Senator McEWEN (South Australia—Government Whip in the Senate) (21:02): On 1 February 2012 the full bench of Fair Work Australia made a decision about wage rates in the so-called ASU pay equity case, a decision that was welcomed by community service workers, their unions, their employers and, especially, by the Gillard Labor government. It was the most significant decision in relation to wage equity since the equal pay for work of equal value principle of 1969. I want to congratulate all the people who worked so hard on the pay equity case and especially everyone in my union, the Australian Services Union, who were determined to launch the case and see it through. It was the Labor government that made possible the pay equity case and it is the Labor government that has committed to funding the increases that will flow from the decisions in the case. It is the Labor government under Prime Minister Gillard that is determined to address the ongoing inequity between the wages of women and men. The Prime Minister's active, personal support for the ASU pay equity case demonstrates her commitment to working Australians, especially to working women. Social and community services workers are employed in some of our society's most difficult and yet vital roles. They work with people with disabilities; they counsel families in crisis; they run shelters for our homeless; and they work with victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault. It takes a dedicated and empathetic individual to work in this sector, one who deserves to be properly rewarded for the difference they make to the people they help. Of the approximately 150,000 Australian community services workers covered by the FWA decision, 120,000 are women. While it is unacceptable that on average across the Australian workforce women are still earning less than men, it is also unacceptable that community sector workers were being paid more than 30 per cent less than those performing comparable work in other sectors. Apart from the fact that workers were being underpaid for the work they do, wages in the sector needed to rise because employers find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain people who want to do these jobs. The federal Labor government supported the ASU and other unions in the fight for better pay and conditions for social and community services workers. Our government facilitated the case being brought to the independent tribunal through the introduction of the Fair Work Act. The act removed the previous barriers to pay equity claims in the federal jurisdiction by broadening the test to allow comparison with work of equal or comparable value and removing the requirement to prove discrimination as a prerequisite to an equal remuneration claim. Fair Work Australia's historic decision means that 150,000 of the nation's most undervalued workers will benefit from pay increases of between 23 and 45 per cent. Bearing in mind the impact on employers in the community sector and on government budgets, the increases in pay will be phased in over the next eight years, starting this December and ending in 2020. Once fully phased in, a disability-support worker employed at classification level 2 who currently receives around $35,000 per annum will earn about $42½ thousand dollars; a youth outreach worker at classification level 4, currently on $43,000 per annum, will receive around $55,000; and a classification level 6 drug and alcohol counsellor, who currently earns $50,600, will see an increase to $68,800 per year. There is no doubt those pay increases are deserved. Witness statements from the Fair Work Australia hearings go into specific detail of exactly what kinds of duties SaCS workers are undertaking and the little salary they receive in return. For example, witness W52 has been employed as a community support mental health worker since 2008 in Adelaide. She earns $41,648 per year. She supports clients with significant mental health issues in the transition from long-term hospital based care to community based living. She explained her work in this way: Once a client has moved into the community, it is my role to assist with the transition by working with them to establish their homes, reconnect with their community and learn to live independently. Every three months I develop a new support plan with the client. These support plans set out steps or goals for each client in establishing a more independent life. These might include things such as making the bed each day, learning to catch the bus, matters of personal hygiene, contacting family or starting a training course. Her job often includes dealing with aggressive and violent clients and she says that her position can be physically and emotionally exhausting. She said: I do find my job stressful and emotionally draining. After I finish work at 6:00pm, I go home, have dinner and go to bed. Another South Australian witness spoke of the pressure to manage a multitude of tasks on any given day. Employed as a part-time level 3 access worker in regional South Australia, she receives $17.61 an hour to supervise clients in the active support day program, a program that helps develop life and social skills. She said: I have to undertake physical care work, assisting clients with personal hygiene, toileting, changing incontinence pads and pushing a wheelchair. I have to plan, organise, deliver and supervise activities every day. My job involves a lot of multitasking. Three or four activities may be happening at any one time and I, along with my co-workers, have to make sure that everyone is supervised and safe. I have to be aware of what is happening at all times. It is clear to see that our social and community service workers have been chronically undervalued in these important roles. These workers would never have received the significant pay increases awarded in the case if the federal government had not made a commitment to fund those increases. On 10 November 2011, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that our government would fund the federal share of the wage increases that would flow from the FWA decision. That amounts to an amount of over $2 billion. All other state and territory governments also need to commit to funding their share. I would like to acknowledge the support and commitment to pay equity in the sector already demonstrated by the South Australian Labor government. In June last year Treasurer Jack Snelling announced that the South Australian state government would allocate funding in future budgets to contribute our state share of the wage increases. The South Australian Labor government is wholly committed to supporting the 20,000 South Australian community sector workers covered by the decision. Credit must go to the ASU, as well as the other unions involved, for striving to achieve this historic advancement in gender pay justice. It is hard to single out any particular individuals as there were many, many people who worked on this campaign. I particularly want to thank all of the union delegates who persistently lobbied their MPs and senators to get behind the campaign. They came to Canberra and told us their stories and that helped us to realise exactly what work they do, their commitment to their clients and their determination to be valued for the work that they do. I mention especially the work of Linda White, Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union. She is a familiar sight in the corridors of Parliament House. Another special mention must go to the officials, staff and members of the Australian Services Union's South Australian and Northern Territory branch. In recognition of her contribution to the campaign, and of the branch that she works for, Branch Secretary Katrine Hildyard was recently awarded the South Australian government's Women Hold Up Half the Sky Award on Australia Day this year. It was a well deserved accolade that recognised Katrine Hildyard's contribution to the community services sector and to ensuring justice for women workers. While the road to genuine pay equity for all Australian working women is a long one, the recent decision in the ASU pay equity case is truly a milestone on that long road. I look forward to continuing to work as part of the Gillard Labor government to take Australia closer to true complete gender pay equity.