Page 712 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2018
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Many in our community are also pressing for progress through clear actions to articulate their own commitment to gender equality. This month, in honour of International Women’s Day, the YWCA released its Canberra report card on gender equality. This report card signalled our progress and areas of future focus in delivering on our plan to make Canberra a more gender-friendly city.
In addition to these progress indicators, the government was able to provide them with additional detail on where work has begun in the areas of contemporary procurement practices to promote gender equity; strategies for the development of gender equity tools and resources for contractors and organisations; exploring the idea of external accreditation or citation with relevant national bodies; early work regarding elder abuse policy; and facilitating better data on the number and nature of sex discrimination complaints in the ACT.
I welcome the report card, which is a clear demonstration of the YWCA’s critical support for the government’s priorities and the work being undertaken to drive real change. As I have said many times in this place, this is not something the government can do on its own. It requires the general community, businesses and non-government organisations to help drive this change to promote equality.
The ACT government continues to support women in leadership through increasing female representation on boards and committees. As at October 2017, the ACT had the largest percentage of women holding positions on government boards and committees, at 45 per cent, exceeding the national average of 42.7 per cent reported in June 2017. This result is not accidental; rather, it is a product of tangible measures taken by the ACT government to achieve 50 per cent female representation on all government boards and committees.
In 2016 I introduced guidelines requiring all triennially funded sporting associations to meet 40 per cent female representation on boards and committees by 2020. Two years out, most organisations are on track to achieving this target. To support diversity in board leadership, the ACT government will soon launch the ACT diversity register, which will provide an online platform to support, encourage and promote the participation of women and of people with diverse experiences on boards and committees.
Additionally the ACT government has funded a range of women’s services and organisations to provide women with targeted and tailored support in order to improve the wellbeing and status of all ACT women. This includes $160,000 to support women to return to work, and $180,000 to invest in innovative projects that lead to positive outcomes for women and girls.
In closing, I take the opportunity to acknowledge some of our fabulous women in the ACT. It was great to present the winners of this year’s awards at our International Women’s Day celebration earlier this month. The number of nominations that were received this year is a testament not only to the contributions and success of the nominees but also to our community’s desire to see them rewarded for their efforts. At the awards night I also launched the ACT women’s honour roll, which acknowledges
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