Conference 2004: Speakers
NACEW convened a New Zealand Conference on Pay and Employment Equity for Women on 28–29 June 2004, at Victoria University of Wellington.
International Keynote Speakers
Dr Pat Armstrong
Professor of Sociology and of Women's Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada
Dr Pat Armstrong is Professor of Sociology and of Women's Studies at York University, Toronto, and holds a Canada Health Services Research Foundation/Canadian Institute of Health Research Chair in Health Services. She is a sociologist in the field of social policy and of work and in particular, of women's work and the health and social services fields.
Dr Armstrong is an international expert in the field of work, women's work, compensation, pay equity and social policy, especially in health care. Her expertise is both theoretical and practical and arises from her academic work in the field of the sociology of women's work, as well as from her consulting work in this field. She has published on a wide variety of issues related to women's work and social policy.
Dr Armstrong's expertise in pay equity and women's work is directly related to her expertise in social policy in general and health and social services in particular. She chairs the Co-ordinating Group on the Impact of Health Care Reform on Women, a group which crosses Health Canada's four Centres of Excellence on Women's Health.
Her expertise in the field of pay equity was recognized by the Pay Equity Commission when she was retained in 1988 to prepare the sectoral study on the Ontario health care sector for the Commission's Predominantly Female Sectors of the Economy study which was directed by section 33(2)(e) of the 1987 Pay Equity Act. The purpose of the Commission's section 33(2)(e) study was to develop the legislative strategies to bring pay equity to predominantly female workplaces.
Dr Armstrong's sectoral research study for the Commission, Pay Equity in Predominantly Female Establishments: Heath Care Sector (1988) formed part of the materials used later by the Ontario Government when it decided to legislate the proxy comparison method.
As well, she has been qualified as an expert specifically in the area of pay equity by courts and tribunals. Her expert report for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, "Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value", March, 2000 analyses gender wage inequality, factors explaining the wage gap and the legislative response to such inequality. She has been called as an expert witness in more than a dozen cases linked to women's work, pay equity and women's rights.
Dr Armstrong has also acted as a consultant on issues of women's work, job evaluation and the implementation of pay equity to, among others, the Treasury Board of Canada, Labour Canada, Status of Women Canada, the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women, the Ontario Advisory Council on Women's Issues, the Women's Interest Division, Office of the Premier in Western Australia, the Swedish Ombudsman's Office and the SSHRCC Evaluation of Strategic Grants Programme on Women and Work.
As an international expert in the area of women's work and equality issues, she has expertise in the recognition at the international level of the importance of redressing systemic compensation discrimination and in Canada's numerous international obligations in this regard. She has been invited as an expert on the importance and implementation of pay equity to three international conferences sponsored by the European Economic Community: one in Oxford in 1992, the second in Brussels in 1993 and the third in Berlin in 2002.
Download Pat's CV (26kb word doc)
Mary Cornish
Senior Partner, Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre and Cornish Barristers and Solicitors, Toronto, Canada
As a senior partner of a leading Canadian public interest law firm, Mary Cornish is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert in the field of justice reform, human rights, pay and employment equity and labour and social protection issues. Ms. Cornish provides strategic policy and consulting advice on these issues to governments and organizations. She has advised the Swedish government and the European Economic Community on pay equity laws and is currently acting as a Senior Consultant to the World Bank on justice reform issues in Guatemala. She recently prepared a research paper for the Bank - "Engendering Citizenship and Labor Market Regulation - International and Canadian Perspectives." She has provided expert advice on pregnancy discrimination and the enforcement of women's rights to the Tri-national NAALC Commission on Labour Co-operation. She is the Vice-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association's National International Law Section and chairs its Labour and Human Rights Committee.
As a recognized expert in human rights reform, Ms. Cornish headed the Ontario Government's Human Rights Code Review Task Force. Its report, Achieving Equality called for a new human rights enforcement system, including alternative methods of dispute resolution. As an advisor on professions and trades, she co-authored the article Strategies for Challenging Discriminatory Barriers to Foreign Credential Recognition.
In the area of administrative justice, as Chair of the Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators Service Equity Committee, Ms. Cornish co-authored Towards Service Equity, which recommended ways to ensure non-discriminatory access to tribunals and regulatory bodies. For this work, Ms. Cornish was awarded the SOAR medal. In 1993, the Law Society awarded her the Law Society Medal for her outstanding contribution to the legal profession.
Over her 26 years of practice, Ms. Cornish has been counsel in many precedent-setting cases. This included the successful 1997 SEIU Local 204 challenge under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which restored the pay equity rights of over 100,000 Ontario public sector women. She is currently bringing forward a further Charter Challenge in CUPE et al to ensure these women receive government funding for their restored pay equity rights. Ms. Cornish was also counsel for Jane Doe, a woman attacked by a serial rapist. She won for Jane Doe the right to sue the Metropolitan Toronto police force and the recognition that the Charter applies to ensure police forces act in a non-discriminatory fashion. Certified as a labour law specialist, Ms. Cornish has practiced extensively in the labour relations and employment law field representing trade unions and employees.
As well as being a frequent speaker and law school lecturer, Ms. Cornish has written extensively in many areas with over 50 publications many in peer reviewed journals. These publications cover topics ranging from the enforcement of international labour and human rights standards to pay and employment equity and mediating sexual harassment claims. She is author of the leading text, Organizing Unions and co-author of the Canadian Labour Congress Trade Union Guide to the Employment Equity Act. As a human and women's rights advocate, Ms.Cornish is co-founder of Ontario's Equal Pay Coalition which persuaded the Ontario Government to enact pay equity laws. She is also on the Advisory Committee to the York University School of Women's Studies.
Download Mary's CV (88kb word doc)
Philippa Hall
Deputy Director General, New South Wales Department for Women
Philippa Hall is Deputy Director General of the NSW Department for Women. The Department's purpose is to act as a key agent in improving the economic and social well being of women by generating benefits from State Government and other sectors.
Ms Hall has extensive experience of women's policy mechanisms, issues and agencies generally. Those interests relate to particular groups of women and the specific issues facing them, including incomes, services, rights, health, housing, social participation and recognition of women.
Ms Hall has worked extensively on women's employment issues including industrial relations, pay equity, labour market, education and training, occupational health and safety and sex discrimination. She has worked in most of the Federal and NSW government agencies dealing with these issues and her expertise on these issues is widely acknowledged. Ms Hall has presented papers on these issues on many occasions and provided advice to State and Federal Governments on legislative and policy issues relating to women's employment and other issues for women.
Ms Hall has worked extensively on human rights issues and takes a keen interest in international cooperation to advance the human rights of women. She participated in the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and has participated as an invited guest and speaker in forums on advancement of women in Korea, Japan, New Zealand and the USA. Ms Hall has assisted many delegations and visitors to Australia through presentation of information, and through discussions and publications (including delegates from China, South Africa, the US, the UK, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea).
Download Phillipa's Work Experience and Qualifications (22kb word doc)
Dr Heidi Hartmann
President, Institute for Women's Policy Research, Washington, DC, USA
Dr Heidi Hartmann is the President of the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research, a scientific research organization on policy issues of importance to women. Dr Hartmann founded IWPR in 1987 as a non-profit organization to meet the need for women-centered, policy-oriented research. IWPR works with policy makers, scholars, and organizations around the country to design, execute, and disseminate research findings that illuminate policy issues affecting women and families.
Dr Hartmann is the Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations Task Force on Women and Social Security. She has participated in numerous forums, panels, debates, and other events regarding the issue of Social Security reform and its impact on women. Dr Hartmann has also submitted testimony for the Ways and Means Committee hearing on Social Security.
Prior to founding IWPR, Dr Hartmann was the Director of Women's Studies Program at Rutgers University, a member of the graduate faculty at the New School for Social Research, and a staff member at the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences. In 1994, Dr Hartmann was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship Award for her work in the field of women and economics.
Dr Hartmann has considerable expertise in the area of pay equity including as co-author of the key 1981 National Academy of Sciences report commissioned by US Equal Opportunities Commission which strengthened the movement for comparable worth in the U.S.
Dr Hartmann has co-authored several reports, including The Impact of Social Security Reform on Women, Unnecessary Losses: Costs to Americans of the Lack of Family and Medical Leave, Women's Access to Health Insurance, and Combining Work and Welfare: An Alternative Anti-Poverty Strategy. Additionally, she has authored or co-authored numerous journal articles on issues, such as welfare reform, pay equity and women's wages.
Download Heidi's CV (110kb word doc)
Professor Aileen McColgan
Professor of Human Rights Law, King's College; Barrister, Matrix Chambers, London
Aileen McColgan is Professor of Human Rights Law at Kings College, London, specialising in discrimination, labour law and human rights. She is the Vice President of the Institute of Employment Rights, the leading law think tank in the UK, and a barrister in practice in Matrix Chambers in London. Professor McColgan is an expert on pay equity issues and author of a number of books and articles on pay equity and discrimination generally. She has expertise in labour market regulation to achieve pay equity and the limits of a rights based approach to equality.
Download Aileens CV (56kb word doc)
Dr Barbara Pocock
Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow and Associate Professor, University of Adelaide
Dr Barbara Pocock is currently a Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide, where she works with her colleagues studying work, community and social change. Dr Pocock has been researching work, employment and industrial relations for over twenty years. She has worked in many jobs – in shearing sheds, advising politicians, the public service, on farms, in unions, and for governments.
Dr Pocock has studied work, gender, employment, vocational education, trade unions, pay equity and labour market changes. She was initially trained as an economist. She has taught labour studies at the University of Adelaide for 16 years. Dr Pocock has recently published a book on work life balance, or as she calls it, “the work/life collision”, and also has expertise in the areas of pay equity and skill development.
Dr Pocock’s next book (forthcoming in early 2005) is about young people, their views about parental work, and the links between jobs, consumption and household relations. Dr Pocock’s previous books include Strife: sex and politics in labour unions (edited) and Demanding Skill: Women and Technical Education in Australia. In 2001/2002, Dr Pocock worked as an advisor to Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, Leader of the Australian Democrats, advising her on issues related to work, employment and industrial relations. She is the mother of two.
Download Barbara's CV (76kb word doc)
