Australia's labour market has undergone a profound transformation over the past few decades, with casual employment emerging as one of the most significant, and concerning, trends reshaping how we work.
I have mainly worked as a casual or on contract since I was 15 - and even in my few permanent jobs, I've been treated as if I was temporary - so roughly 50 years.
Even when women don't need 'flexibility', men usually assume that you do, and use it as an excuse to pay less than a man in the same position. I'm not imagining it - I have been told it in interviews.
While I worked in retail when I was young, I have mostly worked in IT, and in the last ten to 15 years there has been another scourge of employment - fixed term contracts. They claim to pay the same as if you were permanent - with leave etc., but of course no access to training - but unless it's with a government department with published salary scales, there's no way of knowing. It's always less than standard contracting rates, with none of the security of a permanent role to compensate for the lower pay.
You may think that IT contractors shouldn't complain, but when women in the industry are mainly on short-term contracts (with gaps while trying to find more work), and men seem to end up on secure long-term multi year contracts - and due to contract secrecy clauses have no idea what each is being paid - it's hardly equitable.
I have mainly worked as a casual or on contract since I was 15 - and even in my few permanent jobs, I've been treated as if I was temporary - so roughly 50 years.
Even when women don't need 'flexibility', men usually assume that you do, and use it as an excuse to pay less than a man in the same position. I'm not imagining it - I have been told it in interviews.
While I worked in retail when I was young, I have mostly worked in IT, and in the last ten to 15 years there has been another scourge of employment - fixed term contracts. They claim to pay the same as if you were permanent - with leave etc., but of course no access to training - but unless it's with a government department with published salary scales, there's no way of knowing. It's always less than standard contracting rates, with none of the security of a permanent role to compensate for the lower pay.
You may think that IT contractors shouldn't complain, but when women in the industry are mainly on short-term contracts (with gaps while trying to find more work), and men seem to end up on secure long-term multi year contracts - and due to contract secrecy clauses have no idea what each is being paid - it's hardly equitable.