Annual Review Paper : The Creation of Equal Employment Opportunity: A Continuing Challenge to Policymakers and Practitioners

The Australian government's commitment to equal employment opportunity has resulted in the enactment of anti-discrimination and affirmative action legislation at both the federal and state level and the development of a number of labour market, training and social policies specifically designed to remove impediments to women's employment. The Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act is pivotal to the removal of discrimination in organisations, but its effectiveness has been hindered by the restructuring of organisations on a divisional basis, a lack of understanding of the nature of equal employment opportunity and the role of affirmative action programs among some employers and employees, and the choices women make about their employment and training. A number of innovative policies have been developed by large organisations to deal with these barriers to the effectiveness of affirmative action programs and the creation of EEO and they provide useful models for other organisations.