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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-02-19 Daily Xml
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JEAN PAVY AWARDS

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:40): My grievance today is about the Jean Pavy Award, which is the Australian Education Union's award. My reason for wanting to talk about Jean Pavy is very much connected to the work that the member for Florey has been doing on Muriel Matters, a South Australian suffragette, about whom I think we are becoming more and more educated. My reason is also connected to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, as one of the first (if not the first) women heads of a trade union in South Australia. You probably know all about Jean Pavy as well, but, for the benefit of the house, I would like to talk about her award. It was initiated by the Australian Education Union (originally the South Australian Institute of Teachers) in 1995, and recognised the work of one of their own, a South Australian educator, union activist and feminist, Jean Pavy.

The institute decided to grant an award to be given in her name for the highest achiever identified by SABSSA in women's studies. As one of a number of women in this house, including the members for Giles and Florey and, certainly, you, Madam Deputy Speaker, who fought for women's studies in this state, I know how important this award has been. The award consists of a cheque, plus a certificate for a keepsake occasion, and it is granted to public school students only.

Jean Pavy was a committed activist and office holder for the South Australian Institute of Teachers. She died in 1995 at the age of 86. She became the vice president of the Women's Branch of the South Australian Institute of Teachers in 1960, while she was the deputy principal of Lockleys Primary School. In a discussion with the member for a Little Para, who has also distinguished herself as a principal and teacher and also as a supporter of the women's studies course, we were saying how interesting it was that she had risen in 1960 to the position of deputy principal. As members in this house will remember, once you were in the Public Service, including the teaching profession, and you married, you were thrown out, because in some way it was thought that this would affect your ability to be a public servant.

In 1960 Jean Pavy also became the president of the Primary Teachers Association, and in 1962 became the president of the women's branch while she was the deputy at Thebarton Primary School. As president of the women's branch, her time was spent fighting for equal pay for women, the South Australian Institute of Technology campaign for equal pay. Again, it is a campaign that many of us have been involved with for many years.

The basis for lower wages for women was set in the early 20thcentury by the Commonwealth Industrial Relations Commission, which ruled that women required less wages than men because they were not responsible for providing for their dependants—a very interesting rationale at that time. Jean said the following:

If family responsibilities were a basis for wage indexation, would there not be a differentiation between wages and salaries paid to bachelors, childless widowers and married men with families?

Jean was concerned that women's inferior wages were regarded as a measure of their inferior status. In 1960 the Equal Pay Council was formed, of which Jean was a member. She also went on to work to make sure there was equal pay.

I am pleased to say that, basically, after many years of campaigning, in leading a delegation, the Premier Playford delegation on equal pay, the first of the equal pay salary increases was finally granted to South Australian women in 1966, and the final increase was awarded on 3 July 1970.

Despite the fact that it was obvious that both male and female teachers were doing the same work, the issues of gender and responsibility perceived by the community halted the ability of women to get equal pay with men.

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