Working Women's Centre

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (14:49): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about the recent AGM and annual report released of the Working Women's Centre of South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:49): I thank the honourable member very much for her question and acknowledge her contribution to the life of working women through the union movement and a career in South Australia spent particularly in early childhood education, which is a predominantly female-based workplace.

As I have spoken about in this chamber before, the Working Women's Centre in South Australia is an extraordinary organisation that represents women to ensure they have access to work, fair pay and good conditions in employment in this state. The object of the centre and its principal purpose for which it was established is to be an organisation whose purpose is the relief of poverty, suffering, distress, misfortune, disability and helplessness in the context of women in the workplace.

Last week, the Working Women's Centre held their AGM and released their annual report for the past financial year, which reported on many exciting achievements of the centre. Perhaps the most significant milestone of the Working Women's Centre movement for the past year was that South Australia successfully secured commonwealth funding to establish the federal peak body for all working women's centres across Australia. This is a remarkable outcome and an opportunity for South Australia in hosting the working women's centre national peak body, believed to be the first federally funded peak body of its type based in Adelaide.

I and the government are extremely proud of the South Australian Working Women's Centre for winning this role, and we are excited for all centres across Australia to be guided by South Australia's team. My congratulations are due to our South Australian team for their tireless efforts in paving the foundations for winning this position. I particularly acknowledge Abbey Kendall, the director of the SA centre, for driving this outcome.

The past year has seen a significant expansion and strengthening of the work of working women's centres all over Australia, and by the end of this year there will be a working women's centre in every state and territory of our nation. This is an achievement that is good news for working women right across the country. There are now centres across Western Australia, the ACT, Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales, and we have also seen an expansion of existing services in the Northern Territory and Queensland as well as here in the South Australian centre thanks to additional government funding.

Among many other projects of the centre, the past year has seen further work on the issue of stolen wages and the labour exploitation of Aboriginal women. The centre has also committed itself to addressing the issue of stolen wages in South Australia, which continues to be a significant and relevant matter, particularly in light of the racially discriminatory policies and practices that persisted well into the late 1900s. These policies left many Aboriginal workers either unpaid or grossly underpaid for their labour, often in domestic or pastoral roles, and the SA Working Women's Centre has been actively working with Associate Professor Natalie Harkin and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement to assist Aboriginal women in accessing employment records.

Since 2021, the Working Women's Centre has recovered more than $3 million in stolen wages, compensation, penalties and lost income for working women and vulnerable workers across South Australia. Over the past financial year, 2,631 vulnerable workers were provided with advice in relation to their workplace rights by the centre, 220 vulnerable workers were represented in commissions and tribunals, 570 workers were advised by the centre in relation to sexual harassment and discrimination and nearly $1 million was recovered for clients by the centre.

The past year was one of the biggest years for growth for the centre with expanding services and was particularly relevant as it marked the final year of director Abbey Kendall's time in the role. After five years as director of the Working Women's Centre SA, Abbey has not only led extraordinary growth in the South Australian centre but her championing of women's rights and feminist advocacy has played a significant role in the emergence of centres right across the country.

The past five years have not been without challenges for the centre, and I would personally like to thank Abbey for her tireless efforts in championing all women and her passion for advocacy to ensure that every South Australian woman is treated fairly and safely in their workplace. I would like to acknowledge the work and achievements of Abbey and her entire team, including deputy director Nikki Candy, board chair Ann-Marie Hayes and all members of the Working Women's Centre and the community, who have advocated tirelessly and have expanded their crucial work in South Australia.