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Peoples Select Committee Pay Equity Submission

Posted in Government, Submission; Tagged Racial discrimination, Government, Maori sovereignty, Sexuality; Posted 7 months ago by DPA Less than a minute to read

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To: People’s Select Committee
Date: August 2025

 

Purpose

This submission is to convey the perspectives of disabled people on pay equity to the People's Select Committee, advocating for the repeal of the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 and the Minimum Wage Exemption Act, and pushing for transparent pay gap reporting to address disability, gender, and ethnicity pay gaps.

Summary of DPA submission


DPA strongly opposes the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025, arguing that its cancellation of existing pay equity claims, particularly for care and support workers, entrenches the undervaluation of work predominantly performed by women and disabled people, including Tangata Whaikaha Māori.

This legislation is viewed as a breach of human rights under international law and exacerbates existing systemic discrimination and pay gaps faced by disabled individuals in employment.

 

Key Recommendation:

DPA calls for the repeal of the Equal Pay Amendment Act 2025 and the Minimum Wage Exemption Act, urging for the meaningful involvement of impacted workers and communities to ensure transparent pay gap reporting and the closure of all pay gaps, including those related to disability, gender, and ethnicity.

 

Supporting Statement 1:

The cancellation of the care and support pay equity claim devalues the work of mostly women support workers and carers, thereby devaluing the disabled community as a whole, with an estimated loss of $20,644.45 in average extra wages for these workers.

 

Supporting Statement 2:

Disabled workers face significant employment discrimination, demonstrated by a 39.4% participation gap in paid employment compared to non-disabled people (44.7% vs 84.1% in June 2024) and a disability pay gap where disabled people earned an average median weekly income of $1,155 compared to $1,343 for non-disabled people in 2024, compounded by higher disability-related living costs.

 
 

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DPA Submission 2508 People's Pay Equity Select Commitee Submission (DOCX)

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