Is the federal government retreating from women’s equality?

An article in today’s Sun-Herald quotes an unnamed “government source” as saying that although the numbers of women on ASX200 Boards was “woeful”, the government would not legislate quotas.  The same article also states that the federal government has already rejected the option of providing tax incentives for companies to hire more women.  Instead, if the article is well-informed, the government appears to be heading in the direction of offering men more flexibility in their hours of work. This is fine, but it does not address the burning question of the stark inequality of women in employment: their earnings, and their ability to be appointed to top jobs in management and on boards.

It is disappointing, to say the least, that the government is not willing to engage in an open dialogue about these issues, preferring instead apparently to engage in “reform via media leaks”.  Read the article