Page 816 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 2018
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private providers. Private services are available through the Marie Stopes clinic located in Civic and Gynaecology Centres Australia at the Abortion Clinic Canberra in Queanbeyan. Both offer surgical and medical terminations, while the Tabbot Foundation offers only medical terminations.
As we know, the decision to have an abortion is not an easy one, and women who have made this decision have the right to access the medical services they need without being forced to endure the judgement of others. This was why in 2016 the government introduced an exclusion zone to protect patient privacy and access around the health facility at Moore Street in Civic.
The government is committed to advancing the place of women in the workplace. This commitment is reflected in the ACT women’s plan, which has at its root the advancement of gender equality which will have important implications for the success and prosperity of our community. While we remain an affluent community with a high proportion of women in the public sector, there still are groups of women who face a range of barriers to full participation in our community. In the workplace the ACT has the second lowest gender pay gap. It is still a gender pay gap. In the public service women comprise 65 per cent of our workforce and in senior executive positions 41.5 per cent are held by women.
We are doing well, but we look forward to continuing this important work for Health and the other directorates in my portfolio to get on with the important action underneath the women’s action plan over the next two years. I would like to thank Ms Cheyne for bringing this motion forward today.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (12.07): I thank Ms Cheyne for moving this motion today. Last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Gungahlin Jets season launch. At the event the division 1 men’s and women’s football, the men’s reserve football and the senior and cadets women’s netball teams were presented to the club and its sponsors.
Having long established Aussie Rules in the Gungahlin region, the Gungahlin Jets added the netball teams in 2017, becoming the first to offer a traditional football-netball club feel. As an aside, I know that my colleague Mr Steel’s team down in Woden are claiming they were the first to offer football and netball here in Canberra, but I am afraid it was my humble club in the electorate of Yerrabi who were first.
The Jets, and the Blues for that matter, are examples of clubs in Canberra who understand the transition that has taken place in sport and the wider community. Realising the potential of women’s participation in sport, both of these clubs have expanded to offer both women’s football and netball. I am proud to say that my electorate is home to the best women’s Aussie Rules team in Canberra and is a breeding ground for AFL women’s superstars like Britt Tully and Maddie Shevlin.
Just like the Jets and the Blues, the ACT government is also investing in increased participation in women’s sport, and this support is already having an impact. Women’s Australian Rules football participation increased by 34 per cent in the
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