Your cart is empty.
Your cart is empty.
Highlighting a year of growth and ongoing support for women facing workplace disadvantage, the 2023/24 Annual Report has been published by the Working Women’s Centre South Australia (WWC SA).
The report outlines the Centre’s expanded services, including legal support, advocacy, and educational programs aimed at improving the economic welfare and workplace rights of vulnerable women.
WWC SA’s legal team had a busy year, representing over 1,400 individual clients and providing more than 2,600 instances of legal advice. The team focused on issues such as sexual harassment, discrimination, wage theft, and unfair dismissals, successfully recovering nearly $1 million in compensation for clients.
We have provided advice to 570 workers regarding sexual harassment and discrimination and have opened 136 cases specifically related to these issues. — Emma Johnson, Principal Lawyer
This year we recovered a total of $986,978.40 for our clients. This amount includes unpaid wages, general damages for sexual harassment and discrimination complaints, and compensation for clients who were unfairly dismissed or terminated from their workplace.
Education and Training Initiatives
The Centre’s education and training programs reached over 500 participants this year, with a focus on preventing sexual harassment and addressing domestic and family violence in the workplace. A recent review of the training programs provided valuable insights, ensuring that the Centre’s educational offerings remain relevant and impactful.
Campaigning for Workers’ Rights and Legal Protections
WWC SA continues to advocate for legislative reforms that protect workers’ rights. This year, the Centre actively supported the successful passage of the Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill, which provides greater protections for workers pursuing sexual harassment and discrimination claims. The Bill passed and became law in September 2024.
In addition to this legislative success, WWC SA has also celebrated a number of other key milestones throughout the year. These include securing additional funding from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, enabling the Centre to expand its advocacy, training, and education teams.
Another major achievement was the establishment of a national peak body, WWC Australia, based in Adelaide, which broadens support for working women across the country.
Abbey Kendall, the Director of the Working Women’s Centre SA, and Caitlin Feehan, lawyer with the Centre, travelled to Canberra on Wednesday (31) to represent the organisation at the Senate Inquiry held at Parliament House. Their purpose was to provide evidence concerning the Australian Human Rights Commission Amendment (Costs Protection) Bill 2023.
The passage of this bill would eliminate the financial risk for women who have experienced sexual harassment and/or discrimination of having to pay the legal costs of their employer when pursuing their claims in the Federal Court. The current financial risk with taking these types of matters to Court is a known deterrent for women when considering whether to pursue their matters past unsuccessful conciliation. By this Bill being passed, it would provide certainty for women to pursue their matters without risking their long-term economic security.
Great work to all the organisations that attended the Senate Inquiry yesterday in support of this important proposed law reform!
The Working Women’s Centre is looking for HR Managers and employers to take part in the pilot version of our Young LGBTQIA+ Women & Non-Binary Workers Support program. The program has been designed in consultation with young SA LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary workers and aims to aid HR managers and other employees to foster safe and supportive workplaces for LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary workers. The training will be provided free of cost, all we ask of you is to attend and provide feedback at the end.
The program will be delivered online, on the 21st of June, 9:30-12:30am ACST.
Click here to register.
You will have the opportunity to get free and confidential legal advice in relation to a wide range of workplace issues including wages and conditions, dismissals and sexual harassment. We will also discuss union membership and connect you with your union.
We have appointments available on:
Appointments will be conducted in person at SA Unions or via the phone. Clients can choose to attend in person or participate by telephone.
To book an appointment call: (08) 8410 6499 or you can make an online inquiry here:
https://wwcsa.org.au/enquiry-form/
Any details that you provide will be kept confidential and we do not make contact with your employer without your consent.
Appointments will be held at the Legal Advice Clinic – City West Campus on:
To make an appointment please telephone WWC SA on 8410 6499 or complete the online form at:
Have you experienced:
• Wage theft? Do you think you may not be being paid correctly?
• Unfair dismissal? Have you been dismissed from a job recently?
• Discrimination? Have you been treated badly at work due to race, gender or age?
• Sexual harassment?
• Bullying?
• Sham contracting? Does your employer call you a contractor, however you may be an employee?
The Working Women’s Centre in collaboration with Fair Go SA, will co-host an educational workshop on worker’s rights and the Fair Work Act.
This will be followed by a confidential (one to one) advice clinic for any workers who need free industrial advice about work.
Our workshop will cover topics including:
At the Confidential Industrial Advice Clinic you can:
WHEN:
23 Jul 2021
2pm – 5pm
EVENT TYPE
Workshop
WHERE
69 Grote Street, Adelaide SA
If you cannot register for this event via the We Chat QR code, please email to register: reception@wwc.org.au
Accessibility: Please note that this venue is not wheelchair accessible, there are volunteers who can assist with accessing the venue if required, but only upon request.
We acknowledge that this event is on Kaurna land and we pay our respect to the traditional custodians of the land, past and present. Sovereignty was never ceded.
The shocking video that many people saw earlier this week is unfortunately a familiar story of wage theft and gendered workplace violence that is common in our South Australian workplaces. Now that a spotlight has been put on the issue, we have the opportunity to change things for the better.
This article was published by ABC News 4th Feb 2021.
Read the full article on the ABC’s website here
Protesters have rallied outside of a cafe where a young woman was allegedly assaulted last week.
Footage of the incident, at Fun Tea in Adelaide’s CBD, went viral on social media and has sparked a conversation about alleged wage theft among the international student community.
It showed a verbal dispute between a man and a woman who makes claims about wage theft.
The man can be heard denying the claims.
Today, protesters claimed wage theft was a problem in businesses in Adelaide’s Chinatown district.
Jackie Chen, from the SA Labour Info Hub, said many people working within the district were paid less than $15 an hour, and some as low as $5 an hour.
“Especially with the background of workers, international students, they are not fluent in English and they don’t know how to find support,” he said.
“We urge the Australian Government to look into these issues.
“We must sort this out, it’s a disaster. It’s been going on for decades.”
He has organised another rally for Saturday to be held in Chinatown.
