Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Newcastle for raising some very important issues in her motion today, particularly highlighting that Sunday 8 March is International Women's Day. In January this year I, along with many parliamentary colleagues, attended the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum with the aim of bringing together nations in the region to foster economic, environmental, cultural and social cooperation. One major focus of the delegation was promoting gender equality in the context of sustainable development and shared prosperity in the region. This forum discussed empowering women and promoting gender equality and how it is crucial to accelerating sustainable development.

Ending all forms of discrimination against women and girls not only is a basic human right but also has multiplier effects across other development areas. Providing women and girls with equal access to education, healthcare, work and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large. Women's participation in decision-making in all sectors is also fundamental to having inclusive and effective solutions. We know that, despite the increasing recognition of the critical role of women in decision-making, women remain largely underrepresented in both public and private sectors at the global, regional and national levels.

The UN issued a SDG progress report in 2019. Encouragingly, the report notes that the Pacific is the leading subregion for progress towards gender equality, but overall progress is still insufficient in the region. Likewise, Australia's first voluntary report on its progress towards the SDGs in 2018 noted:

… women in Australia have made significant strides towards equality with men. At universities, in workplaces, in boardrooms and in government …

But there is still a lot to do.

On a personal level, I need only compare the life opportunities I have had with those of my mother and grandmother to make the observation that we have made progress towards gender equality. But we do need to do more, and in doing more our focus should be on providing equal opportunity and choice for all. We need to recognise and realise, through our laws and general conduct as individuals and society, that everyone has different aspirations, different talents and different goals, regardless of their gender. We need to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to reach their potential to fulfil their ambitions and participate in a society that is best suited to them, regardless of their gender. We must also make sure that we respect the choices that different people make. True equality for women does not mean that all women should aspire to do the same thing or be the same thing, rather that they can aspire to do and be their best selves.

In the context of this motion I also want to comment on a rising phenomenon which has had a greater impact on females than on males and is a form of gendered violence—the insidious rise of revenge pornography and image based sexual abuse. I met with a constituent in my electorate of Curtin. She gave me permission to share her story to help raise awareness for others. Noelle Martin was only 18 years old when she discovered that images of her had been taken from her online social media and had been doctored onto highly explicit pornographic material and that these deepfake images had been uploaded to multiple pornographic websites, along with other personal information, such as where she studied and where she lived.

This abuse, undoubtedly and quite understandably, saw Noelle's mental health suffer, as she worried what this would mean for her future employment and for her future life. The abuse continued but, rather than succumbing to this, Noelle stood up to it and started a relentless campaign to raise awareness of deepfake online abuse. It took Noelle some time to gain momentum, but she persevered, and her perseverance was recognised with her being awarded the WA Young Australian of the Year award in 2018.

Noelle's victimisation at the hands of deepfake online abuse is a very real situation that many Australians have faced and may potentially face in the future. It is a rising trend of online sexual abuse. A recent RMIT report found that 23 per cent of young Australians have experienced at least one instance of being a victim of image based abuse. The scale and severity of this is absolutely alarming. I'm pleased that our government has strengthened laws aimed at protecting victims, but I also urge the government to be as relentless as Noelle was and continue to ensure this insidious evil is stopped. (Time expired)

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