2022-08-03
The Greens have today successfully established a Select Committee on Work and Care.
Greens spokesperson for employment, Senator for South Australia, Barbara Pocock will chair the committee.
“We need a work-care system built for the 21st century that assists working carers.
“Establishing a parliamentary inquiry to examine the current work and care system and how we can create an economy that is care inclusive and narrows inequality, was a priority for me, and I’m pleased the senate has supported it’s establishment,” Senator Pocock said.
“I have spent my life fighting for the rights of working people, women and low-income workers. I am an Economist and Emeritus professor and established and led the Centre for Work + Life at the University of South Australia. I am thrilled to bring this experience to the role of chair of this committee.
“Working carers make up a huge proportion of the Australian workforce. In 2022, 2 million Australians provided unpaid assistance to others with a disability, long-term health condition or due to old age (ABS, 2022).
“Working carers need free, accessible, quality childcare. It is as essential to working life as the road that gets us to work.
“Australia’s workplace laws need a renovation to give job security, appropriate leave, and decent pay to working carers.
“We need to fix the work and care regimes that we labour under in Australia.
Terms of Reference
Committee webpage
MEDIA CONTACT
Bonnie Keates | 0456 692 070