Historically, trade unions in Australia have concentrated on improving the pay and conditions of male workers and have disregarded, or even been hostile to, the interests of women. The resistance of male unionists to the long campaign waged by women for equal pay has been a principal source of conflict. Until as late as 1977, the ACTU supported the notion of a ‘family wage’ and sought to discourage the necessity for families to have two incomes. In keeping with this, the ACTU's child care policy called for child care services to support the needs of 'women who under present economic circumstances have to work' (Hargreaves 1982: 31). During the late 1960s and early 1970s, however, a number of changes occurred which affected the way both men and women perceived the relationship of women to trade unions. Throughout these years married women entered the labour market in increasing numbers, and, as women's participation in the labour force increased, so did their participation in unions.