Managing work and family in the 'shadow' of anti-discrimination law

There is now increasing attention paid to a developing `work and family¿ case law in the Australian industrial and anti-discrimination jurisdictions. However, very few grievances are ever pursued to a formal tribunal or court hearing. Drawing on complaints lodged with the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission under the Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (Vic), this chapter considers the ways in which discrimination against workers with family responsibilities is manifested and understood in the workplace. The context of these complaints, including workplace understandings of what constitutes discrimination against workers with family responsibilities and the gendered organisational structures and cultures in which such understandings are negotiated, is also explored. The chapter concludes that prospects for more effective protection of workers with family responsibilities are limited unless the organisation of work around the unencumbered `ideal worker¿ can be comprehensively challenged