Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senators Wong, Moore, Payne, Gichuhi, Waters, Rice, Reynolds and Hanson-Young, and I also add Senator Lines, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) 11 October 2018 was the internationally recognised Day of the Girl Child,

  (ii) since its inception in 2011, the International Day of the Girl Child has:

(A) provided the international community with an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the power and potential of girls around the world, and

(B) played a pivotal role in highlighting the barriers still faced by girls and women,

  (iii) the theme of this year's Day of the Girl Child was 'With Her: A Skilled GirlForce',

  (iv) according to UNICEF, young women aged between 15-29 are more than three times as likely as young men to not be in employment, education or training,

  (v) 131 million girls worldwide are out of school around the world, while completion rates and learning levels of girls are lower than those of boys,

  (vi) by 2030, at current rates, more than half the world's girls will not be on track to achieve secondary level literacy and numeracy skills,

  (vii) some countries lose more than $1 billion a year by failing to educate girls to the same level as boys,

  (viii) 35 per cent of economically inactive young women leave work to have a baby or look after family,

  (ix) girls who are married before the age of 18 see higher poverty rates than those who are married later, and

  (x) 15 per cent of East Asian and Pacific girls are married before the age of 18;

(b) recognises that young women's participation in education, training and work:

  (i) provides women with agency and opportunities, and

  (ii) fosters economic growth and stability;

(c) reaffirms its commitment to the empowerment of girls and women, and to the fight against all barriers to their full economic, political and social participation; and

(d) acknowledges the work of advocates for girls and women around the world.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

International Day of the Girl Child provides us all with an opportunity to reflect on how we need to empower girls, in Australia and across the globe, so that they can reach their full potential. The government is improving the economic security of Australian women to give women greater choices and options in their lives by providing more support to encourage women and girls into STEM, by providing funding especially to improve women's financial literacy, and by helping to protect the low and inactive superannuation accounts of nearly two million Australian women. The minister for women will be bringing forward a women's economic security statement in spring this year to build on this work.

Question agreed to.