Date: 6th March 2012; next session 20th Mar 2012

Are you seeking work? Book a free 30-minute one-to-one consultation with a WISE Employment Officer. You can polish up your job-hunting techniques, resume and interview skills, or find out more about Centrelink eligibilities and access to Job Services Australia scheme. Job Club (with WISE Employment) runs free fortnightly sessions. Call (03) 9921 0878 or email inforequests@wire.org.au to book your free place.

Read about other education programs in our Women’s Information Centre.

If you’ve answered YES to all the above, then call 1300 134 130 to register your interest and to have an information pack mailed out to you. All interested trainees must attend an orientation session as well as a group interview.

Our next orientation sessions are on 15th or 16th May 2012 (Tuesday or Wednesday) with the WIRE’s next Telephone Support Worker Training Program commencing on Wednesday 6th June 2012.

Dates & times:

•  10.30am to 12.30pm Tuesday 15th May OR
•  1pm to 3pm Wednesday 16th May

Venue: Level 4, 210 Lonsdale Street, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre Melbourne 3000

Download a WIRE Telephone Volunteer Training flyer (445 KB)

Read more about WIRE’s Telephone Support Worker Training Program.

Associate Professor Rosemary Purcell is a forensic psychologist at Melbourne University. She has extensive experience working with victims and perpetrators of stalking, and has researched and published widely in the field. Her research has addressed the reasons that people stalk, the impact of stalking on victims, and different types of stalking, such as female and juvenile stalking behaviours, as well as the stalking of health professionals.

The first part of the workshop will identify different types of stalkers, and discuss the impact of stalking on victims. It will also address how to recognise false claims of stalking victimisation.

The second part of the workshop will cover how to respond to stalking situations, including how to enhance victims’ personal safery, strategies to bring stalking to an end, and legal approaches to managing stalking.

Date: Tuesday 28 February 2012
Time: 2pm – 5pm
Venue: Victoria Room, Level 4, 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne 3000
Cost: Free

Book online: http://www.trybooking.com/BDMG
Bookings essential: Call Gemma or Shannon on 9921 0878 or email inforequests@wire.org.au

Download a flyer WIRE Info Seminar Flyer_Stalking (28/2/12)

Thank you to all WIRE women, family and friends who attended our annual general meeting on 24th October 2011 held at Three Degrees Bar and Brewery.

Guest speaker Dr Liz Conor spoke with great humour and insight on  her experiences of ”mothering under turbo capitalism”. We also congratulated our graduating volunteers who received their official statement of attainment certificates and thanked all our wonderful volunteers who have worked hard with us to support our fellow women. Well done!

And as part of our environmental effort, our annual report is now available online for browsing (see above) or downloading – so check it out now!

Our AGM was great fun for all of us – volunteers, staff, members, board members, alumni, friends and family – to celebrate another wonderful year working for women. Here’s to another great year ahead!

Thank you to all WIRE women, family and friends who attended our annual general meeting on 24th October 2011 held at Three Degrees Bar and Brewery.

Guest speaker Dr Liz Conor spoke with great humour and insight on her experiences of “mothering under turbo capitalism”. We also congratulated our graduating volunteers who received their official statement of attainment certificates and thanked all our wonderful volunteers who have worked hard with us to support our fellow women. Well done!

And as part of our environmental effort, our annual report is now available online for browsing (see above) or downloading – so check it out now!

Our AGM was great fun for all of us – volunteers, staff, members, board members, alumni, friends and family – to celebrate another wonderful year working for women. Here’s to another great year ahead!

In the report, one of the contributors Professor Alan Duncan stated that about one-third of the gender pay gap could be explained by job-related characteristics, which leaves more than 60 per cent unexplained.

Another contributor to the report Professor Judith Sloan questioned whether women were more likely to take up low-risk employment. From WIRE’s work in women’s financial literacy, WIRE CEO Samiro Douglas said that while women being more risk-averse seems like a sensible choice in the context of the family unit, it is also important to consider that the lower pay women get as a result of choosing low-risk jobs inevitably shows up the gender pay gap.

Dr Hannah Peterman reported on a survey which asked whether men and women have equal opportunities in the workforce. While 60 per cent of the men believed that women and men have equal opportunities in the workplace, only a third of the women believed so. Dr Peterman also talked about women having to be extraordinary to prove themselves and be seen without commitments to family.

‘The issues raised by Dr Hannah Peterman are consistent with stories we hear from women on a daily basis,’ says Ms Douglas. WIRE speaks to more than 13,000 women every year. ‘Of particular concern is how the stereotypes of “good mother” and “corporate woman” are still often seen as anathema to each other. This perpetuates subtle and unconscious gender bias.’ As a result women juggling work and caring responsibilities are potentially (and often) subject to criticism of either being ‘a bad mother’ at home or seen as ‘not really committed’ at work, or both.

‘Workplaces need to adopt a range of reforms, including making their workplaces more flexible, setting targets for gender diversity and considering parent-friendly measures such as scheduling meetings within school hours,’ Ms Douglas says. She also points out the mismatch between the 12 weeks of school holidays and the standard four weeks of annual leave. WIRE along with other women’s groups is calling for a review of out-of-school-hours care and vacation care system so that it is seen as an enabler of participation in the workforce rather than just from a childcare perspective.

Ms Douglas applauds the report findings for shedding light on the subtle gender discrimination women experience daily in the workforce. ‘It is difficult to gather hard data on this sort of discrimination, but it’s certainly something that doesn’t need any explanation to women – we know it because we live it.’

Statistics

•  Australia’s gender wage gap is 18 per cent and widening.
• Only 10.9% of directorship positions on ASX200 companies are held by women.
• Eighty-seven ASX companies still do not have a woman on their board.
• In 2007, the mean superannuation balance for men was $87,580 compared to $52,272 for women.
• In 2009, women made up 64.2 per cent of all graduates. Of those graduating with law degrees, 62 per cent were women.
• Closing the pay gap between men and women alone would boost the level for Australia’s GDP by 11 per cent. (Goldman Sachs JBWere, 2009)
• Women’s workforce participation in Australia relative to men’s was ranked 50th internationally behind 49 other countries. (World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2009)

MEDIA  CONTACTS:

WIRE Chief Executive Officer Samiro Douglas (for interview/ photos) 9921 0875/ 0428 851 149 sdouglas@wire.org.au

WIRE Communication Coordinator Mi Fon Lew (for more information) 9921 0873/ 0404 026 419 communication@wire.org.au

• Telephone Support Worker Training  (starts 12 October)
• WIRE’s free information seminars for women (August, September and November)
• Job Club update
• New and updated info sheets for “Separation and children”, “Separation-deciding to leave the relationship” and “Separation and property”

WIRE Strategic Plan 2011-2014

The fight is not over for Australia’s community and social services workers, the majority of whom are women. Traditionally underpaid and undervalued, women and community and social services workers welcomed yesterday’s landmark ruling from Fair Work Australia—that social and community service workers are not receiving equal pay, and that gender is a significant cause of the pay gap.

The real challenge now lies in all governments fully funding the wage increase recommended by the Australian Services Union (ASU) at the next hearing of the tribunal in August.

The rumblings are starting about the cost of equal pay. We know the cost of unequal pay. Women and community and social services workers have been shouldering this cost for years. While we carry this cost in our struggle to raise our families, we are also more likely to carry this cost again in our retirement. Low pay means low superannuation savings and limited alibility to adequately plan for a secure financial future.

Last year, the gender pay gap widened to 18 per cent. This means that on average women in full-time jobs earn $220.70 less than men per week pre-tax. Female tertiary graduates earn $2,000 less than male graduates. No wonder that Australian women retire with less than half the superannuation of men.

Working in the community and social service sector also requires a high level of skills, qualifications and knowledge to work with complex clients with multiple needs. Low pay and undervalued work do not begin to acknowledge the considerable costs of getting academic qualifications to work in community services.

As women and community and social services workers, we have been carrying the cost of unequal pay in our lives. Our next generation of women and community service workers will continue to carry it unless governments take the next steps to set it right. We know it and live it, and now it is time for the governments to fully fund the necessary changes.