Women forced from jobs through 'sham redundancies' after pregnancy, report finds
Australian Human Rights Commission reports women are pushed out through fake redundancies after telling employers they're pregnant.
The Australian Human Rights Commission found women are pushed from jobs through fake redundancies after telling employers they're pregnant. Employers use redundancies as a cover when jobs are not really being cut.
Sex discrimination commissioner Anna Cody said women often face performance issues, lose shifts and get sudden job cuts when they tell employers about pregnancy. An HR manager was made redundant one month after telling her employer she was pregnant.
A 2024 University of South Australia survey found 89% of mothers faced discrimination during pregnancy, 85% faced it on parental leave and 92% faced it when returning to work. The discrimination hits some groups harder, including immigrant women, First Nations women, disabled workers and LGBTQ+ people.
The sex discrimination commissioner called for urgent law reform, saying women must unfairly prove a redundancy was fake during a vulnerable time.
- 89%
- Discrimination during pregnancy
- 85%
- Discrimination on parental leave
- 92%
- Discrimination returning to work
- Anna Cody
- Commissioner
Why it mattersPregnancy discrimination costs women their jobs during a vulnerable time. Weak laws make it hard for them to prove what happened.
AustraliaPregnant women in Australia are losing jobs to fake redundancies, particularly affecting immigrant, First Nations, disabled and LGBTQ+ workers.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
Open this story in InSnip →
