Senate committee examining job security hears vulnerable women are in a precarious position

An inquiry into job security has focused on mining this week but a Mackay woman told Senators about her experience – which worsened during Covid.

Mackay domestic violence support worker Terese Kingston spoke at a Senate committee into job security. PICTURE: Ashley Pillhofer

A domestic violence support worker has spoken of her experience seeing first-hand the effects of casual and insecure work on women.

Terese Kingston, who works at Mackay Women’s Services, told a Senate committee examining job security that vulnerable women were in a precarious position.

“Over the time I’ve been there, we have seen ongoing impacts of women who are in casual work and insecure work and what impact that has on both their ability to plan for the future, even a week ahead, but particularly for women who are attempting (to) escape family and domestic violence,” she told the Senate Select Committee on Job Security.

“This was highlighted even further last year when Covid hit, where we saw a 20%-25% increase in police referrals to our service for women victims of domestic violence and a similar increase of women walking through our door in crisis, in desperate need of food, in desperate need of fuel vouchers and nappies and formula.

“The housing shortage goes all the way across Queensland, but I’m speaking from the Mackay region perspective, for a woman in insecure or casual work, who is unable to access sick leave or annual leave or domestic violence leave, her ability to safely leave an abusive situation is reduced significantly.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson handing a cheque for half of the proceeds from the 2021 Mayor's Charity Ball to Mackay Women's Services executive director Linda-Ann Northey. The ball also fundraised for Heart Kids. Picture: Heidi Petith

“It’s very difficult to get a rental if you don’t have secure work, it’s very difficult to take the time off that you need if you are making police statements, if you are needing to attend a lawyer’s appointment, to go to the police station, if you need to attend court if you need a protection order in place.

“I certainly have seen multiple applications, where women have lodged private applications for protection orders and then are forced to withdraw because they are at risk of losing their job. “I’ve seen women be fired because they’ve taken so much time off work in order to do the things they need to do when they’re in that space.

“Then tragically I’ve seen their names on the court list again several months later or in police applications which tells us that they needed that protection order to keep themselves and their kids safe, and that they’ve been a victim of further domestic violence so if they were financially secure and able to do the things they needed to do, they would have been safer sooner.”

Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Michael Clifford, who was in the Mackay region last week, said the strongest message they received was that labour hire workers had difficultly raising health safety messages.

“We heard again from workers who talked about the difficulties in planning their lives, not just planning their lives for the long term, but even planning a weekend away with their family because they had no certainty around the hours that they worked,” he said.

“And we heard one story from a woman who told her close friend whose granddaughter had died at birth.

“That woman was not able to take time off work to give comfort to her daughter. Because she was in insecure employment.

“She could not afford to lose a day’s pay. And she could not afford to jeopardise her employment by taking the time away from work to give comfort to her daughter, who had just lost her daughter.”

Bowen Basin miner Wayne Goulevitch told the Senators that casual employees now outnumbered full-time employees two to one.

He said labour hire employees at the mines were once used to supplement full-time employees on leave but suggested the practice now meant mines made bigger profits from paying workers less.

“I honestly believe the companies are grandfathering my positions out of the industry, and that they’re doing it in a nefarious way, in my opinion,” he said.

The committee was supposed to sit in Mackay on Tuesday but was conducted remotely after Covid interfered.

Senators heard from the CFMEU, QCU, One Key Resources, Chandler Macleod, Hays Recruitment, Mackay Regional Council and the Resource Industry Network on Tuesday.

The Moranbah hearing scheduled for Monday has been wrapped into a Brisbane hearing on Wednesday.

The day will begin with witnesses from a mining industry panel, Minerals Council of Australia, Anglo American, BHP and Rio Tinto.

Isaac Regional Council and Moranbah businesses and local organisations are expected to speak after lunch.