Sue Olney
The much-anticipated NDIS review released in late 2023 failed to explicitly consider gender equality or recommend a gender strategy. In today’s post, UNSW PhD candidate Molly Saunders gives a history of gender and the NDIS, and discusses her doctoral research on whether the NDIS supports women with disability to live a life of their own choosing.
Read MoreThe World Bank reports that nearly 2.4 billion women globally do not have the same economic rights as men. Women are more likely to be impoverished than men, and these disparities are more pronounced in countries in the Global South. Even though international policies have been developed to promote gender equality, their impact is uneven. In today’s piece, Hilda Aboagyewaa Agyekum, PhD candidate at the Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, examines the influence of culture and context on the interpretation and implementation of gender policies, drawing on examples from Africa.
Read MoreFor Anti-Poverty Week 2023, Dr Ana Gamarra Rondinel [@AnaGamarraRondi] Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research [@MelbInstUOM] and Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) and Dr Anna Price The University of Melbourne [@UniMelb] and Centre for Community Child Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute [@MCRI_for_kids] explore the interplay between first time parenthood, financial security, and early child development.
Read MoreThis year Anti-Poverty Week 2023 (15-27 October) is continuing and extending its campaign to end child poverty in Australia. To achieve this requires a strong focus on supporting families of all kinds. In today’s post Dr Alice Campbell (@ColtonCambo] of Life Course Centre (@lifecourseAust) examines the challenges and opportunities in supporting single parenting, co-parenting and post-separation families.
Read More2022 saw a lot of movement in the policy space, including a change in the Federal government and the largest number of independent candidates elected to office. There are many policy-related issues that are currently in flux, as indicated by royal commissions, law suits, the question of Indigenous Voice to Parliament, responses to climate change, continued management of COVID-19 and the economic reset that it caused, inflation, reforming the safety net, and fundamental questions about how government governs and is held accountable.
Read MoreWomen experience greater barriers to achieving financial wellbeing than men. In today’s analysis, David Prior and Imogen Morgan of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodShepANZ) and Michael Joyce from Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) explore how existing workforce gender inequalities were magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role employers can play in supporting their employees’ financial wellbeing.
Read MoreWomen were the driving force behind the federal election outcome, which sent a reprimand to the major parties and is set to significantly increase the diversity of Parliament, including a higher number of women. What does the electorate want from the new government? In today’s analysis, five of the women’s peak organisations – the Equality Rights Alliance (@ERAAustralia), Women With Disabilities Australia (@WWDA_AU), the National Rural Women’s Coalition (@NRWNetwork), Harmony Alliance (@Aus_Harmony), and the National Women’s Safety Alliance (@NWSAAU) – come together to provide input on key priorities for Australian women. These are five of the six National Women’s Alliances, funded by the Commonwealth Government’s Office for Women.
Read MoreWhile women have made great strides in male-dominated industries, representation is seldom adequate to shift organisational culture, particularly in highly masculinised industries. In today’s analysis, Kathy Newton (@KathyNewton2208) of Western Sydney University (@WesternSydneyU) shares her findings in how female police officers experience three policies designed to improve gender parity: the provision of breastfeeding rooms, flexible or part-time work options, and gender quotas. This analysis is drawn from a recently-published article.
Read MoreGender equality and the treatment of women have been persistent political and policy issues throughout the 46th Australian Parliament. In today’s analysis, Associate Professor of International Relations Katrina Lee-Koo (@KateLeeKoo), from Monash University (@MonashUni), explores how gender equality and the treatment of women are likely to shape the vote at Saturday’s election.
Read MoreWomen are more reliant on the social safety net than men, but what is their experience of it? In today’s analysis, researchers across multiple components of the safety net explain how deliberate design decisions have created a system that places women in crisis. This long read is based on a presentation at the Australian Social Policy Conference in October 2021.
Read MoreThe most recent unemployment figures show an astounding downturn, to the lowest rates since 2008. Unemployment is but one measure of a healthy economy, however. In today’s analysis, Policy Whisperer Leonora Risse (@Leonora_Risse) examines the incredible strain that has been put upon the health care sector - an industry that is female-dominated and at the heart of the government’s COVID-19 response. Despite this, there has been surprisingly little policy interest in addressing eroding employment conditions.
Read MoreOlder women are the fastest-growing cohort at risk of homelessness in Australia, reflecting their increased financial insecurity, which is created by a cocktail of gendered social norms, differential career trajectories for women compared to their male peers, and the tax and transfer system. A key policy lever that is reducing older women’s financial independence is the increase in the qualifying age for the Age Pension. Originally legislated in 1994, this reform has not been fully examined for its impacts on older women, until now. Today’s analysis from Todd Morris (@ToddMorrisecon) shares research he conducted while with the University of Melbourne School of Business and Economics (@BusEcoNews) on how this policy reform has contributed to the financial insecurity of older women in Australia. This analysis first appeared on the Austaxpolicy blog; you can read it in its original form here: LINK The Unequal Burden on Women of Australian Pension Reform. You can read the full article here: : The Unequal Burden of Retirement Reform: Evidence from Australia
Read MoreThe Federal Government’s Women’s Safety Summit indicates a keen interest in doing more to keep women safe; however, social security settings were not a focus of the agenda, despite the central role that financial security plays in securing women’s safety and agency. In today’s analysis, Lily Gardener and Policy Whisperer Susan Maury of Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand (@GoodAdvocacy), and Frances Davies of the National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) argue that the JobSeeker Payment, originally designed for younger unemployed men, is disproportionately exacerbating poverty for women. This analysis is part of the NFAW (@NFAWomen) Gender Lens on the Budget series, drawing on the income support analysis.
Read MoreLast week we learned that the gender pay gap widened in the first half of the year, with men earning on average $260 per week more than women. In today’s analysis, economist Leonora Risse (@LeonoraRisse) of RMIT, the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard (@wapppHKS), and the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia (@WLIAus), parses the numbers to provide a more nuanced understanding of where the pain points are most acute, and provides policy remedies for this seemingly intractable issue.
Read MoreWith the recent release of the Intergenerational Report, questions over how a dropping fertility rate will effect an ageing population have come to the fore. In today’s analysis, Miranda Stewart (@AusTaxProf) of University of Melbourne (@MelbLawSchool) and ANU (@ANUCrawford), explains how the lack of an economic accounting of care work, particularly of children, is creating myopia in government planning systems, and could be remedied if care work was properly valued as a national asset. This analysis is a summary of a policy brief put out by the Melbourne School of Government entitled Tax & the Fertility Freefall: Children, Care & the Intergenerational Report.
Read MoreThis year’s Federal budget, announced on May 11th, included a Women’s Budget Statement. Perhaps this was added after last year’s budget left many women feeling their needs were not considered. But will this budget deliver for women? Today’s analysis from Kathy MacDermott and Louise McSorley, on behalf of the National Foundation for Australian Women (@NFAWomen), examines the government’s infrastructure plans using a gender lens. This piece is synthesized from the NFAW’s infrastructure analysis.
Read MoreOn Wednesday and Thursday of this week, 16 – 17 June 2021, the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation hosted its inaugural symposium, ‘Equals Now’ at the University of Canberra. In today’s post, Laura Davy (@LauraKDavy) and Briony Lipton (@briony_lipton) reflect on the key themes and highlights from this excellent 2-day conference.
Read MoreKathleen Herbert reflects on what needs to change so we can convince women to enter parliament.
Read MorePeter Martin recently argued that the government’s budget is their true statement of values. As we have watched the Federal Government trying to get onto the front foot to address their ‘woman problem’ over recent weeks, an insight into their values would be helpful. In today’s analysis, Helen Dalley-Fisher of the Equality Rights Alliance (@EraAustralia) explains how the Federal budget is the key document to provide forensic evidence that they mean business.
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