Principles

The aim of the Australian Work + Family Policy Roundtable is to propose, comment upon, collect and disseminate relevant policy research in order to inform good, evidence-based public policy in Australia.

The Roundtable believes work, care and family policy proposals should be guided by sound policy principles which:

• Recognise that good management of the work-life interface is a key characteristic of good labour law and social policy;
• Adopt a life-cycle approach to facilitating effective work-family interaction;
• Support both women and men to be paid workers and to share unpaid work and care;
• Protect the well-being of children, people with disabilities and frail older people who require care;
• Promote social justice and the fair distribution of social risk;
• Ensure gender equality, including pay equity;
• Treat individuals fairly, regardless of their household circumstances;
• Ensure sustainable workplaces and workers (e.g. through ‘do-able’, quality jobs and appropriate staffing levels);
• Ensure predictable hours, earnings and job security;
• Ensure flexible working rights are available in practice, not just in policy, to all workers through effective regulation, education and enforcement;
• Facilitate employee voice and influence over work arrangements;
• Recognise and support the ongoing need for income support where earnings capacities are limited by care responsibilities or other social contributions;
• Recognise the particular cultural and social needs of groups who have been excluded and discriminated against, such as Indigenous peoples and newly arrived migrants and refugees, who may require diverse responses to participate effectively; and
• Adopt policy and action based on rigorous, independent evidence.