Journal article
Work-and-Care Initiatives: Flaws in the Australian Regulatory Framework
Anna Chapman
Journal of Law & Equality | University of Toronto, Faculty of Law | Published : 2018
Abstract
The Australian labour law system was founded at the turn of the twentieth century upon a set of gendered breadwinner assumptions regarding work and care. Those gendered assumptions were formally displaced in Australia from the 1970s onwards, with a raft of legal entitlements developed over the subsequent forty or so years. Yet it is clear that many workplaces in Australia do not accommodate, and, indeed, are even hostile to, pregnant women, mothers, and other workers with substantial care responsibilities. This article reveals four themes of the Australian regulatory framework that together explain the inadequacies of the current work-and-care schemes in Australia.