Flagpost is a blog on current issues of interest to members of the Australian Parliament
Blog entries
21 August 2018 marks the 75th anniversary of the election of the first women to the Commonwealth Parliament. Enid Lyons of the United Australia Party and Dorothy Tangney of the Australian Labor Party were both elected on that day in 1943; Lyons to the House of Representatives and Tangney to the Senate. In addition, Dr Mehreen Faruqi (Australian Greens, NSW), who was sworn in as a senator on 20 August 2018, is Australia’s 100th female senator. Read more...
Thursday 8 March 2018 is International Women’s Day. The theme for this year’s day is ‘Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives’. Read more...
Following the 2016 election the total number of women in Parliament has risen slightly from 69 (31 per cent) to 73 (32 per cent). The number of women in the House of Representatives has risen to 43 (29 per cent), up from 40 (27 per cent) at the end of the 44th Parliament. The number of women in the Senate has increased by one since the end of the 44th Parliament to 30 senators (39 per cent). As is the case in many parliaments around the world, women remain significantly under-represented in the Australian parliament. The Australian figures are similar to those of comparable countries such as Canada, where women make up 29 percent of the parliament, and New Zealand, where women make up 31 per... Read more...
On 13 July 2016 Conservative Theresa May became the UK’s 76th prime minister. Ms May is the second female prime minister of the UK, the first being Margaret Thatcher, who governed from 1979 to 1990. Elevation to prime minister Ms May’s elevation comes after the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron. Mr Cameron flagged his intention to step down as Prime Minister in the wake of the UK’s vote, in a referendum on 23 June 2016, to withdraw from the European Union (EU). During the referendum campaign Ms May advocated for the UK to stay inside the EU, but has subsequently committed to guide the country through its exit (a process referred to as the ‘Brexit’). In... Read more...
Tuesday 8 March is International Women’s Day, a day that has now been commemorated for over 100 years in recognition of women’s economic, social and cultural achievements. International Women’s Day was officially recognised by the United Nations in 1975 during International Women’s Year. It arose from early North American and European labour, suffrage and peace movements, and was first celebrated informally in Australia in the 1920s. Originally marked with rallies to promote greater economic and social participation of women through fundamental reforms, the United Nations (UN) organisation for gender equality, UN Women, has noted that: Internation... Read more...
Historically, the role of women in the military has been a polemic issue, despite the significant contribution and sacrifice women have made in numerous conflicts. In Australia, the process over time of integrating women into what are considered ‘non-traditional’ military roles is explored in a 2015 Parliamentary Library Summer Research Scholarship paper Women in the ADF: six decades of policy change (1950 to 2011). This research paper highlights the changes to defence policy over the last 60 years that have allowed women to pursue military careers and discusses how policies towards women in the civilian workforce have influenced change for women in the armed forces. In the post-... Read more...
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, also known as White Ribbon Day. This day also marks the start of the United Nations campaign, 16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence against Women. Recognition of these events is particularly significant in 2015, as it is 20 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which outlined a global commitment to gender equality. Read more...
The recent decision by Canada’s new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appoint equal numbers of men and women to his cabinet made headlines around the world. The issue of gender representation has also been prominent in Australia this year, with the debate about gender equality escalating across the political divide. Read more...
With the theme ‘Empowering Women – Empowering Humanity: Picture It!’, International Women’s Day 2015 was celebrated internationally on 8 March with thousands of events to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women. This Flagpost documents the current state of play of female participation in Australian state and federal politics, and how Australia compares internationally. According to Australian Parliamentary Library data (as of February 2015) Australian parliaments (Commonwealth and State) are 30.9 per cent female, compared to 29.4 per cent in February 2014. The highest proportion of women is in the Victorian Parliament, which is composed of 37.5... Read more...
In December 1999, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated 25 November as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in order to encourage international governments to raise public awareness of the levels of violence experienced by the world’s women. In Australia, this day is marked as White Ribbon Day by the White Ribbon campaign—a national, male-led anti-violence campaign involving various awareness raising events and programs conducted in schools, workplaces and the community. Read more...
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