Ministerial Statement

AUSTRALIAN WORK-LIFE INDEX

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:49): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement about the launch of the Australian Work-Life Balance Index.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: I am pleased to inform the council that today I launched the 2008 Australian Work-Life Balance Index. I am delighted to inform the council that South Australia can proudly boast that the people of our state, along with Western Australia, have the best work-life balance in Australia. The Rann government has made work-life balance for all South Australians a priority through South Australia's Strategic Plan. In 2007 the Strategic Plan contained a new target for work-life balance and improved the quality of life for all South Australians through maintenance of a healthy work-life balance. Currently, we are the only state that has a specific target relating to work-life balance.

The University of South Australia's Centre for Work and Life has developed the first ever tool to establish base-lining data and allow measurement of the comparative improvement in overall quality of life. This was a significant achievement. I am pleased to advise that the Centre for Work and Life is repeating the Australian Work-Life Index annually in partnership with South Australia's SafeWork SA and Western Australia's State Health Advisory Committee on Work-Life Balance.

This morning I was honoured to be able to launch the 2008 report entitled 'Work, Life and Workplace Culture'. This morning's seminar was the second in a series sponsored by the SafeWork SA Work-Life Balance Strategy. The Australian Work-Life Index found that South Australians are reporting a high level of satisfaction with work-life balance, and that we are below the national average in recording work-life balance conflict.

To create the 2008 index, researchers at the Centre for Work and Life collected data nationally, surveying more than 2,800 people. The findings of the 2008 survey were outlined by Professor Barbara Pocock, Director of the Centre for Work and Life, along with the presentation by the Hon. Dr Cheryl Davenport, Chair of the WA State Health Advisory Council on Work Life Balance.

This year's survey focused on examining the impact of workplace culture on achieving and supporting flexible working arrangements. One of the key findings of the report was that workplace culture significantly impacted on the work-life balance satisfaction of staff. That is, if a workplace is supportive of a member of staff's personal commitments and responsibilities through flexible working arrangements, that staff member is more likely to be satisfied at work. Therefore, in the current tightening of the labour market I would urge employers to attract and retain committed and skilled staff by having working conditions which provide that sort of balance. By working towards achieving improvements in work-life balance, government and business have the opportunity to maximise workforce participation for both men and women.

We know that having a better work-life balance is a factor that helps to attract people to move to and live in our state. This survey will help to reinforce the importance of maintaining a South Australian culture that values work-life balance and that it can be a valuable tool, in terms of marketing, to attract families who share those values to move to South Australia and reap the benefits of this culture. I look forward to continuing to promote a positive work-life balance amongst South Australia's working population, particularly for working women who currently bear the greatest burden for caring and household responsibilities.

I commend SafeWork SA and the Centre for Work and Life for their continuing work on work-life balance issues.