Page 3336 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 21 October 2014
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The skills that mothers develop in the work they undertake at home are the very same skill set required to be a CEO. The family “board of directors”, as I call them, has to be appeased and managed up, including grandparents, coaches, husbands, teachers et cetera. KPIs have to be set and met, income has to be managed and at times topped up, food supply has to be maintained, volunteer and paid help have to be sourced and actively managed, and so on. This skill set is worth $120,000 in the jobs market. I hope more women who undertake the role of family CEO become recognised over time for the very professional work they undertake in the family environment.
In conclusion, I applaud the minister for raising this important topic again for discussion. There is so much more work to do in the area and there are the beginnings of some positive work being done in the Office for Women. However, I think those opposite should use their powers of persuasion to get Mr Shorten and co to think twice before labelling the biggest structural improvement for women’s work lives in a generation, paid parental leave, as something that only benefits a few women at the top end when that is a manifest untruth. I will do my best to remind those on the hill on my team to support what is such a mature improvement for women today, who in the mainstream of society have to work to keep enough cash flow to raise a family.
I also implore all to think about the women around you working double time, as the CEO of a household and maintaining paid employment. Encourage these women; they are taking more than responsibility for our today and our and their tomorrow. Women’s financial security, to borrow a line, is everybody’s responsibility.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (10.42): On 13 October 2014, at a seminar hosted by the Domestic Violence Prevention Council, the ACT government launched a package of financial resources to support some of the most marginalised women in our community. The Women’s Centre for Health Matters, in partnership with the Care Financial Counselling Service, developed a number of financial resources for specific cohorts of women called “Women’s money matters”. Four specific financial resources were developed and funded, under the ACT women’s grants program, for women leaving domestic violence in the ACT, women leaving prison in the ACT, older women in the ACT and recently arrived migrant women and female refugees.
As we know, women have very different financial needs from men and are more likely to require financial support or advice at different stages of their life or at different times in relationship changes. Financial security is an important aspect of health and wellbeing for women in our community, and access to good information is crucial in maintaining independence and facilitating choice. Whilst many financial security issues exist for all women, such as lower superannuation, lower retirement savings and lower income levels, often as a result of working part time, there are some specific issues relevant to women in the groups that I have mentioned.
Many women who experience financial abuse often do not recognise it as a form of family violence. This may happen after they have left the relationship. They may make several attempts to leave a violent domestic relationship or they may be forced to return to that relationship for financial and economic reasons.
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