The #GirlsTakeover Parliament Program gets underway on Wednesday 11 October, when girls will take over the offices of six ACT politicians. Next week, they take on federal parliament. The program aims to showcase the energy and aptitude young women have for a career in politics and give them hands-on practical experience. How would increasing the number of women in parliament change the way we 'do' politics?

In 2013 the OECD issued Gender Recommendations that member nations should implement to address gender inequalities in education, employment and entrepreneurship. The 2017 OECD Report on the implementation of the Gender Recommendations reveals slow progress and much still to do.  Broad Agenda summarises the findings, but a search for Australia in the 2017 report illustrates how we compare.

If you missed BPW South Australia’s Equal Pay Day panel presentation, the audio podcast and the PowerPoint are now accessible online on the Hawke Centre website. 

The CEW Census counts the women in ASX200 executive leadership teams and highlights the proportion of women in ‘line’ and ‘functional’ roles. Line roles drive key commercial outcomes and are a significant pipeline for the ASX200 CEOs of the future. Women make up only 5% of CEOs, 9% of CFOs and 15% of COOs, but dominate HR Executive roles.  The report breaks down the data by industry and company.  

APEC Women and the Economy Forum 2017, Hue Vietnam, Sept 26-29
Congratulations to Carol Hanlon, CEO, Belmont BEC & TCFWA has been invited to join the Australian Government delegation to APEC WEF, as a non-government delegate. One of only two women in Australia invited to the delegation.

Carol Hanlon, Founding Manager and Business Facilitator of Belmont Business Enterprise Centre Inc. (Belmont BEC / BEC Global) and Founder, Manager and Mentor of Textile, Clothing, Footwear Resource Centre of WA Inc. (including TCF Australia / TCF Global) has been selected by the Hon Michaelia Cash, Minister for Women to participate in the Australian Government delegation to the APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Hue, Vietnam from the 26th-29th September 2017.

Carol is a non-government official delegate to the Forum and the delegation will be led by Australia’s Global Ambassador for Women and Girls Dr Sharman Stone.

Carol Hanlon said, “I am thrilled to be attending the APEC Women and Economy Forum in Vietnam, and will have the opportunity to engage with leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region on critical issues relating to business and women’s economic empowerment,

Read more here...

This year the government released its Towards 2025 Government Strategy to Boost Women's Workforce Participation. It prioritises 6 groups of women who experience barriers to participating in the labour force: ATSI women, CALD women, mature age women, rural and regional women, women with disability, and young women.  It focuses on 5 action areas: child care, workplace flexibility, women’s entrepreneurship, economic security, and financial incentives to work. 

The report notes that the workforce participation gap increases dramatically for women when they have children, but not for men whose participation can increase with family responsibilities.  Access to childcare places and financial assistance with childcare costs were 2 of the top 3 incentives for women to increase workforce participation in 2014–15.  

The national Male Champions of Change coalition established by Liz Broderick has released a comprehensive resource to help Australian businesses close the gender pay gap, committing to address the pay gap in like-for-like roles within their organisations.

Another excellent resource: in this video provided by the Huffington Post, Dr Elizabeth Hill of the University of Sydney explains the causes of the gender pay gap. 

Fiona Richardson was a feminist and an inspiration to women in Victoria.  She will be sadly missed. A single yellow flower on the government front benches sat in simple tribute to Fiona Richardson, who died yesterday afternoon after a battle with cancer. Premier Daniel Andrews lead tributes on the floor of the house, highlighting Ms Richardson's role in delivering Victoria's response to the historic Royal Commission into Domestic Violence.

Good news! The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) announced today that the gender pay gap has reduced from 16.2% in 2016 to 15.3% in 2017.  This means Equal Pay Day will this year fall on Monday 4 September, marking the additional time from the end of the past financial year that women must work in order to earn the same yearly salary as men.

BPW Australia's Equal Pay Day Campaign has kicked off, with members around the country working to mark Equal Pay Day with local events and publicity.

The federal government released its workforce policy last month: Towards 2025 - An Australian Government Strategy to Boost Women's Workforce Participation.  It covers a range of matters including childcare where it sets out the government’s rebate strategy.  A recent Daily Telegraph article interviewed 7 mothers (but no fathers) who advocated for tax deductibility for childcare.  BPW Australia advocates for rebates because all children are equally precious and equally expensive; richer parents should not be offered cheaper childcare than those on lesser incomes.  Rebates treat every child the same whereas tax deductions are proportional to the salary earned: essentially the more you earn, the higher your tax rate, the greater your tax deduction, the cheaper your childcare costs.