been used to try and create equality for women in employment such as Federal legislation to provide opportunities for groups that have historically been the subject of discrimination is know as Affirmative Action.
It’s principle is to create an employment atmosphere where equality in opportunity exits in the workplace. This principle was established by the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986 (Cth), which was later amended in 1999 to become the Equal Opportunity for women in the Workplace Act (Cth). This act requires higher education authorities and companies, employing over one hundred people to implement affirmative action programs. Men are not discriminated against by this legislation because the Act only promotes opportunities for advancement for women. Though affirmative action has seemed to improve the position of women in the workforce, it has still been limited in its effectiveness. Reasons for this limitation include: legislation not applying to workplaces less than one hundred employees; lack of adequate penalties for non-compliance with the legislation; lack of redressing some fundamental problems faced by women workers; and attitudes of men towards women.
The two pieces of legislation that regulate sexual harassment in the workplace and the sexual discrimination Act 1984 (cth) and the Anti discrimination Act 1977 (NSW). Both of these make it unlawful to harass any person in the workplace on the grounds of
their gender or sex. Although the individual must be accountable for their actions.
Equal pay for equal, the industrial Arbitration (females rights) amendment act 1959 (NSW) enforced equal pay for males and females, who perform work the same or similar to males. However the legislation did not apply to work that was mainly preformed by women. In 1969 the equal pay case established that the work of equal value should earn equal wages, as long as the work was not mainly preformed by women. In 1972 the conciliation and arbitration commission granted equal pay for equal work without previous restrictions.
In conclusion all factors affecting the legal systems operations, to generating just outcomes have changed considerably over time. However women are still disadvantaged in many ways and to resolve this, many mechanisms available for women to generate just outcomes in the Australian legal system, have made a big difference to women and have made it far easier to achieve justice in society. However, as has been seen, women still suffer greater disadvantages in many areas of daily life.
These Changes have been efficient in the way that women are now able to work, have equal pay to which men do, equal employment opportunity this has made things much easier for women in the work place yet further directions need to be achieved such as ensuring pay and employment equity for women requires results-based, outcome-directed steps to be taken by governments, employers and unions to ensure that the international gender equality standards are felt at the national and local levels and become a reality for women in their daily lives. As the structure of women’s employment is constantly in change with the new economy, pay and employment equity measures will similarly need to constantly adapt to ensure measures are addressing the inequities women face as they increasingly face unstable employment.
Women and their organizations, working with unions and other NGOs, are mobilizing for transformative legal and economic pay and employment equity changes. Basic to this transformation is an understanding that achieving women's equality is not a women's issue but a local, national and international issue of the highest priority for ensuring sustainable development. Urgent action is needed to make real progress. Workplaces need to be transformed and engendered to be inclusive of the female workers.