women legal eassy prelim

7/27/2019 Women Legal eassy Prelim

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For the past 150 years women have been working hard to achieve equal rights with men in all

areas. Women have had to endure generations of discrimination in the fields of education,

workplace and specialists. It has only been recently that the legal system has stepped in to

correct this inequality. There are 2 main ways in which women have experienced legal change

to the issues they faced, including education and workplace

The type of education boys and girls received was influenced by attitudes from the past, where

girls were expected to help their mothers around the house while boys worked with their

fathers. Traditionally, women received only a very basic education where they were taught to

read and write, and to acquire a few domestically usefully skills, whereas nowadays females

and males are supposed to have equality of access to education and training. This is important

because a good education is the key to a successful carrier; without it, a person has no chance

of success in life; hence has a significant impact to women. This is a discriminate to women

because it violates the anti discrimination act 1977 as it states that they must not be treated

unfairly or harass them because of their sex. This act was very affective in responding to the

protection of women's rights because most of the blatant forms of discrimination have

disappeared due to complaints made against employers and the educative effect of the laws.

Women today expect to be able to join the workforce, but certain problems arise that affect

women who may be juggling alternate roles as mother or carer within a job. They come to

expect equal pay for equal work and to be treated the same as any male employee. Key issues

women that are still facing in the workforce include equal pay for equal work, because it is

believed that women should be paid less, maternity leave, (issue whether or not the women is

paid while absent) and sexual harassment (issues including making demeaning and insulting

comments about gender). This has been depicted in the article LET US DOWN (NOVEMBER

2011, published by CLEO)where it shows it's been 40 years since equal pay for equal work

became part of Aussie law. Conditions at work for women have improved as a result of

legislation covering wages and discrimination. Amending the Anti Discrimination Amendment

(Brest feeding) Act 2007 (NSW) made it possible for a women to take her newborn baby to work

or to have someone bring the baby to her for breastfeeding. Further changes have been made

in the workplace, lead by trade unions, which enables mothers to continue working. For these

reasons, the effectiveness of this act was successful, because it enabled women with children

to continue working; it has been successful in responding to the protection of women's rights.


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Many specialist groups exist to promote the cause of women's equality. Lobby groups are

professional public pressure group that support a campaign by pressuring governments to

modify the law to the group's satisfaction. An example of lobby group include, women's

electrical lobby (WEL) which is a independent organisation detected to creating a society where

women's potential are unrestricted. Elizabeth Broderick (the Federal sex discrimination

commissioner), launched a Plan of Action Towards Gender in July 2008. she will focus on women

on women and leadership, balancing paid work, sexual harassment and the gender gap in

retirement savings. This is an effective non legal measure in responding to the protection of

women's rights because the Plan of Action is focusing on gender equality, and it will eventually

achieve its goal.

Individuals are entitled to many human rights, such as the right to be heard, freedom of

information and anti discrimination. When these rights are broken, Disputes between

individuals will arise and may be resolved in many ways, such as mediation and conciliation

and negotiation.

Mediation involve an independent and an neutral third party who helps the parties to negotiate

and reach a decision about their dispute that they both find acceptable. Using this form of

dispute resolution is beneficial because it is less time consuming as mediation is usually

completed within one or two days, and preparation for mediation is far easier and simpler than

is required to prepare for arbitration or court.

Negotiation is another way resolving disputes between individuals. This is where discussion

between two or more parties with the aim of reaching a mutually beneficial outcome. It

involves consideration of other party's views, and often, some degree of compromise. It only

involves the parties involved and therefore is usually low on cost. For this reason, negotiation is

one of the best and fastest way to resolve disputes.

There are a number of methods by which state power can be challenged. By writing a letter or

sending an email, citizens are able to inform the media of decision they think is unfair, unjust

or harsh. In addition, the Internet is a source of information and a means of communication,

where people in common interest websites may discuss situations where public officers have

allegedly acted unjustly.

Along with the media, the Administrative tribunals are bodies that review specific

administrative decisions of government agencies. They offer time efficient, low cost means of

resolving legal disputes. They are different from courts, as they narrow areas of jurisdiction and

less formal, usually do not allow legal representation and are not bound to rules of evidence.

Womens relationship with the law in Australia has changed over time due to various

mechanisms, such as the Anti discrimination act. Through these mechanisms, womens status

under the law has dramatically improved, and they are gradually sustaining an increasingly

equal position in society.

For this reason, it has been established that, legal and non legal measures in responding to the

protection of women's rights are effective!


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women legal eassy prelim

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