As authoritarianism is on the rise worldwide, around 1.5 billion people went to the polls in more than 50 countries.  These national elections grappled with challenges involving voter participation, free speech, and electoral independence. 

By the end of 2024, there were 30 countries where 31 women serve as Heads of State and/or Government. Just 20 countries have a woman Head of State, and 17 countries have a woman Head of Government.  UN Women reports that women’s equal participation and leadership in political and public life are essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. However, data show that women are underrepresented at all levels of decision-making worldwide and that achieving gender parity in political life is far off. At the current rate, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be reached for another 130 years

In Australia, the picture is mixed.  The federal Parliament has 45% women MPs; the ALP has 53% women and the LNP 29%.  At State and Territory level, only the Tasmanian and ACT Parliaments have a majority of women MPs, although Victoria and Western Australia come close. 

Recent appointments to the Reserve Bank have shifted the gender dial.  After the split into 2 boards responsible for monetary policy and governance, women now comprise the majority of Board Members.  

New data from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) shows the number of female directors has effectively doubled in less than a decade.  In 2015, women comprised less than 20% of Board Members, rising to 30% in 2019.  This year, ACSI CEO Louise Davidson commented she anticipated Australia would achieve its 40% target.

Given the recent reduction in social media standards by both Facebook and Twitter X, a call by independent MP Kylea Tink for new laws to limit access to digital technology for DFV perpetrators and a national strategy to tackle technology-facilitated abuse is timely and crucial. 

Technology-facilitated abuse is everywhere, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most insidious forms of domestic violence. According to the e-Safety Commissioner, 4 in 5 Australian women have experienced or are experiencing some form of technology-facilitated abuse. A recent NSW Crime Commission report found that 1 in 4 people who purchased GPS tracking devices since 2023 have a history of domestic violence.

A roundtable in North Sydney brought together sector leaders, frontline workers, experts and advocates to address technology-facilitated abuse.   The resulting report outlines 12 recommendations calling for new laws to limit access to technology for perpetrators rather than placing the onus on the victim to limit their technology use together with education programs and training courses for service providers, women’s shelters, lawyers, the judiciary, police and schools.

The Australian Gender Equality Council has critiqued the government’s National Strategy for Gender Equality, and finds it focuses upon addressing the symptoms of gender inequality rather than its causes.

The AGEC presentation presents statistics and graphs that illustrate the gender pay gap and barriers to women's advancement in work. Trends are moving in the right direction, but the rate of change is too slow.  Unless underpinning factors that  prevent full-time participation in higher paid work are addressed, the trends will slow and stop altogether.

The Strategy, launched in March 2024, was a much needed and welcome step toward gender equality in Australia, however a report by Deloitte Access Economics in June 2024 identified a significant gap between expenditure on addressing the symptoms versus attending to the causes of gender inequality. 

The report recommends that the government make it a strategy rather than an aspirational vision, defines gender equality and sets targets, focuses upon addressing the causes of gender inequality, and allocates appropriate funding to implementing the strategy.  To achieve its objectives, the strategy needs to include the states and territories, include dialogue with the women's sector, and attain bipartisan support.

BPW Australia is a founding member of the Australian Gender Equality Council.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency data indicates Australia still has a sizable and pervasive gender pay gap. The WGEA scorecard provides a comprehensive insight into workplace gender equality in Australia, using information reported to WGEA in its annual Employer Census.

• ·         The total remuneration gender pay gap has dropped by 0.6 percentage points to 21.1%, when compared to last year. With CEO and Head of Business data added in for the first time, it has increased marginally to 21.8%.
• ·         Women earn, on average, 78c for every dollar men earn, equating to $28,425 less each year
• ·         50% of employers have an average total remuneration gender pay gap over 12.1% and a median gender pay gap over 8.9% (decreased from 9.1% last year)
• ·         A majority of employers overall (56.4%) and the majority in every industry improved their average total remuneration gender pay gap over the last year

Employers are stepping up

• ·         The proportion of employers conducting a gender pay gap analysis increased 13pp to 68%. Of those, 90% did the analysis in the past 12 months and the proportion taking action on the results increased 15pp to 75%
• ·         More employers have a gender equality policy (up 20pp to 51%) and more employers consulted their employees (up 22pp to 69%)
• ·         Nearly half of all employers (45%) are setting targets. Of those, 68% are setting targets to increase women in management, 59% set targets to reduce their gender pay gap and 35% to have a gender-balanced governing body
• ·         More employers are offering paid parental leave (up 5pp to 68%) and a greater proportion of primary carer parental leave (up 3pp to 17%) is being taken by men

Action to improve low wages in women-dominated industries has reduced the gap

• ·         WGEA’s analysis found the most significant contributor to the gender pay gap reduction is an increase in the wages of low paid workers, particularly in Residential Aged Care, where women make up approximately 80% of employees

There is more work to be done

• ·         Just 1 in 4 CEO/HOBs are women and the gender pay gap for these key roles is the highest of all managers at 27.1%. Women CEO/HOBs are paid, on average, $158,632 less in total remuneration than men
• ·         1 in 4 boards still have no women and in men-dominated industries this is 41%
• ·         100% of occupations and industries have a gender pay gap in favour of men
• ·         30% of women work part-time, but only 7% of manager roles are part-time
• ·         28% of employers are not collecting information on the prevalence of sexual harassment in their workplace.

The full results of WGEA’s 2023-24 Employer Census, including comparisons at the national, industry and employer level can be found in the Data Explorer on our website.

This will not include employer gender pay gaps. These results will be released in early 2025.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services has issued a report which examines financial abuse in Australia, providing a comprehensive analysis of the issue.  The report identifies key challenges within legislation, regulation, and financial institutions, and puts forward 61 recommendations to prevent and mitigate financial abuse. 

The report highlights that financial abuse is a widespread issue with a direct cost to victims estimated at $5.7 billion—a figure higher than Australia's total scam losses in 2023. It calls for legislative amendments, enhanced support services for victims, improved identification and response mechanisms within financial institutions, and greater collaboration between government agencies and stakeholders.

The report finds financial abuse is a prevalent issue in Australia, often occurring alongside other forms of domestic and family violence. The financial toll on victims of financial abuse is estimated at $5.7 billion. Current legislative and regulatory frameworks have significant gaps. The rise of online financial platforms presents both opportunities and challenges in tackling financial abuse.

The Committee recommends amending the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 to recognise the unique threats posed by financial abuse and strengthen protections for victims, and a review of the intersection between financial abuse and the superannuation system. It seeks a mandatory requirement for providers of financial services, products, and government agencies to include a "quick exit" button on webpages.

It also recommends amending the Social Security Act 1991 to remove the requirement for victims to have left their home to qualify for crisis support payments, lengthen the application time frame for crisis payments, and ensure access to "special circumstances" waivers for victims subjected to perpetrator manipulation.

The majority of front page articles published in Australia’s most popular news outlets continue to be written by men, a new study by the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (WLIA) revealed this week. Men were also quoted more than twice as often as women – their opinions accounted for 78% of quoted sources, and their articles contained more words than the articles published by their female counterparts. The findings revealed that articles written by female journalists were less often featured on  premium pages, and were less frequently tagged as “exclusive”, indicating a critical gender disparity in visibility and prestige.

The research, led by La Trobe University Professor of Political Communication Andrea Carson, analysed more than 200,000 articles published in March this year to track the gender of bylines and expert sources across key news topics and major media outlets.  Professor Carson said that while there are equal numbers of male and female journalists in the country, women continued to disproportionately cover soft news stories, while men write the hard news topic areas. “Male journalists…receive ‘exclusive’ taglines more than twice as often as women, while women remain underrepresented in newspapers’ premium pages and the opinion and commentary sections,” she said. The study also revealed that women journalists are better at quoting women sources.

In an interview with BroadAgenda, Professor Carson said diversity in reporters and sources is a positive for journalism but also for democracy and for the media outlet’s economic survival. If we want news about our society to be accurate and holistic, we need to properly represent all groups in society. She reported that women are turning off news and are among the largest news avoiders according to the annual Digital News Report. One reason for this is because they do not see stories of interest to them or that reflect their experiences.

Among its several recommendations, the report encouraged media leaders to monitor newsroom gender equity and diversity policies that promote gender equity and equality, including initiatives to actively increase women’s presence in bylines, opinion pieces, “exclusive” taglines and as quoted experts.

Gender balance in the boardrooms of the nation’s listed companies is in clear sight, after the number of female directors effectively doubled in less than a decade.  New data from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) shows that only 30 more appointments of women are needed to hit the target of 40% representation, which is a big milestone towards gender balance in the boardrooms of Australia’s listed companies. t’s likely that, at the current rate of change, the historic target will be reached by the end of 2024, or in early 2025. 

The data reveals that 15 of the 34 women appointed to ASX 200 boards this year are on their first board appointment and another nine are on their second board. Supporting women early in their board careers and encouraging women towards board leadership will further lift the performance of Australian businesses, with benefits for all investors.

Equal Measures 2030 is a coalition of leaders from feminist networks, civil society and international development across the globe who connect data and evidence with advocacy and action on gender equality. They are committed to securing a just, peaceful and sustainable world, where all girls and women have equal power, voice, opportunity and access to their rights, in line with the SDGs. They believe rapid change is possible and are committed to holding decision-makers accountable.

Equal Measures 2030 collates and shares data to help advocates track progress or lack thereof on gender equality issues, and connects them to the right data, analysis and tools. They produce the SDG Gender Index which tracks gender-related trends for 139 countries and is regularly updated to support advocates in holding their governments accountable on issues such as violence against women, child marriage, health and education.

The 2024 SDG Gender Index is the most comprehensive global measure of gender equality. Developed by EM2030, it provides a snapshot of where the world stands on the vision of gender equality embedded in the 2030 Agenda. It is a multidimensional index, benchmarking gender equality across 139 countries (covering 96% of the world’s women and girls) and 56 issues across 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Gender equality is key to security, sustainability, prosperity and peace. But despite all the talk, no country is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030, write Australia’s Ambassador for Gender Equality Stephanie Copus Campbell and Executive Director of Equal Measures 2030, Alison Holder.

According to the Equal Measures 2030 SDG Gender Index, no country is on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. At current trends, we won’t achieve gender equality globally until the next century (the 2100s). A girl born today will have to wait until her 97th birthday – beyond the current expected lifespan – to live in a society without gender-based discrimination and oppression. A dismal scenario, where inequalities are cause and consequence of such interconnected crises as climate change, conflict, poverty, and hunger. 

One in two women who die during pregnancy or childbirth is in a conflict area, with maternal mortality more than 40 times higher in fragile contexts than it is in developing countries, according to International NGO CARE Australia. The research also shows that an estimated 35 million women gave birth in conflict zones in 2022, with the vast majority of them lacking medical care that meets basic standards of safety and quality.

These harrowing statistics highlight the reality for mothers around the world, who are disproportionately affected by conflict. Care is conducting an appeal which is supported by Adelaide Human Rights Activist and former refugee Khadija Gbla, who fled conflict in Sierra Leone to come to Australia when she was a child with her mother and sibling. Gbla is now a mother herself

Australia has 2.6 million workers classified as low-income earners, 60% of whom are women. Women In Super is calling for the LISTO to be increased and future proofed, ensuring that it is permanently tied to income tax rates.

The low income super tax offset, or LISTO, gives a payment of up to $500 to people who earn $37,000pa or less. It’s a government superannuation contribution designed to ensure that low-income earners do not suffer a tax penalty for making super contributions.

“The lowest paid people in the country continue to be unfairly shortchanged with the LISTO, paying a tax penalty that high income earners are not paying on their Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions. Low-income earners are the only group who pay more tax on their super than they do on their take home pay. And this is the group who can least afford to pay a tax penalty and they are mostly women,” says Women in Super CEO Jo Kowalczyk. 

From July 2024, super will be paid on the government paid parental leave scheme. Women is Super is calling for Superannuation Guarantee contributions to also be given to those receiving the carer’s payment, 74% of whom are women. 

Across the country, part-time nannies, housekeepers and domestic workers who work under 30 hours do not receive super contributions. This is one of the last remaining groups of people doing paid work under 30 hours who do not receive super contributions, and they are overwhelmingly women, and are at risk of retiring with no savings.

Women in Super is advocating for a fair, equitable and sustainable system whereby every woman retires with an adequate income to support a retirement with dignity.  They are urging the government to implement measures for all the women who will retire between now and when the gender super gap closes, recognise and compensate care work economically, and ensure it is shared between women and men, and implement the full suite of recommendations of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce Report (2023) to unleash the full capacity and contribution of women to the Australian economy.