I refer to Senator Dwight Nelson's opposition to amending The Women (Employment of ) Act 1942 as part of the flexible work-arrangement review process - Houses of Parliament, March 10, 2009. The act prohibits the employment of women in night work except in specified circumstances.

Nelson's view on the matter makes it clear that in an ever-changing world, there is a need constantly to re-examine the meaning and implications of our personal bias and clouded judgement on matters that require some measure of professional objectivity. While Nelson may be a product of a particular time and place, and a debatable one at that, his comments go beyond his personal bias to reflect a problem with our cultural and organisational environment where a traditional culture of work and the brotherhood-of-man thinking continue to persist despite fundamental changes in the nature of families, the workforce and work itself.

Productive workers

Bearing in mind that the world of work or the workplace was never initially structured for women as productive workers, one finds it hard to believe that our legacy of colonial legislations would reflect protective measures for women. They are not even protective of some groups of men!

Work should be adapted to the capabilities of women workers according to their state of physical and mental health. At the same time, the approach should be the equal protection from hazards for all workers but special measures for performance of physical tasks during pregnancy and child bearing are still necessary in particular, pregnant women for whom nightwork, arduous work and exposure to radiation might present unacceptable health risks.

This does not mean that protective policies and legislation should have discriminatory consequences to reduce women's opportunities in access to employment. Women, as a working group, are often excluded from hazardous occupations instead of removing the risks from the workplace for the protection of all workers' health. while women tend to be excluded, men remain unprotected.

Conceptual conundrum

Therefore, it is clear that any progress in flexible work arrangements will require fundamental organisational change involving changes in beliefs, particularly around women and gender issues, values and norms that comprise organisational structures, as well as the work structures that stem from these values, particularly about what constitutes women's and men's work, cynicism about gender-responsive budgets, paternity leave and childcare systems, to better reflect contemporary realities.

Nelson as a union man in modern times, it's time to stop being a conceptual conundrum or you might be in need of a repeal.

I am, etc.,

KAREN SMALL

Smallfry72@hotmail.com.