Ngadjuri

During NAIDOC Week, many Indigenous women are assigned unpaid work. New research shows how prevalent this is in the workplace

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, June 28, 2023
NAIDOC, Workforce, Employment, Violence, Culture, Contract, Workplace, NAIDOC Week, Woman, National Reconciliation Week, Transphobia, Research, First Nations, Attention, Bullying, Man, Aboriginal Healing Foundation, Bidjara, Bundjalung, Ngadjuri, Racism, Trauma, Homophobia, Whaling, Tourism, Nursing, Entertainment, Aborigine, Indigenous

Events like NAIDOC Week see employers across the country leaning on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.

Key Points: 
  • Events like NAIDOC Week see employers across the country leaning on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
  • They are expected to plan and organise cultural events and experiences, which is rarely reflected in their job description or pay packet.
  • The Make us Count report, which we co-authored, found this is not just limited to NAIDOC Week.

Aboriginal unpaid labour is nothing new

    • Bidjara and Birri Gubba Juru author and academic Dr Jackie Huggins, has written about unpaid domestic service provided by Aboriginal women and girls.
    • Huggins goes on to say the report reveals little has changed and Aboriginal women are still expected to perform unpaid labour.

It’s not ‘cultural load’

    • Ngadjuri and Bundjalung academic Kelly Menzel has argued workplaces often misuse the term “cultural load”.
    • This term is often used to describe the additional unpaid work expected of people because they are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander – like organising NAIDOC week events or educating non-Indigenous staff.
    • Overburdening Aboriginal women with unreasonable workloads not part of their job description is not reflective of cultural responsibilities or cultural load.

What the ‘Make us Count’ research found

    • One participant stated, in terms of recruitment and promotion opportunities, that “Aboriginal women are the bottom of the pecking order”.
    • The Make Us Count research found managers in the Victorian public sector failed to act on reports of bullying, harassment and racism.
    • Aboriginal transgender women and gender diverse people, as well as Aboriginal queer women, were invited to participate in this research.
    • Madi Day received funding from the Commission for Gender Equity in the Public Sector's Research Grants Round 2022- Victoria State Government.
    • Bronwyn Carlson received funding from the Commission for Gender Equity in the Public Sector's Research Grants Round 2022- Victoria State Government.