Office for Women

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat has produced a communications package consisting of two booklets and accompanying posters for Pacific Island parliamentarians, with assistance from the Office for Women.

The booklets focus on two key areas of gender equality in the region: promoting and encouraging women's involvement in government and decision making, and the Pacific nations' ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

At the launch on 25 September 2008 the Hon Dame Carol Kidu, the Minister for Community Development Papua New Guinea, stated, "What is special about the publication is that it is for Pacific women by Pacific women".

More information is available here.

Now available: Feedback on consultations by National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.

Feedback is now available on the extensive consultations undertaken by the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children throughout 2008 to inform the development of a National Plan of Action to reduce the incidence and impact of domestic and family violence and sexual assault on women and their children.

Throughout May to November 2008, the National Council has undertaken extensive consultations with service providers, policy makers, program managers, academics, legal practitioners, and victims, survivors and perpetrators of domestic and family violence and sexual assault. The Council also called for written submissions, undertook consultations in a number of rural and remote areas, and held three expert roundtables to further inform development of the National Plan.

The Council will deliver their proposed National Plan to Government by the end of December 2008. Information on the consultations is now available here.

It's never too late to benefit from exercise

On November 14 the Hon Tanya Plibersek, MP released the report Physical Activity in Mid‑Age and Older Australian Women. The report showed that physical activity reduced healthcare costs for mid-age and older women. This was most marked for women who did low levels of activity compared to inactive women.

The report was launched at the Centre for STRONG Medicine at Balmain Hospital. The Centre for STRONG Medicine provides exercise based treatment for conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, heart failure, and diabetes. The work at the centre is focused on elderly patients, linking with the theme that you are never too old to benefit from exercise.

The report was commissioned by the Office for Women and undertaken by the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health. The research consisted of a literature review and analysis of data from more than 26,000 mid-age and older women. The report is now available.

Minister's Address: Starting a New Conversation about Equality

Tanya Plibersek, the Minister for the Status of Women, outlined her plan and vision for the future of equality in Australia in a speech to the Sydney Institute on 6 November 2008.

The Government is again leading the discussion and helping to promote equality. While Australia is deservedly proud of its record on equality, it is clear that there is more to be done. Women earn considerably less over their lifetimes and continue to suffer domestic violence and sexual assault at unacceptable levels. Men too often miss out on the rewards of caring. It is time to reinvigorate the public dialogue on gender equality.

Paid Parental Leave

The Productivity Commission's draft inquiry report, Paid Parental Leave: Support for Parents with Newborn Children, was released on 29 September 2008. The Commission will be accepting public submissions on the draft report until 14 November 2008. The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) with Security for Women (S4W) and the support of the Commonwealth Office for Women, is holding consultations in each State and Territory during October and early November. The objective of the consultations is to encourage women to respond to the draft report by making their own submissions.

Information on the NFAW consultations is available on The National Foundation for Australian Women website.

A new report, Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report, was released by the Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek. The research was commissioned by the Office for Women to identify strategies to prevent homelessness resulting from domestic and family violence and ensure that women who survive domestic and family violence, and their accompanying children, are provided with appropriate ongoing accommodation options and integrated wrap around support.

The report Women, Domestic and Family Violence and Homelessness: A Synthesis Report is available for free online.

Reducing the Cycle of Violence against Women

In his speech to the White Ribbon Foundation's Annual White Tie Dinner on 17 September, the Prime Minister announced the Government will provide $2 million to commission a national survey of community attitudes relating to violence against women.

This initiative will assist the Government in developing strategies to reduce the cycle of violence for future generations. The survey will be carried out in partnership with VicHealth, the Social Research Centre and the Australian Institute of Criminology. This research will help track changing community attitudes over time to provide the best evidence base for education programs that both raise awareness and achieve attitude change.

Media Release: Reducing the cycle of violence against women,18/09/2008

Prime Minister's Speech at White Ribbon Foundation Annual White Tie Dinner

On 17 September 2008 the Prime Minister gave a speech to the White Ribbon Foundation 's Annual White Tie Dinner, speaking out about the need to change the attitudes of future generations of Australians towards violence against women. The speech is available from the following link:

Respecting Women and Leading Men, White Ribbon Foundation, Annual White Tie Dinner, Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney, 17 September 2008

Further information about the White Ribbon Foundation is available from the following link:White Ribbon Foundation

352 public submissions received by the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children

The National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children made a call for public submissions to inform the development of the draft National Plan. The call for public submissions closed on 31 July 2008 and 352 submissions were received. The number of submissions and the quality of those submissions reflects the importance the Australian community places on the Government's commitment to the development and implementation of a plan that will reduce the impact and the incidence of violence against women and their children.

The National Council appreciates that so many individuals and organisations took the time to prepare their submissions and share their views with Council. The National Council is currently analysing the submissions and will provide feedback on some of the key ideas raised through these submissions on the Office for Women website in early November.

Report finds women uncertain about retirement

A new report, Women's Experiences of Paid Work and Planning for Retirement, was released by the Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek. It reveals many mature Australian women were uncertain about their retirement due to a lack of confidence in their financial future.

The research which was commissioned by the Office for Women examines the potential issues affecting women's decisions to retire and their experiences in retirement. The research draws on the findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health which surveys 40,000 women in three age groups, and focuses on data from women aged 53‑58.

The report findings suggest present generations of younger women need evidence-based information and advice about financial planning.

The Final Evaluation Report of the Young Women's Leadership and Mentoring Programme Pilot report is now available - [PDF 674kB]

The Trafficking of Women for Sexual Purposes report is now available on this website.

OfW commissioned the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) to write the report.

It is an analysis of the Government's evolving response to people trafficking in Australia.

The Personal Safety Survey was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2005 to collect information from a large sample, 11,000 women and 4,500 men, about their experiences of violence.

The ABS provided a summary report that was published in 2006. The survey collected extensive data that was not reported on at that time. Data Analysis Australia was commissioned by Families, Housing and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs through Office for Women in 2007 to conduct a detailed analysis of the Personal Safety Survey Data.

Data Analysis Australia's report focuses on several key areas including violence against women; alcohol and drug use in incidents of violence; partner violence affecting children and experiences of abuse in childhood; and reporting violence and accessing of services and support.

The Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs invites suitably qualified and experienced organisations to tender for the provision of case management services for the Support for Victims of People Trafficking Program.

The Service Provider will be required to deliver professional individualised case management services for clients on the Program. The Program provides living, social and psychological support to identified victims of human trafficking who are willing and able to assist with a trafficking prosecution. The Service Provider must be able to provide case management services for the Program 24 hours, 7 days per week, and 365 days per year within all States and Territories in Australia.

The time frame for the delivery of the above services will be for 12 months commencing in September 2008, with the possibility for extension.

Tender documentation may be obtained from the AusTender website.

Tenders close at 2.00pm Canberra time on 25 July 2008.

Government Announces $2.1 Million In Grants To Boost Women's Leadership And Advocacy

The Australian Government is committed to developing and supporting women's leadership in every aspect of Australian society.

Twenty-two national women's non-government organisations will share in $2.1 million in grant funding as part of this year's Women's Leadership and Development Programme (WLDP).

For full details of Grant recipients read the media release from The Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP

Consultation on the Possible Accession of Australia to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Australia has been a party to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) since 1983. The text of CEDAW is available at Australasian Legal Information Institute. Under CEDAW, Australia is obliged to ensure equality between men and women to eliminate discrimination in all areas, including work conditions, access to welfare, health care and education. In its reports on the implementation of CEDAW, Australia has described how it implements its obligations through a range of Commonwealth and State and Territory laws and programs.

The Australian Government is now considering whether to become a party to the Optional Protocol to CEDAW (available at Australasian Legal Information Institute). In deciding whether or not to become a party, the Government is consulting with relevant Commonwealth Ministers, the States and Territories and the broader community.

Should you wish to participate in this consultation, please take a moment to read the invitation to participate. Consultations close 30 June 2008.