AGEC MEDIA RELEASE 28 February 2022

Australian Gender Equality Council calls on the Prime Minister to take decisive action.

The Australian Gender Equality Council (AGEC) today calls on the Prime Minister, National Cabinet and every elected Member of Parliament to take decisive action to end gendered violence and promote gender equality across Australia.

AGEC supports the many women, girls, men and boys who yesterday marched in the multiple March4Justice events that took place across Australia.

AGEC, a national not-for-profit organisation representing over 500,000 women in the workplace, was formed to respond to the unacceptably slow pace of change towards gender equality in Australia.

Chair of AGEC, Ms Coral Ross said all people must be respected and be safe from the threat of violence and sexual harassment.

“We at AGEC, and our members, are very disappointed that here we are, one year on from the last March4Justice, with little to no change - despite submissions, a National Women’s Summit and a report handed down from a Human Rights Commission Inquiry,” Ms Ross said.

“Now is the time for real change, the time to establish a robust and sustainable framework within government for achieving true gender equality and safety for women", she said.

“We once again call on the Federal Government to implement all 55 recommendations of the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work report and ratify the Convention on Eliminating Violence and Harassment in the World of Work".

"We also urge them to introduce a more robust Women’s Budget statement (accompanying Federal budgets), a gender analysis of all government policies and to legislate a Federal Gender Equality Act – with all Australian Parliaments to be gender equal by 2030".

Only by implementing these measures and taking decisive action will we redress Australia’s unacceptable gender imbalance and inequity.

AGEC stands ready to assist and advise the government on implementing a comprehensive gender equality program.

ENDS

For more information, please contact: Coral Ross AM: 0438 005 225 chair@agec.org.au

Member organisations of the Australian Gender Equality Council

1 National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)

2 Australian Federation of Business & Professional Women (AFBPW)

3 Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA)

4 Australian Women Lawyers (AWL)

5 Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA)

6 Women in Super (WIS)

7 Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA)

8 Women in Digital (WID)

9 Women and Leadership Australia (WLA)

10 Transport Women Australia (TWA)

11 Australian Centre for Leadership for Women (ACLW) 

12 Women in Aviation Australian Chapter (WAI)

13 Women in Banking and Finance (WIBF)

14 National Rural Women's Coalition (NRWC)

15 National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO)

16 Women in Technology (WIT)

17 Women in Gaming & Hospitality (WGA)

18 Economic Security for Women (eS4W)

19 Older Women’s Network (OWN)

20 Women for Election Australia (WFEA)

21 Engineers Australia

22 Tradeswomen Australia (TWA)

23 Women in Automotive (WinA)

24 Elevate Her (Lean in)

25 Australasian Women in Emergencies Network (AWEN)