Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm hosting Sophie Bjorkman from Canberra Grammar School as part of the Girls Take Over Parliament program. Sophie is passionate about politics and encouraging more women to engage with politics in a meaningful way, an issue I'm passionate about also. Sophie and I have spoken today about what practical steps can be taken to increase the number of women in this place and, more broadly, at higher levels in workplaces across Australia, and she is concerned about the use of quotas to increase representation.

Sophie and I discussed the importance of equal opportunity and merit based selection, rather than using two different standards for evaluating men and women. Sophie believes that employers should use the same standards. As a young woman in her final year of school, Sophie believes quotas drive a greater divide between male and female candidates instead of promoting equality. This can also be applied to other areas, including education. We discussed a decision by the University of Technology Sydney to apply different ATAR requirements for men and women candidates. In Sophie's words, through equal opportunities and merit we are capable of achieving just as much as men.

Thank you to Sophie for joining my team today and for her passion for politics. I am pleased to have supported the Girls Takeover Parliament program today and hope many more young women join the political conversation in this place.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I give the call to the member for Sydney, I do want to acknowledge all the girls who are taking over parliament today. It is terrific. A special shout-out to Tilley, who's working with me.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Link to 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.