Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission to the Gender Reporting Requirements Consultation.

Transcription

1 Gender Reporting Requirements Consultation Attn: Gender Policy Team Workforce Participation Policy Branch Location Code C50MA5 Department of Employment GPO Box 9880 CANBERRA ACT 2601 Dear Consultation Secretariat Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission to the Gender Reporting Requirements Consultation. The attached submission provides a brief response to the relevant guiding questions posed by the Consultation Panel. The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) acknowledges the importance of gender equality in employment. Current reporting requirements do not, however, take into account that the health sector is training and hiring a large number of female staff, nor is it targeted to the sector, and therefore not as useful as it could be. Decreasing the frequency of reporting and better targeting reporting on known issues that the industry is facing will improve both the reporting and the ability to address these issues in the sector. Yours sincerely, Michael Roff Chief Executive Officer The Australian Private Hospitals Association 4 September 2014 Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT PO Box 7426, Canberra BC ACT [T] [F] [E] info@apha.org.au [W] [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals ABN

2 Submission to the workplace gender reporting public consultation Australian Private Hospitals Association

3 Contents Introduction... 3 Response... 3 Guiding questions for submissions... 3 References... 4

4 Introduction The Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) is the peak national body representing the interests of the private hospital sector, with a diverse membership that includes large and small hospitals and day surgeries, for profit and not for profit hospitals, groups as well as independent facilities, located in both metropolitan and rural areas throughout Australia. The range of facilities represented by the APHA includes acute hospitals, specialist psychiatric and rehabilitation hospitals and also free-standing day hospital facilities. Gender balance is not achieved in the health sector as a whole, it employs a larger number of female staff. According to the 2011 Census, nearly 4 in 5 (79.0%) people in health and social assistance occupations were female(1). This was a slight increase on the previous Census (78.5%). This, however, is mainly a reflection of the number of females entering the health sector as a career choice, and is reflected in the numbers of females in training programs and university courses. Response Guiding questions for submissions What improvements could be made to the reporting requirements? In discussions with APHA members, it has become apparent that the collection of data for gender reporting is: 1. extensive and onerous, and 2. the reporting requirements are too frequent. One of the main reasons the reporting requirements is onerous is the one-size-fits all approach to gender reporting requirements, when different sectors in Australia face unique challenges in employing staff. If gender reporting would be more targeted by industry, the outcomes might be more useful in addressing these challenges. The focus of gender equity in health should be on remuneration and representation on boards and in the executive rather than numbers of persons hired. In the health sector, annual reporting is too frequent as the overall distribution of gender does not change on an annual basis. This is because: the intake of new trainees and university students in health show a similar gender distribution. jobs in health attract more women traditionally and currently. training in health and health related disciplines require numerous years. Rather than adding additional requirements for reporting from 1 April 2015, the APHA would encourage decreasing the frequency of reporting for professions where women are heavily

5 represented to every 2 4 years. Between these major reporting years, a smaller survey on a limited number of key factors, targeted on remuneration and representation in management positions, could be implemented to ensure the focus on gender reporting is maintained, but that the level of reporting becomes less onerous. Do you anticipate any difficulties in reporting on the additional requirements due to commence on 1 April 2015? The health sector does not have a stable workforce staff work across settings, in flexible arrangements and often casual or part-time. Health providers are constantly hiring, as well as taking on new graduates. As the reporting requirements in their current form are time consuming and onerous to businesses, adding requirements will contribute to the red tape already encountered. One of the changes to reporting starting from 1 April 2015 will include the following: Recruitment the numbers of applicants received during the reporting period, interviews conducted and appointments made against the categories of male, female, gender not disclosed, and manager/ non-manager. Due to the flexible nature of the health workforce and utilisation of casual staff previously mentioned, this new reporting requirement is unworkable in the health sector. It will require extensive amounts of time from human resource departments in collecting, storing and reporting data. References (1) ABS Census Data extracted with TableBuilder on 29 April 2014.