Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. In 2022, Australia was ranked 43rd in the world for gender equality according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report, which examines the gap between men and women in 146 different countries. Can the minister confirm that this embarrassing position is a reflection on a decade of neglect of gender equality in Australia by the former federal government and a failure to move the dial on gender equality and deliver policies that genuinely supported women? Can the minister also update the Senate on any improvements to our ranking following the election of the Albanese government?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Grogan for the question and for her career-long work on supporting women and gender equality across the country, particularly in South Australia. I can assist you, Senator Grogan. The last gender gap report from the World Economic Forum shows that, since the Albanese Labor government took office, Australia's world gender equality rating has up from 43rd to 26th. We were 43rd in 2022 and even lower in 2021 when we were ranked 50th. In 2023, we are now 26th out of 143 countries. Our increased score is entirely due to the increased number of women in parliament and the increased number of women in cabinet since the May '22 election. The report itself notes:

Compared to the previous edition, 13 countries have improved, led by Australia, New Zealand and Philippines. Australia and New Zealand had a considerable increase in the share of women ministers.

This is the biggest increase for Australia in the history of the index since it began in 2001. This index is important. It measures the gap between women and men, as Senator Grogan outlined in her question. It uses four sub measures like political empowerment, economic participation, education and health, and the index is calculated as a score and a global rank. It is important that we are continuing to challenge and raise our international rankings. Of course, it is not only increasing representation of women in this place or around the cabinet table, which does require deliberate action but it is also in the policy agenda that the Albanese government has implemented in the first 14 months of his government and will continue to over the duration of this term.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Grogan, a first supplementary?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was very interesting. Going up to 26 is a significant improvement. The index shows that women's political representation and participation is a key element of achieving gender equality. Can the minister outline how increased representation of women in parliament and in the government and in the cabinet, as she referenced in her—

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order across the chamber. Order! Senator Wong and Senator Hume. Senator Grogan, I will allow you to finish your question because I had to call order.

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline how increased representation of women in parliament, in the government and in the cabinet makes a difference in the policies and decisions of government and helps the government deliver on its commitment to drive gender equality and support women?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Grogan for the supplementary. Better gender representation does lead to better outcomes. We know this. It is documented time and time again, and this government has not wasted any time in delivering crucial gender equality reforms after a decade of stalled progress under the former government. Not only does increased representation of women mean we have improved our global standing with more women around the decision-making table but also, ultimately, that will flow onto better decisions for women.

If I could just point out the gender assessment process that we are putting through our budget, which means that all of the new measures will be looked at with an understanding at that table about what the impacts are for men and for women and whether there are disproportionate impacts, which will allow better decision-making. I do wonder whether, if this had been in place when the ParentsNext program was put in place, where we saw a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged young women, in particular single parents— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Grogan, a second supplementary?

Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Gallagher. Those are very interesting points that you make there. Could you outline for us now how the Albanese government will continue to work towards achieving gender equality and improving outcomes for women in Australia? Could you also update us on how the government is working with Australians from across the community to design and deliver this important work? What is it that you're hearing when you're out in the community across Australia about what is important to women?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much for the supplementary. While we are very pleased with the improvement of Australia's position on the global stage, there is much work to do here nationally, which is why we are developing a national strategy to achieve gender equality to continue to drive improvements to gender equality across Australia. We are listening to women across the community to develop this strategy. We have had feedback from over 3,000 individuals and organisations through the process, and I have been privileged to sit around many of the roundtables in discussions with women and girls to hear from them directly about their priorities. The strategy will also be informed by the advice from the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, which is due to provide its report to me shortly. There is a lot of work to be done, but we are determined to make a difference and to improve gender equality in this country, because not only does that improve the lives of women, it improves the lives of all of us.