|
|
| Home | Search | Site Map | Help | |
The Government is committed to ensuring increasing participation of women in leadership and decision-making roles. Initiatives to date include taking a leadership role in increasing the representation of women on boards through the Executive Search Pilot Programme and the Early Warning System. Introduced in the 1998-99 Budget, these measures are designed to increase the nominations for all Commonwealth controlled boards and bodies. The Government also funds a range of other initiatives to improve leadership, for example, in communities, through the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy and for rural and remote women through the Department of Transport and Regional Services. In the 2001-02 Budget the Government will continue to promote women's leadership through a Women's National Leadership Initiative and a Women's Development Programme.
The Australian Commonwealth Parliament has led the way in women's participation. There are 57 women in the Commonwealth Parliament. Women make up 25.4 per cent of the Parliament, an increase from just 14 per cent in 1995 and almost double the international average of 13.4 per cent. Women also occupy 32.2 per cent of the positions on Commonwealth boards and bodies, where the Commonwealth has total control over the appointment.
The Government will provide an additional $2.4 million over four years to extend Government activities that are increasing the participation of women in leadership positions and to promote leadership by women in other areas, particularly rural, indigenous, marginalised and disadvantaged women.
The Government will provide an additional $5.6 million over four years to expand and enhance government support for organisations representing the diversity of Australian Women through the establishment of the Women's Development Programme. The programme will fund targeted research, policy and service development projects responsive to women's needs and circumstances, and will encourage and support women's contributions to Government policy formulation. The programme will also support women's capacity building and mentoring activities. The Programme will be administered through the Office of the Status of Women and will bring their total funding for women's development to $7.6 million over the next four years.
The Government continues to demonstrate its firm commitment to women through sponsorship of the 2001 Telstra Business Women's Awards. This prestigious national programme is designed to recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of women from all sectors and levels of enterprise. The Awards have also been instrumental in raising broader community awareness of the vital contribution that women make to the Australian economy.
The Government has sponsored the Awards since their inception in 1995 and has recently initiated a 'Commonwealth Government Private Sector Award' for employees or part-owners of businesses with less than 100 staff. Women play a particularly important role in this sector, where they currently account for 35 per cent of Australia's 1.3 million small business operators.