# Equal pay case (19 June 1969)

URL: https://allhistories.com/australia/timeline/1969-equal-pay-case
Location: Melbourne, Victoria
Themes: Key Events

On 19 June 1969, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission ruled in favour of the principle of “equal pay for equal work”, meaning that women doing the same work as men should receive the same rate of pay. The decision was to be phased in by 1972. It applied only where women worked alongside men in the same jobs, which excluded most working women, who were concentrated in female-dominated occupations. Since the early twentieth century, following the 1907 Harvester judgment and later arbitration decisions, female wages had been set at a proportion of male rates, on the assumption that men supported families. Unions and women’s organisations had campaigned for equal pay for decades. Frustration with the limits of the 1969 ruling led to protests, including Zelda D’Aprano chaining herself to the Commonwealth Building in Melbourne in October 1969. In 1972 the commission extended the principle to “equal pay for work of equal value”, and in 1974 it applied the adult minimum wage to women. These decisions substantially narrowed the formal gap between men’s and women’s wages, although a gender pay gap has persisted. Women’s groups such as the Women’s Electoral Lobby, founded in 1972, continued to press for fairer pay and conditions.

## Why it matters
The ruling ended the formal principle that women should be paid less than men for the same work.

Ruler at the Time: [Elizabeth II](https://allhistories.com/australia/rulers/elizabeth-ii)

Prime Minister: John Gorton (Liberal)
Governor-General: Sir Paul Hasluck

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Equal pay for equal work](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_pay_for_equal_work)
- [Wikipedia — Zelda D'Aprano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_D'Aprano)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Equal pay Australia women](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Equal+pay+Australia+women)