Gender equality - let’s not let it become a lost Australian dream

Today I will give my first speech to mark International Women’s Day. On this occasion, women gather together across the country and around the globe to bring attention to our ongoing quest for equality and justice. We celebrate our achievements, look honestly at our challenges and plot our course for the future.

Eighty years ago when the first International Women’s Day rally was held in Sydney, women called for equal pay for equal work. Not only do we still not have this but the gap has widened over the last few years.

We still see few women in decision making roles. In the case of boardrooms, women’s participation has only increased from 8.4 percent in 2003 to 8.7 percent in 2006. We are moving at a glacial pace.

True equality does not seem like a radical demand, but even today there are many women who struggle to balance work and family as I have found on my Listening Tour. As you have read on this blog, sexual harassment is still alive and well across all workplaces.

Efforts to create equality between women and men in Australia have been in retreat. Despite the fact that few laws actively discriminate against women, real equality does not exist for many women in their daily lives. We are no where near the so called ‘tipping point’ on gender equality.

I was recently privileged enough to attend the United Nation’s Commission on the Status of Women in New York. This is an annual gathering where governments and women’s organisations meet together - over 5000 participants - to share experiences, challenge each other, and commit to future action to secure gender equality as a human right for all women, everywhere.

There was a general view that Australia in recent times had moved away from its ground-breaking role it had previously played advocating for the rights of women, for example, through supporting the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

From my informal discussions with women in the corridors of the United Nations building, it is clear to me that the international community is waiting and watching. Will Australia resume its leadership role in the journey towards gender equality?

Globalisation and technology offer new ways of communicating with one another and influencing change. I urge women to capitalise on these advances and use them to push for a better future where women’s concerns are at centre stage, locally and globally. What’s to stop us harnessing the technology that is already a part of our lives and using it to inspire and activate women across generations and cultures, across cities and states, across schools, communities and workplaces?

A new federal government gives women an enormous opportunity to influence Australia’s future direction. Achieving gender equality is at the heart of that future.

But to do so we must speak up and stand together. We are a prosperous nation full of innovation and talent. Women make up more than 50 per cent of that potential. The sky is the limit.

Liz Broderick