A Strategy for Gender Equality
Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality was released by the Australian Government on 7 March 2024. It is the first national strategy for gender equality and provides a framework to drive gender equality through government policies and programs across 5 priority areas.
The strategy outlines where the government will focus its efforts over the next decade to achieve its vision for gender equality. This vision is for an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender.
Working for Women sets out a path for gender equality over the next 10 years, with a focus on:
- gender-based violence
- unpaid and paid care
- economic equality and security
- health
- leadership, representation and decision-making.
While Australia has made significant gains towards gender equality, inequality still exists in a range of areas across people’s lives. Working for Women is a decision-making tool for prioritising the government’s investment across future Budget cycles.
Working for Women builds on the government’s significant investments already made across the strategy’s 5 priority areas, including the $3.4 billion investment in women’s safety since 2022.
A key mechanism for implementing Working for Women is through gender responsive budgeting. This places gender analysis at the centre of government policy-making, decision-making and investment decisions.
The Office for Women in Prime Minister and Cabinet is responsible for supporting the capability of the Australian Public Service to embed gender analysis in its work. All APS departments are responsible for leadership on gender equality within their policy areas and ensuring staff have the skills, information and resources to deliver high-quality gender analysis.
The Australian Government has an important role to play in modelling how employers can best support gender equality. All APS departments and agencies are responsible for:
- delivering on Working for Women’s outcomes, ambition and vision
- achieving gender equality as part of core business for the public service
- demonstrating leadership on gender equality within their policy areas
- investing in the uplift required to ensure staff have the skills, information and resources to deliver high-quality gender analysis.
Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality is informed by the lived experience, knowledge and expertise of thousands of individuals and groups from across Australia. This includes women’s advocacy groups, businesses, unions and civil society.
Public consultations took place in March and April 2023, through which the community was invited to share experiences and priorities for gender equality in Australia. This built on 14 roundtable discussions held in November and December 2022.
Find out more
Australian Government (n.d.) Working for Women – A Strategy for Gender Equality , Prime Minister and Cabinet website, accessed 19 July 2024.