More Women Experiencing ‘Perceived Discrimination’ at Work - ABS

A new ABS report reveals more women are experiencing workplace discrimination than in the past. Photo: canada.com

A new Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report has revealed that more women are experiencing perceived discrimination at work while pregnant than they were when the Australian Bureau of Statistics last reported on the subject six years ago.

The report shows that approximately 67,300 (19%) women employees perceived experiencing some level of discrimination in the workplace while pregnant.

The ABS says that of these women, 91% perceived experiencing discrimination directly associated with their pregnancy.

The types of discrimination that were most commonly reported in the survey were 'Missed out on opportunity for promotion' (34%), 'Missed out on training or development opportunities' (32%) and 'Received inappropriate or negative comments from their manager/supervisor' (28%).

The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) says that the new statistics are “troubling”.

The Director of EOWA Helen Conway said that the ABS finding that nearly one in five women permanently left their job during pregnancy underscored the difficulty Australia has in boosting its female workforce participation, which currently sits at 59%.

“We continue to see sexism in the workplace,” Conway said.

“We say we're an egalitarian society, but when it comes to treating women equally, many organisations fail the test.”

The World Economic Forum has found while Australia is ranked number one in the world for female educational attainment, it ranks 44 for female labour force participation and 68 on wage equality for similar work.

“Organisations need to come to grips with the impact of family on workplaces. It's not a 'women’s issue’, it's a societal issue,” Conway said.

“We need to bring about cultural change, so that flexible work arrangements, and flexible careers, are seen as the norm.”