CHECK AGAINSr DELIVERY EMBARGOED UJNTIL, DELIVERY
SPEECH BY THE PRIME MINISTER
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN' S DAY
BRISBANE 8 MARCH 1991
Wendy Fatin
Sallyanne Atkinson
Roisin Goss
Beverly Perel, National President, UNIFEM
Phoebe Asiyo, UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador
Twelve months ago I accepted an invitation to travel to
Brisbane for a Breakfast sponsored by UNIFEM to mark
International Women's Day 1990.
I did travel to Brisbane but not, as it turned out, to
attend Breakfast with you. Instead, 8 March was the day on
which I launched my Government's campaign for re-election.
Let me take ' this opportunity to apologise in person for
whatever inconvenience was caused by my cancelling that
engagement, -and let me tell you how good it is to meet you
at last. My colleague the Minister assisting me for the
Status of Women, Wendy Fatin, is also here today, and I know
she welcomes, as do I, the chance to meet with UNIFEM
organisers and members, and with such a large group of
Brisbane people celebrating International Women's Day.
International. Women's Day provides a good opportun44; y to
applaud the many and varied achievements of Australian women,
goals they have attained for themselves and for this
country. It is worth noting at the outset another recent first for
Australian women.
Australian women serving on board the supply ship
" Westralia" during the Gulf crisis carried out vital
communications, technical and other roles and they
continue to -perform them now. This is the first time in our
history that Australian servicewomen have performed combat
related duties in a combat zone a significant development.
At the same time, Australian nurses also played an important
role in providing medical services.
As I said in Parliament this week, all Australians can be
proud of the dedication, professionalism and courage shown
by all our forces during their hazardous duties in the Gulf.
We look forward to having them all home again as soon as
possible, when their task is complete.
Every year since 1910 women have used International Women's
Day to celeb: rate their achievements and to acknowledge the
struggles yet to be won.
In Australia, there has been much to celebrate.
Internationally, we have been at the forefront of the
development of policies and programs aimed at the
advancement of women. From 1902 when the enactment of the
Commonwealth Franchise Act gave women the right to vote and
stand for office in Federal elections, through the
establishment of the female basic wage in 1949, to the
adoption of the National Agenda for Women as Government
policy in 1988, Australia has been a world leader in
advancing the status of women.
Since my Government took office in 1983, our commitment to
improving conditions for Australian women has been constant,
and it has been effective.
This commitment was underlined last month when the inaugural
meeting of the Commonwealth-State Ministers responsible for
the Status of Women referred a paper detailing women's
interests to the body responsible for the oversight of the
current review of Commonwealth-State functions.
Ultimately the test of a Government's commitment is not what
it sets out to do but what it really achieves. That is why
I look with very great satisfaction not only on particular
programs that we have initiated for the advancement of the
status of women important as they are but on the
evidence of underlying improvements in the opportunities
available for women throughout society.
For example: School retention rates for girls have increased from 44
per cent in 1983 to 70 per cent;
the percentage of women in higher education is 55 per
cent -up from 46 per cent in 1983;
women's participation in the labour force is at 52 per
cent compared to 45 per cent in 1983;
of the 1.6 million new jobs created in the economy
since 1983, 58 per cent have been taken up by women.
These workforce figures reflect, in part, my Government's
strong commitment to accessible, affordable child care. The
provision of affordable, quality child care is crucial to
enabling many women's full participation in the workforce.
Since coming to office, we have dramatically expanded the
number of available child care places. By 1996, there will
be over a quarter of a million places available Australiawide
under the Commonwealth child care strategy.
A new fee relief system assists low and middle income
families to gain access to the services.
The Government is committed to further increases in the
supply of child care in co-operation with States, local
government, community organisations, the commercial sector
and employers.
Fundamental to the right to work, is the right to be paid a
fair wage. In comparison with other OECD countries,
Australia has one of the lowest wage differentials between
men and women. But it is still true that on average,
Australian women earn less than half the over-award payments
of men, which in turn constitutes a significant part of the
17 per cent gap between male and female average weekly
ordinary time earnings. The Federal Sex Discrimination
Commissioner is to launch an inquiry into whether sex
discrimination has been partly to blame for these inequities
in award payments.
My Friends,
To mark International Women's Day, Federal Cabinet recently
approved a package of initiatives designed to build on the
progress we have made as a community in advancing the status
of women.
The first of these addresses the growing community concern
about the level of child abuse in our society, and the
urgent need for preventive measures. This was reflected in
the consultations which led up to-the National Agenda for
Women. Cabinet decided to allocate $ 1.2 million over three years
for the establishment of a National Child Protection Council
to co-operate with State and Territory initiatives a ' nd coordinate
activities associated with child protectiox.
The Council will focus the attention of all levels of
Government and the community on the need to reduce the
incidence of physical and sexual assault of children and
assist in the development of strategies to do so, for
example by investigating possibilities for uniform
legislation. I am also pleased to announce the establishment of the Prime
Ministerial Women and Sports Promotion Awards, including an
award for media coverage which recognises and encourages
support for women's achievements. Last week's Equity for
Women in Sport Conference held in Canberra served to
underline the importance of taking action in this area.
Other initiatives are
the extension of the Commonwealth/ State Council on
Non-English Speaking Background Women's Issues for a
further three years to mid 1994; and
the development of a Statement on Women and the
Environment
A separate statement is being issued which provides more
details of these and other developments.
My Friends,
Life is changing for the better for Australian women.
Opportunities are available here because, over the decades,
Australian women and Australian governments have worked in
partnership to develop them.
Sadly, but realistically, we must recognise that for women
in many parts of the world, the road to equality of
opportunity is long and troubled.
Throughout the world, organisations such as UNIFEM are
working hard to help women travel this road. UNIFEM has a
fine record in changing women's lives for the better.
Through development programs which emphasise long-range
planning, education, entrepreneurship and creative problemsolving,
UNIFEM is expanding the opportunities available to
women in developing countries.
In Australia, this National Committee of UNIFEM, of which I
am proud to be patron, has been formally in existence only a
relatively short time.
During its first months of operation UNIFEM Australia raised
some $ 12,000 from private and corporate donations. These
funds are to be used for the UNIFEM/ World YWCA/ AIDAB project
underway in the South Pacific aimed at promoting advocacy
and participation of women in development at the grassroots
level. It gives me great pleasure to present this cheque t
UNIFEM's Goodwill Ambassador, Phoebe Asiyo, today.' May it
be the first of many to be raised by UNIFEM Australia for
the advancement of women in the region. 1