Cricket Australia last year drafted a set of "pregnancy guidelines" that encouraged a player "to make her own decision" about whether to play on and removed the requirement to declare at the time of signing a contract whether they were pregnant or not, according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. However, the document was never enacted, the governing body claims, because "the Australian Cricketers' Association never responded to it." CA CEO James Sutherland and other officials are "furious" at the ACA raising objection to the controversial "notification of pregnancy" clause in the contracts of Southern Stars players, which has this week become "the subject of a probe" by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Sutherland has "hit out at the players' union for challenging the clause," which asks female players to disclose whether or not they are pregnant, as part of their submission to the negotiations for a new five-year memorandum of understanding with the governing body. He said that the ACA's "senior executives were fully involved in negotiating, amending and then agreeing the contract for women players." Leaked emails detail the involvement of ACA CEO Alistair Nicholson and then-legal counsel Tim Lythe in the formulation of the pregnancy section of the women's contract in June '15 (SMH, 12/18). REUTERS' Ian Ransom reported Australia's Fair Work Ombudsman is "investigating the national cricket board's controversial pregnancy clause in contracts offered to elite women players." The clause has been "slammed" by women's groups as "discriminatory" after being "brought to light" during pay negotiations between the board and the players' association. CA initially defended the clause as being "out of concern for women's health and safety." But CA changed its position on Saturday, announcing it would review its policies and contracts that applied to "pregnancy, maternity leave and carer support" after it was contacted by the labor watchdog on Friday (REUTERS, 12/17). The AAP reported Sutherland concedes that there might be an "opportunity to develop the wording differently" but has been "surprised" by the ACA's thoughts on the issue. Sutherland: "The issue is being somewhat misrepresented or misunderstood ... to say we're stopping a pregnant woman from playing or from being able to sign a contract, that's simply not the case" (AAP, 12/16).
