Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (8 March) . . Page.. 697 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

Consultations were held with diverse groups of women in the community looking at issues affecting their lives, in particular work and family, health and wellbeing, and access issues. We asked women in the ACT for their views about issues impacting on them. This information, together with the statistical data I have just referred to, has informed the development of the ACT women's action plan. We know that women in the ACT are enjoying services that are generally very high quality. But there are always some women who, for a variety of reasons, do not have such good access, and more creative strategies are necessary to reach them.

This first ACT women's action plan, that for 2000-01, is intended to make a real difference to access, equity and representation of women in the ACT. It is based around a range of government initiatives aimed at improving the status of women and provides the Government with a framework to maintain and review progress towards achieving its goals in partnership with women.

Actions in the plan include maintaining our high rate of representation of women on government boards and committees, which is currently the highest in the country; family friendly policies across government which will benefit not only women but all workers; looking at how the new ACT prison can ensure that women detainees have access to appropriate health and other support services necessary for rehabilitation; addressing the complex issues around access to services in relation to information, child care and physical and attitudinal barriers; ensuring that services are accessible to indigenous women, women with a disability and those from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds; more community-based services in a range of areas, including vocational education and training, health promotion, counselling and support services for women with eating disorders, women affected by violence and so on; policy development and strategic planning that are truly customer focused and include women and other population groups; and monitoring of services which records outcomes in gender disaggregated terms, is subject to continuous improvement and allows for measuring achievement of goals.

One of the key things that were reaffirmed through the consultation program was the importance of ensuring that women's needs are met through the delivery of all government programs. It is also important to acknowledge that those needs change throughout women's lives and are influenced by their different social, economic and cultural circumstances.

Mr Speaker, ACT women make a vital contribution to the social, economic and cultural life of the Territory. The Government is committed to consultation and the development of initiatives and strategies that recognise women's diversity. The ACT Women's Cultural Council, now midway through its current term, is playing a key role in assisting the Government to develop and implement policies to advance the status of women in the ACT by linking women in the ACT with the Government.

One way in which the Government recognises the work of women in our community is through the presentation of the ACT women's awards. I make these presentations every year on International Women's Day to publicly acknowledge women's contribution to community life. Since 1995, 15 women have received the awards, as well as another six

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .