Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

It is fair to say that the particular impacts of COVID-19 on women are of course not confined to Australia. I've had a number of valuable discussions with foreign and women's ministers around the world across many countries about the importance of ensuring that gender inequalities aren't exacerbated or entrenched by COVID-19, and these conversations are ongoing. Australia has also joined a number of strong international statements and resolutions that help to increase the focus in international bodies and conversations on promoting gender responsiveness to the pandemic. In our region, the Australian partnership Pacific Women is supporting crisis centres that are providing remote counselling and frontline services for vulnerable women, and through our Nabilan program we're working to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in women's shelters in Timor-Leste, in particular. With international partners such as UN Women we're adapting and boosting our efforts to address the impact on women in the Indo-Pacific region.