Media Releases

26 Aug 2011 - ABS Publishes Australian Gender Indicators

THE HON KATE ELLIS MP
MINISTER FOR THE STATUS OF WOMEN

MEDIA RELEASE

ABS publishes Australian Gender Indicators

The Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis today welcomed the first release of the Australian Gender Indicators by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Ms Ellis said that the indicators are a report card on gender equality that will move Australia towards international best practice in reporting and monitoring on gender equality.

"The indicators are a great new addition to the ABS data, providing us with a valuable insight into the values and attitudes of Australians and organisational decisions that effecting equality between men and women," Ms Ellis said.

"The Australian Government is committed to achieving gender equality and these statistics provide a strong evidence base for Government action to further gender equality."

"The figures also highlight that disparities still exist between women and men, particularly when it comes to women's safety, economic security and leadership."

"That is why our Government is taking a determined and strategic approach to reducing violence against women, improving women's economic security, and promoting women's equality and leadership.

In 2005 (the latest data available) for people 18 years and over, 2 per cent of women and 0.4 per cent of men reported violence from a current or previous partner, in the past 12 months.

"The historic National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children sets out a framework for action to reduce violence and is the first Plan of its kind to focus so strongly on prevention," Ms Ellis said.

"Ensuring the safety of all Australians is a key priority for the Australian Government and family violence and sexual assault cannot be excused or justified under any circumstances."

The economic security indicators show that the labour force participation rate is notably lower for women with children, than for men.

In 2009-10, the difference in the participation rate between women and men whose youngest child was five years or under, was a staggering 41 percentage points.

"The Government has introduced a number of practical reforms enabling better choices around work and family for women and men," Ms Ellis said.

"We have restored fairness to workplace relations, improved retirement incomes, supported flexibility in the workplace, increased access to affordable quality child care, and introduced a groundbreaking paid parental leave scheme.

"The reforms to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act and Agency will add another significant dimension to what we know about gender equality outcomes and practices in Australian workplaces.

The gender indicators show that at April 2010, 8.4 per cent of the board directors in the top 200 ASX companies were women and 91.6 per cent were men.

Ms Ellis said that the Australian Government was determined to see better representation of women on boards.

"The Australian Government is leading by example, setting a target of 40 per cent women and 40 per cent men on Australian Government boards by 2015," Ms Ellis said.

"The Australian Government will continue to pursue policy reform that improves women's safety and economic security.

"I look forward to seeing a convergence towards equality between men and women especially in women's safety, economic security and leadership roles in the coming years," Ms Ellis said.

The Australian Gender Indicators are available at www.abs.gov.au