Page 928 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 22 March 2017
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sets out the ACT government’s ongoing commitment to work in partnership with non-government organisations, business and the broader community towards gender equality for all ACT women.
The comprehensive plan covers health and wellbeing, access to stable and affordable housing, safety at home and in the community, economic security and leadership. The plan supports actions to remove barriers and enable women and girls to reach their potential, contribute to innovation and ideas and take up leadership positions. The plan is being implemented through a series of three-year action plans.
At the ACT women’s awards on the eve of International Women’s Day, the government launched the first action plan under the ACT women’s plan. The first action plan supports the wellbeing of women and girls in our community through focusing on communities where women and girls are empowered and safe, and supporting gender equality in the ACT government. This includes work on culture, education, city planning, transport and policy development. Through the first action plan the ACT government is setting a positive example for the rest of the community and more widely for our counterparts in other states and territories and internationally.
On International Women’s Day, which we recently celebrated, on 8 March, and on every other day of the year, for that matter, it is important to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women in our community. It is also a day for raising awareness of the struggle women continue to face in reaching gender equality. The ACT embraced this event with many International Women’s Day events. For example, the United Nations Women National Committee Australia hosted a lunch celebration in Canberra. I attended the British High Commission and the Australian British Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast event, with panel members discussing how they have been bold for change in their lives, and a number of multicultural and other community groups celebrated the day through gatherings and storytelling.
I also had the privilege of talking to the young women of Melba Copland Secondary School about how they can be bold for change as they complete their studies and make choices about their future careers.
As part of International Women’s Day, women in our community were acknowledged for their contributions via the 2017 ACT women’s awards. Marie-Louise Corkhill was named ACT woman of the year. Francesca Maclean, whom I spoke about yesterday, was named ACT young woman of the year, and Andrea Hotchkiss was named ACT senior woman of the year. These three women have demonstrated their long-term commitment to supporting women and girls in the ACT. They have each made an important contribution across a range of areas, including supporting vulnerable women, supporting women and girls’ participation in active recreation and promoting gender equality in the traditionally male-dominated fields of science, technology, engineering and maths, or STEM.
The need for gender equality in STEM fields is particularly important because we know this is where the jobs are going to be globally; so it follows that this is where the money is going to be. If women are not in these fields, the gender pay gap will
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