The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has released its tenth What Women Want Survey report, revealing job security as one of the most worrying issues for women employed in Australia’s public sector.
National Secretary of the CPSU, Melissa Donnelly said the survey sought the view of Australian women about key issues in their working lives and provided insights into trends across the nation and its Public Services.
“Insecure work is an increasing issue for all women across the Australian public sector…women across the APS are worried about their jobs due to the steady increase in outsourcing and the average staffing level cap,” Ms Donnelly said.
“This report shows the real-world impacts of the Government’s obsession with outsourcing, and the flow-on impact of the average staffing level cap,” she said.
“The results are clear – public sector women are more than ever worried about their job security.”
She said the survey showed that women continued to want more flexible work arrangements, with their ability to balance work and non-work commitments in decline for the fifth year in a row.
“This has been further stressed by workload pressure and more out-of-hours contact by Departments and Agencies,” Ms Donnelly said.
“The CPSU continues to see concerning data showing ongoing declines in permanent employment, growing prevalence of out-sourcing and casualisation of essential services, and increasing contact outside of work by employers.”
She said the survey also revealed concerns about gender inequity in the private and public sectors.
“This one-of-a-kind report details women’s journey to equity across the public and private sector and it highlights the need for urgent Government action on gender equity,” Ms Donnelly said.
The 40-page What Women Want:2019/20 Survey Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
