New employment minister dodges gender pay rise queries linked to fee increases

As unions and employers debate over the FWC’s recent move to implement pay rises for workers in women-dominated industries, new Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth was asked about the potential fallout of the increases.

On 16 April, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) announced that workers across various women-dominated industries would receive pay rises after a wage review into “gender-based undervaluation”.

The commission decided that workers who fall under five priority awards will deserve a pay rise for this extended undervaluation.

Childcare workers were one of the sectors included in pay increases, with the commission recommending close to a 28 per cent pay rise spread over a five-year span. However, during its review, the commission noted that the increase in the minimum wage rates could have significant implications.

According to the commission, if the wage increases are not supported by Commonwealth funding, parents and caregivers could bear the brunt of the pay increases – with businesses having to raise costs to pay their employees.

“Our provisional view as to a new classification structure and minimum wage rates for care service employees (CSEs) will, if implemented, obviously have significant cost implications for employers in the early childhood education and care sector (ECEC),” said the commission.

“It is not in dispute that the sector is heavily reliant on Commonwealth government funding and that the capacity for employers in the sector to bear the cost of the new wages structure will depend to a large degree upon an adjustment to that funding.”

“… The Commonwealth has made no commitment to or decision about increased funding … The likely outcome of a lack of a funding commitment on the part of the Commonwealth … is that providers will be forced to increase their fees, which will have consequences for the capacity of at least some parents with young children to participate in the workforce.”

During a recent doorstop interview with new Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth, she was asked on her thoughts of whether the government should put forward the needed funding or if it should fall on the parents – to which Rishworth replied: “I would say that reducing the gender pay gap has been a critical focus of our government, and seeing the numbers today of women’s participation at record highs for me, shows that the work our government has been doing is paying dividends.”

“When it comes to the Fair Work process, we support the Fair Work process. In fact, we put gender equity as an objective in the Fair Work Act.”

Although the employment minister wouldn’t directly touch on the potential costing issue, it’s not something that is going to disappear.

For working parents, it’s another potential cost increase that could further stretch the finances of Australian households.