Achieving equality for Australian women will take bold action: Tanya Plibersek on Labor's commitments

The Australian Labor Party recently released a National Gender Equality Strategy, including a record $660 million commitment to end violence against women. As part of our special federal election series Labor’s Shadow Minister for Women, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Education and Training and Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) provides an overview of Labor’s policy commitments. We extended an invitation to all of the major parties; you can read the Greens platform here.

Putting people with disability at the heart of the government agenda

Improving the policy response for people with disabilities is a critical need for women, who make up the majority of people with disabilities in Australia while also facing reduced access to services, greater rates of poverty and increased experiences of violence. In today’s federal election piece, we share an analysis of the party platforms for Liberal Party, the ALP and the Greens which was conducted by People with Disability Australia (@PWDAustralia). You can access their analysis on their website here, as well as more detailed statements on social security, employment, the NDIS and preventing violence.

Equality for all women – at work, at home and in the community: The Greens' Larissa Waters on gender equality

The Greens recently released a women’s equality policy and a policy for closing the gender wage gap, including a commitment to bring back the Women’s Budget Impact Statement. As part of our special federal election series Greens spokesperson for women, Co-Deputy Leader and Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) provides an overview of key commitments across six policy domains.

Gender in the 2019-20 Australian aid budget

During election season, and too often throughout the year, Australians are particularly focused on how government policy impacts on home ground - but Australia’s regional role in promoting gender equality and reducing poverty should also be a core consideration for voters. Years of cuts to what was already a modest aid budget is having a negative impact on women who are already in tough situations. While the government says it is prioritising gender equality measures, in today’s contribution to the federal election series Roslyn Dundas (@RoslynDundas) of Care Australia, and Caroline Lambert (@DocLambertSays), Alice Ridge (@AliceJaneRidge) and Elena Robertson, all of International Women’s Development Agency argue that women’s needs are not compartmentalised. This analysis draws on their report entitled ‘From rhetoric to reality: towards a feminist foreign policy’. This piece originally appeared on the DevPolicy blog.

New study finds family violence is often poorly understood in faith communities

While the Liberal Party has promised significant investment into combating domestic and family violence, one line item has raised concern: $10 million set aside for couples counselling. In today’s election platform analysis, Mandy Truong, Bianca Calabria, Mienah Zulfacar Sharif and Naomi Priest share new research into how religious institutions tend to respond to instances of domestic and family violence, and what should be done to make faith communities more effective in supporting individuals and families. This piece originally appeared in The Conversation.

Reading between the lines: How women fare in the Liberal budget documents

In the run-up to the federal election, it behoves one to consider how major party platforms will impact on quality of life – both immediate changes and those that are felt over many years. Since the scrapping of the women’s budget, the National Foundation for Australian Women (@NFAWomen) have mustered a team of academics, policy and content specialists who volunteer their time to provide approximately 40 separate policy analyses on proposed budget measures and election platforms. In today’s post, a summary of major themes drawn from the Liberal Party’s budget documents is provided, covering revenue, climate change and health, housing, social services, education and training, employment, health, violence against women and children, energy, infrastructure and international aid. Following each summary statement, links are provided to the specific analyses that are included.

The NFAW also conveniently provides summary information for differing cohorts of women, including young women, older women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, Migrant and refugee women, and Women with disabilities. Further, there is an analysis of the machineries of government – how women are included or excluded within the policy process itself.

As election announcements are made by the Liberals, Labor and the Greens, the specific analysis papers will be updated.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank3 May 2019Election, Gender Inequity

Time to work and time to care: Policy levers to enable gender equality

It can be argued that time is the crucial element in securing gender equality. Women work longer hours than men, but most of these hours are unpaid. Meanwhile, men spend increasingly long hours at work, resulting in promotions and pay rises unrelated to productivity or competence. In today’s federal election series, Sara Charlesworth of RMIT (@RMITCPOW) shares an overview of the Australian Work + Family Roundtable’s election benchmarks, which provides an evidence-based framework for addressing the root causes of inequalities.

Child support and the F word

Poverty in Australia appears to be entrenched for many marginalised groups, and this is a concern which is regularly raised in the lead-up to the Federal election – is Australia “fair”? However, one policy area on which there is resounding silence is child support. In today’s federal election series, Kris Natalier (@KrisNatalier) of Flinders University and Terese Edwards (@Terese_NCSMC) of the National Council for Single Mothers and their Children argue that child support reform is urgently needed to reduce poverty levels and improve financial and psychological wellbeing for some of Australia’s most disadvantaged families.

Caught up in CDP’s punitive web: what remote women have to win (or lose) on May 18

Few Australians experience more pain from government policy than Indigenous populations, and too often it is Indigenous women who bear the brunt. In today’s federal election piece, Zoe Staines (@Zoettes) of The University of Queensland places a gender lens over the troubling Welfare to Work remote community incarnation known as the Community Development Programme, and explains how it differentially disadvantages women.

Seen but not heard? Older women want to be consulted in the policy space

As the portion of Australia’s older population continues to grow, there is increasing focus in policy on issues pertaining to ageing, demonstrated most recently in the Liberal Budget papers. However, much of these policies appear to be designed with little input from those who are struggling most to age well – older women. In today’s election series piece, co-authors Susan Feldman and Harriet Radermacher provide a summary of their recently-published research in which they heard from older women in the greater Melbourne area on issues of importance to them.

Womens Policy Action TankWomen's Policy Action Tank16 April 2019Election, ageing, aged policy

Do Parliamentary quotas influence legislation? Lessons from France

With the Coalition’s ‘woman problem’, representation of women in Australia’s Parliament has been at the forefront. While Labor has a self-imposed gender quota (see page 6) that means women are at near-parity in Parliamentary representation at 46.3 per cent, the Liberals are at 22.9 per cent (percentages calculated in January 2019). With an overall female representation in Parliament of 33.2 per cent, here’s the question: does representation matter? One way to answer this is to look to countries which have a quota system, to identify any changes to policymaking. In today's analysis, Quentin Lippmann of the Paris School of Economics provides evidence from France. This summary draws on Quentin’s presentation at the Australian Gender Economics Workshop in February of this year; his full presentation notes can be found here.

Why is the Coalition funding couples counselling in instances of domestic and family violence?

Hidden away amongst supplemental papers to the recently-released Coalition budget papers is a line item for $10 million earmarked to support counselling for families experiencing domestic violence. In today’s election platform analysis, Hayley Foster (@HayleyFoster82) of Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service NSW (@wdvcasnsw) explains why this funding goes against both the evidence base and the recommendations from the domestic and family violence service sector. This piece is adapted from a media statement that WDVCAS NSW recently released, which can be viewed here.

How the Australian budget process is failing women

Tonight the Coalition Government will be releasing its budget just weeks prior to the federal election. The Women’s Policy Action Tank will be running a special series which focuses on the election. In today’s analysis, Tanja Kovac (@TanjaKovac) of Per Capita (@PerCapita) explains how the elimination of the Women’s Budget Statement has led to a long decline in women’s security that cannot be offset by short-term election promises. This piece was originally published in Women’s Agenda and can be viewed in its original format here.

Creating a crisis for people on income support? Psychology says bad idea

With recent inquiries into many aspects of the Coalition government’s welfare reforms, including jobactive and ParentsNext, a more foundational question is raised: What is the point of aggressive and austere policies? In today’s piece, Policy Whisperer Susan Maury (@SusanMaury) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy) employs a psychological frame to examine why putting people into crisis is counterproductive.

Rethinking justice: The transformative potential of health-justice partnerships

If we believe in a society that is just and equitable, and where the rule of law is both respected and effective in maintaining such a society, then our criminal justice system is failing us in achieving these aims. In today’s post, Helen Forster of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand proposes basic principles for addressing shortcomings in how the criminal justice system interacts with women, and proposes that innovative health justice partnerships offer a promising corrective.

Protecting Young Women from Workplace Sexual Harassment

The National Inquiry into Workplace Sexual Harassment has provided a much-needed opportunity to discuss the prevalence and impacts of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Equality Rights Alliance (ERA) and Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change Young Women’s Advisory Groups (YWAGs) contributed to this national conversation through a joint submission. In today’s analysis, Lavanya Kala (@lav_k) of Harmony YWAG (and Hannah Gissane (@HannahGissane) of ERA explain why it’s critical to centre the experiences of young women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds when formulating effective responses to workplace sexual harassment.

The art of helping: Lessons for Australia in taking a mediation approach to forced marriage

Throughout the month of February, Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand hosted Farwha Nielsen, a Danish cross-cultural dialogue and mediation specialist, in a series of events which explored an innovative model of family work to support individuals impacted by forced marriage. Here Laura Vidal (@lauraemilyvidal) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand discusses how the model could fill gaps in Australia’s current criminal response to forced marriage.

Dowry abuse: it's a growing problem in Australia, but new laws aren't the answer

Recently the Inquiry into The Practice of Dowry and the Incidence of Dowry Abuse in Australia published its final report. While forms of dowry are practiced in many countries and cultural contexts, it is unknown how wide-spread the practice is within Australia. Of particular concern is the ways that it can intersect with domestic and family violence, and with economic abuse in particular. In today’s post, Marie Segrave (@MSegrave) of Monash University and Laura Vidal (@LauraEmilyVidal) of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand and Monash University provide context for an effective response.

“I should be able to provide that”: How Welfare-to-Work Affects Low-Income Single Mothers’ Food Provision

With the recent release of the jobactive inquiry report and the current inquiry into ParentsNext, today’s policy analysis could not be more timely. Natalie Jovanovski provides a summary[i] of research she conducted with Policy Whisperer Kay Cook into how current Welfare to Work policies inform single mothers’ food provisioning practices, and the consequent impacts on mental and physical health for both the mothers and their children.

Four ways the Global Commission on the Future of Work can deliver for women in the gig economy

Workers in the gig economy, whether it is their primary income source or supplemental, are in a grey area when it comes to legal protections. Because the majority of part-time workers are women, it is particularly critical for women that the conversations are thoughtful and evidence-informed. Recently Abigail Hunt (@AbiHunt) and Emma Samman of the Overseas Development Institute co-wrote a global report on the impacts of the gig economy on women. In today’s blog, Abigail shares four key take-away messages for protecting the most vulnerable workers, which are highly relevant for Australian policy-makers. This policy analysis originally appeared on the ODI website.

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