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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (8 March) . . Page.. 703 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

I totally support that position put by the Women's Electoral Lobby. I can see how there could be a place for a committee of this place to look at the material that the Government has produced today or will be producing quite soon. I am not sure which committee it would go to. Mr Quinlan would probably run a mile, but it would probably rightly be the Finance and Public Administration Committee. (Extension of time granted) A select committee could be an interesting idea, although I know some members would be reluctant to do that. We do not really have a specific committee except for Finance and Public Administration. That is something we could consider in the Assembly. It would be good to be able to work with the Government now that they are producing this data and analysis and to put that into some kind of action for women of the ACT.

MR STANHOPE (Leader of the Opposition) (4.10): Mr Speaker, I would also like to comment today on the importance and significance of International Women's Day. I join with the Chief Minister in celebrating all those achievements that women have enjoyed in the ACT, and I join with her in congratulating the recipients of the women's awards she announced at lunchtime today. There is no doubt that many recipients of those awards have contributed over a number of decades to the public life of all Canberrans. It is very appropriate to see their efforts rewarded in the way that they are through the International Women's Day awards.

The Chief Minister, in her contribution to the debate on International Women's Day, drew attention to a range of achievements across the board in the ACT. Some of them are very satisfying, particularly in the context of the comparisons between women in the ACT and women nationally. Some of those are worth touching on again.

The Chief Minister noted, for example, that in the ACT 93 per cent of girls complete high school and college. We are very lucky here in the ACT that that figure is matched by boys, but it is a figure that is 25 to 30 per cent above the national average and does reflect incredibly well on support in the ACT for the importance of education generally. It is a very pleasing figure and it is a very pleasing achievement. We as a community should be justly proud of that achievement. Even in the greatness of that participation, we have some additional opportunity for improvement. Whilst I applaud the completion rate, I think it has reduced a couple of percentage points over the last few years. Perhaps the Minister for Education could confirm that for us at some stage, but my understanding is that the overall figure has been higher in previous years.

The Chief Minister mentioned a range of other issues. Work force participation in the ACT for women is much higher than the national average - 65 per cent as against 55 per cent. Participation by women in sport is higher than the national average - 55 per cent as against 43 per cent. These are figures the Chief Minister referred to in her presentation today. Whilst we might be justly pleased with the response that is achieved here in the ACT, each of those figures raises a range of other questions. The fact that there is an International Women's Day at all is a reflection of the years, decades or centuries - a history, in fact - of discrimination against, and disadvantage for, women within communities. It is as a result of that discrimination and that disadvantage suffered by women that we celebrate International Women's Day. The need remains to continue to draw attention to significant continuing discrimination against women in every facet of

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