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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 3 Hansard (8 March) . . Page.. 713 ..
MR STEFANIAK (continuing):
The Bureau of Sport, Recreation and Racing puts in a lot of effort. We have a number of programs to actively encourage women to get involved in sporting and recreational activities. There are still some areas where there could be improvements. There are still problems in relation to teenage girls and ethnic women getting involved and wanting to get involved. But a lot of emphasis has gone into that through a number of programs, the most recent of which are those run through Active Australia. It is good to see significant progress being made there. That is certainly something the Government is very proud of. It is something that the Territory can be proud of. Women's sporting and recreational organisations in this Territory do a wonderful job in encouraging women and girls to be active, and I think we are starting to see some significant improvements. That is very pleasing.
There is still a difference in participation rates between women and men, but we would hope to see that difference narrow even further when the next survey comes out. I am pleased to see that in recent years that gap has been narrowing. For some of the age groups, it is a very narrow gap. But that is something we need to monitor. We still need to encourage women and to do more to improve participation even further, but the figures are very impressive.
Might I finish on a positive note by joining those of my colleagues who have paid tribute to the very significant amount of work in so many areas that many women in our community have done and are doing for the benefit of our community. I congratulate the award winners, but I would personally like to add my congratulations to the thousands of female volunteers in our community from so many walks of life who do such a wonderful job in making this community a better place and in helping disadvantaged individuals make their lives a little easier. Women in the various professions and in the work force contribute so much to the thriving place that Canberra is and to the thriving economy we now see. Canberra is Australia's best kept secret. It is one of the best places in the world to live. That is in no small way due to the efforts of many people in our community, many of them women.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Debate resumed.
MS TUCKER
(4.52), in reply: I have taken the concerns that Mr Smyth raised before lunch to the drafters and we have gone through the points that he has raised. I wish to respond to them now. We do not think that the Minister's advice suggesting that my amendments to the Auditor-General Act would reduce the entities that the Auditor-General can audit is accurate. I should point out that this Bill is modelled on provisions in the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. In that Act there is a note that the Commonwealth Auditor-General Act lets the Auditor-General audit an agency's compliance with these reporting requirements. It is quite obvious that, if agencies are putting information on ESD in their annual reports, the
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