Equal remuneration and the Social and Community Services case : progress or diversion on the road to pay equity?

The first major test of the equal remuneration order provisions in Pt 2-7 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) delivered significant wage increases for the mostly female workforce in the social and community services sector. Fair Work Australia emphasised the breadth of the provisions compared to previous federal legislation and embraced key parts of the reasoning adopted by state tribunals in assessing a tack of equal remuneration. However, it stopped short of fully endorsing their approach and declined to articulate any principles to guide the conduct and determination of future cases. It also appeared to insist on a degree of precision as to the extent of gender-based undervaluation that might be difficult for future claimants to meet. Its two major decisions in the case, which ultimately revealed a significant difference of opinion between members of the Full Bench that heard it, are marked by inconsistencies and uncertainties that have left the pursuit of gender pay equity on a precarious footing.