The ACTU Working Women's Centre
1975-1993
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The Working Women's Centre was an initiative of the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations, the Working Women’s Centre (WWC) opened in 1975. The WWC was an independent lobby and research group on women’s issues in employment. Mary Owen and Sylvie Shaw were the co-ordinators, initiating campaigns on industrial health and safety and other areas of women’s employment.
One of the WWC’s major campaigns was for the adoption of a Working Women’s Charter. The campaign was initiated by the Working Women’s Group in 1976 and was carried on nationally by the Working Woman’s Charter Campaign. A national conference on women in the workplace took place in 1977, followed by a Working Women’s Charter Conference in 1978 sponsored by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). The Charter included specific mention of the needs of migrant women in the workplace.
The WWC was one of the few union-linked organisations to reach out to migrant women. The Centre employed two part-time migrant liaison officers and published a multilingual newspaper, Women at Work. The Centre was absorbed into the ACTU in 1978 and published its last newsletter in 1993.
Peg Fraser
Lynn Beaton worked at the WWC from when it was moved into the ACTU in 1978 until she was sent to the UK to liaise with the British TUC in 1984. As a contribution to the historical record we have included all the copies of the WWC Bulletins preserved in Lynn's personal archive, whether or not Lynn contributed to the volume.
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ACTU Working Women's Center Discussion Papers
1. Should Unions be Concerned about Women's Issues?, September 1975
2. Should Unions be Concerned about Child Care?, October 1975
3. Should Unions be Concerned about Migrant Women Workers?, November 1975
4. Do Women Really Get Equal Pay?, February 1976
5. Should Unions be Concerned about Child Care?, 1976
6. Do Women have Equal Opportunities in Employment, April 1976
7. Should Unions Support a Mother's Wage?, May 1976
8. Alternative Working Hours, June 1976
9. Training and Retraining, July 1976
10. Occupational Health, August 1976
11. Unemployment, September 1976
12. Women and Shiftwork, October 1976
13. Work Experience, November 1976
14. Occupational Health Hazards for Women Workers, December 1976
16. Migrant Workers and their Health, April 1977
17. Outworkers and Homeworkers, May 1977
18. Women and Retirement: Superannuation, June 1977
19. Child Care: An Important Industrial Issue, July 1977
20. New Patterns for Industrial Democracy for Women, August 1977
21. Occupational Health: Psychotropic Drug Abuse, September 1977
22. Women, Work and Technological Change, October 1977
23. Trade Union Training for Women, November 1977
24. Is there a need for Health Service for Women at the Workplace?, December 1977
25. Married Women Working, February 1978
26. Unemployment: Disadvantaged Youth (Emphasis on Women), March 1978
27. Women in Skilled Trades, April 1978
28. Current Developments in Part-Time Work, May 1978
29. Women's Perception of Work, June 1978
30. Attitudes to Payment by Results, July 1978
31. Occupational Health: Stress, Job Dissatisfaction and Mental Health, August 1978
32. Anti-Descrimination Legislation, October/November 1978
33. "Life Must Go on - I forget Just Why?" Special Problems for Older Women, October/November 1978
34. The Disabled Woman Worker, December 1978
35. Occupational Health: The Disabled Woman Worker, January 1979
36. Women and Stress in Industry, February/March 1979
37. The Child Care Debate, April 1979
38. Parental and Family Leave, May 1979
39. Women's Employment, 1979
40. Women's Wages, 1979
41. Hidden Unemployment, November 1979
42. Alternatives to Employment, 1979
Working Women's Charter, ACTU Working Women's Centre, 1980
ACTU Working Women's Center Information Service
Bulletin 1980/1, Safety, Health and Workers' Compensation, March 1980
Bulletin 1980/2, Technology and Employment: Women's Job Displacement, May 1980
Bulletin 1980/3, Child Care: An Industrial Issue, July 1980
Bulletin 1980/4, Sexual Harassment: An Industrial Responsibility, August 1980
Bulletin 1980/5, New Perspectives on Part-Time Work, November 1980
Bulletin 1981/1, Equal Pay: A Long Way from Reality, February 1981
Bulletin 1981/2, The Effects of the Razor Gang on Women's Employment, June 1981
Bulletin 1981/3, The History of Women in the Australian Trade Union Movement, October 1981
Bulletin 1981/4, Review of Women's Employment, December 1981
Bulletin 1984/1, Child Care: The Industrial Issues, May 1984
Bulletin 1984/2, Employer and Union Attitudes Towards the Reversal of Male and Female Work Roles, May 1984
Bulletin 1984/3, Changes in Labour Force Participation by Various Sectors of the Australian Population since 1966, 1984
Bulletin 1985/1, Unionising Workers in Children's Services, July 1985
ACTU Working Women's Center Publications
Working Women's Charter Implementation Manual. Sexual Harassment, 1982
Progress on ACTU Women's Committee, 12 January 1983
Equal Pay Manual, ACTU Working Women's Centre, 1984
Equal Pay Manual Submission to Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, ACTU Working Women's Centre, 1986