- Published:
- Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 12:15 pm
Accessing your rights
If you have experienced discrimination related to being pregnant or having a child, learn more about your rights and what you can do on our Pregnancy and parental discrimination at work page.
An ABC Four Corners investigation has spoken to more than 100 women who lost work after becoming pregnant or having a child.
Among five who shared their story for the program is Challis, a casual warehouse worker who told how she had informed her employer she was pregnant only to see her shifts reduced and eventually stopped altogether.
Challis said she was asked to produce multiple medical certificates clearing her to work, however, despite providing the certificates, she told the ABC ‘[the message] was, you take what you're given or you get nothing’.
Challis siad that in her second trimester, she had requested morning shifts after developing pelvic pain which was worst in the evenings.
She told the ABC she offered to continue working in the evenings if morning shifts weren’t possible. However, she was only given one more shift before they stopped altogether.
‘Not being able to work and make an income for myself and to save money to have a child was really, really hard.’
We are supporting Challis to take her pregnancy discrimination case to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
Challis’ experience as a casual worker is all too common. While casual workers have some rights, they have less protections than permanent workers, and there is an enormous gap between having a legal right on paper and being able to enforce that right.
Cat Hemingway, Associate Director of our Equity Law Program, told Four Corners there are a range of barriers preventing people from exercising their legal rights after experiencing discrimination.
'Bringing a discrimination claim is really complex. They are often hard fought and long. We have many matters that go over five years. And so for somebody who is working as a casual or in precarious employment, doesn't have much savings, it's impossible to be able to pay a private lawyer to bring that sort of claim,’ she said.
'I think it's really important to know that casual workers are protected under Australian anti-discrimination law and the Fair Work Act. It's not lawful to treat someone less favourably because they are pregnant or because they have caring responsibilities. And this applies to all workers.'
Victoria Legal Aid continues to call for systemic changes to prevent discrimination and protect the rights of pregnant people and carers, including:
- strengthening positive duty laws
- giving regulators stronger powers and more resources
- introducing penalties
- ensuring people are not silenced through extensive non-disclosure agreements.
You can watch Four Corners' full investigation, The Pregnancy Penalty, on iView and YouTube, or read the ABC news story.
More information
Learn more about pregnancy and parental discrimination at work.
Read about how the Federal Court awarded penalties and compensation to a mother discriminated against at work while pregnant and breastfeeding.
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