Radio executive Linda Wayman doesn't believe women returning from maternity leave should 'automatically' be allowed to return to work part-time
A senior executive at Australia's biggest radio network, Southern Cross Austereo, says she does not believe women should automatically have the right to return to work part-time after having a child.
Linda Wayman made the comments while speaking at a Perth conference last week organised by media and marketing website Mumbrella.
During a debate on workplace culture, one participant asked Ms Wayman what specific initiatives were in place to advance gender equity in her industry.
"We do have a big jar of condoms at work. I'm not lying, I'm not exaggerating," she replied.
"I do encourage people regularly, to have sex with condoms.
"That is a big area of focus for me, encouraging people to have sex with condoms."
Ms Wayman said she was a "great believer" in helping women return to work, but the nature of the industry made it hard.
She said women who go on maternity leave give their colleagues a great opportunity to fill in and gain experience.
She said she did not believe women on maternity leave should be automatically entitled to work part-time on their return.
"I don't agree with the union push at the moment that women coming back to work automatically should be allowed to come back part-time," she said.
"It's an idealistic and anti-commercial stance, in my opinion."
Western Australia's Equal Opportunity Commissioner Allanah Lucas said Ms Layman's choice of words was unfortunate.
"The choice of what one does about having children or not is not an employer's concern," she told the ABC's PM program.
"This is a major issue and unfortunately comments that have been reported actually minimise what is a significant and underlying economic and social important issue.
"I think that's a shame because I actually respect Linda Wayman from years ago, I knew her in other capacities.
"But I do believe that we need to consider that nowadays, in the world we're in, we are losing out on a talent pool which is women, that are absolutely leaching out of the workplace environment."
Southern Cross CEO plays down comments as tongue in cheek
Southern Cross Austereo chief executive officer Rhys Holleran described Ms Wayman's remarks as tongue in cheek.
"Linda is one of our most highly recognised and awarded general managers," he said in a statement.
"She has an exemplary record as one of Perth's most compassionate advocates on all issues surrounding equality of women in the workforce."
But Ms Lucas said there was not much to laugh at.
"Of course there's comedy and there's tongue in cheek and there's all those kinds of things," she said.
"But I think at a time when we here at the Equal Opportunity Commission are still getting enquires and complaints from women who lose their jobs because they tell somebody that they're pregnant, it's a very difficult thing to find very funny or tongue in cheek.
"The reality is that women are still suffering discrimination on the basis of their family responsibility and becoming pregnant.
"That still is going on here today, in Perth and Western Australia and in this country."
Ms Wayman declined an interview request.
Southern Cross Austereo also runs Sydney station 2Day FM, the radio station that became embroiled in a British royal fake call scandal in 2012.
The High Court has cleared the way for the station to face serious penalties over the prank call to a London hospital in which two presenters posed as the Queen and Prince Charles.
Nurse Jacintha Saldhana, 46, passed the call through to the ward and, following a storm of publicity about the fact the presenters had obtained personal details about the Duchess, she later took her own life.
