Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

I'm also speaking about Girls Takeover Parliament today. I've been very pleased to welcome Eleanor Hickey into my office as part of the Girls Takeover Parliament program, organised by Jasiri Australia. Girls Takeover Parliament has seen over 60 young women from across Australia come into parliament to work with parliamentarians for a day. More than 260 have participated, all over the Pacific, since this program began in 2017. Jasiri's goal is to have more young women see themselves as part of the democratic process.

The organisation and the girls have also written a charter, which outlines their goal for a more inclusive parliament. Women, of course, continue to be underrepresented in our parliament. Only 31 per cent of all parliamentary seats are filled by women. We have responded to this by setting targets, and, because we have set targets, in the lower house we've seen an increase in female representation from 11 per cent in 1993 to 41 per cent in 2019. Sadly, in contrast, the Liberal Party representation is still at only 21 per cent in the lower house. I guess it shows that when you set targets you can actually achieve your goals.

I recommend to members of parliament the charter that these young women have prepared.

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