Employing the law for women: Gender, work and legal regulation in Australia

Abstract

The late 20th century in the global North has seen rafts of regulatory development in the field of women and work. While this legislation is generally drafted with an intent to increase women’s participation in paid work, ensure equal pay and protect women from discrimination in both hiring and employment practices, research makes clear that stark gender-based inequalities have remained intractable. In this chapter on women and work, Chapman scrutinises current Australian workplace regulation to determine whether recent decades of anti-discrimination and equality legislation are, indeed, working for women. Drawing on illustrative decisions by courts and tribunals, Chapman examines key ‘gende..