International Women’s Day 1998 is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to the continued advancement of women’s rights, and the inclusion of women in the decisions shaping our nation into the next century.
In keeping with my Government’s 1996 election campaign promise to examine the treatment of superannuation following the dissolution of marriage, I am pleased to announce today that this reform process has begun.
I am keen to develop concrete proposals for reform so that separating couples no longer face this uncertainty in the event of relationship breakdown. For example, in 1996 52,466 couples registered for divorce in Australia.
There are clear policy objectives to guide our reforms:
- superannuation should be included in the division of marital property;
- there must be clear rules for valuing superannuation;
- women and men should be encouraged to settle their own affairs equipped with full information;
- reforms should be consistent with retirement incomes policy and the type of superannuation fund; and
- the reforms should minimise the complexity and cost associated with this process.
The Treasurer has recently written to superannuation industry representatives seeking input to the reform process and I look forward to their contributions in resolving this important issue.
I would like to pay particular credit here to the work undertaken on this policy reform by my colleague, Peter Costello, and the Minister for the Status of Women, Judi Moylan who has capably represented and promoted the interests of women in my Government’s deliberations on this issue.
It is appropriate that on this International Women’s Day I mark the Government’s commitment to women and to the advancement of all human rights in general by announcing the appointment of the new President and Sex Discrimination Commissioner to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
The Government has decided to appoint Professor Alice Tay AM as President of the Commission and Ms Susan Halliday as Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Both individuals bring to the Commission considerable experience in defending human rights and tackling discrimination.
Over 20 years Professor Tay has demonstrated expertise in international forums as well as local work on law and human rights. As Challis Professor of Jurisprudence with the University of Sydney Faculty of Law, a Director of that University’s Centre for Asian and Pacific Law and as a Member of the International Legal Services Advisory Council Professor Tay is admirably equipped to advancing the protection and promotion of human rights in the region.
Ms Halliday also is suitably qualified. Among her current positions include her role as Assistant Director of the Business Council of Australia, Chair of the Board of the National Centre for Women and former Assistant Director of the Council for Equal Opportunity in Employment.
I look forward to their contribution and wish them both well in their endeavours.
My Government is determined to enhance living conditions for Australian women. Ahead of today’s announcement, initiatives already undertaken include:
- Spending more than $1 billion a year on child care - a real increase for every year we have been in office, with an extra 83,000 places available over the next four years.
- The National Campaign Against Violence and Crime is a $13 million campaign aimed at making it safer for everybody, particularly women, to live their lives free of fear.
- The Partnerships for Domestic Violence, worth $25 million over four years, is particularly aimed at finding ways of preventing this particularly repulsive form of abuse.
8 March 1998