On 6 March 2024 Senator Penny Wong becomes the longest serving female Cabinet Minister. Her cumulative 2,769 days in Cabinet (over 7 and a half years from 2007–13 and 2022 onwards) sees her overtake fellow South Australian Amanda Vanstone (who served from 1996–7 and 2001–7). Upon such a notable achievement, this Flagpost article reflects on the broader history of women in Cabinet and highlights their important and varied contributions. Read more...
From 11 to 22 March, the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is scheduled to hold its 68th annual meeting, as the ‘principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women’. Australia played a formative role in establishing the CSW in 1946, and recently concluded a membership term from 2020 to 2023. This Flagpost gives an overview of some of the key Australian women who helped establish the CSW and direct its functions and efforts in the early years. Read more...
Federal redistribution processes provide an opportunity to introduce new electorate names, either by renaming existing electorates or naming new ones. Recent redistribution processes, including those in Victoria and Western Australia in 2021, have included calls for more diverse electorate names to honour more women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This Flagpost article examines the electorate naming processes, current levels of diversity, and commentary advocating for change. Read more...
On 8 March 2023, a commemorative sculpture of Dame Enid Lyons and Dame Dorothy Tangney will be unveiled in the National Triangle (Parliamentary Triangle) near the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. It will be the first statue of Australian women in the Triangle; the only woman previously honoured was Queen Elizabeth II, whose statue is located on the Queen’s Terrace at Parliament House. Read more...
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