Victorian Government’s Gender
Equality Strategy Consultation
Submission
March 2016
6
© Copyright Municipal Association of Victoria, 2016.
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is the owner of the copyright in the
publication Victorian Government's Gender Equality Strategy Consultation – MAV
Submission.
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any means without the prior permission in writing from the Municipal Association of
Victoria.
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should be addressed to Clare Hargreaves, email [email protected].
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The MAV is the statutory peak body for local government in Victoria. While this paper
aims to broadly reflect the views of local government in Victoria, it does not purport to
reflect the exact views of individual councils.
Table of contents
1
Executive summary................................................................................................... 3
2
Summary of recommendations ................................................................................. 5
3
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 12
4
Life stages - challenges and opportunities .............................................................. 14
4.1 Gender equality and early years .......................................................................... 14
4.2 Gender equality and young people ...................................................................... 17
4.3 Gender equality and older people ........................................................................ 19
5
Workplace settings.................................................................................................. 22
5.1 Gathering the evidence........................................................................................ 22
5.2 Tackling inhibitors to gender equality in the workplace ........................................ 24
5.3 Leading by example............................................................................................. 25
5.4 Introducing gender equity into the manager pipeline ............................................ 26
5.5 Gender equality in State funded programs ........................................................... 27
5.6 Gender equality in communications ..................................................................... 28
6
Community settings ................................................................................................ 29
6.1 Gender equality in civic leadership ...................................................................... 29
6.2 Gender equality in preventing violence against women ....................................... 31
6.3 Gender equality in sport and recreation ............................................................... 32
6.4 Gender equality and emergency management .................................................... 34
7
National issues ....................................................................................................... 36
7.1 Achieving economic security for women .............................................................. 36
7.2 Increasing childcare options for parents............................................................... 36
8
Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 37
9
Attachments ............................................................................................................ 38
9.1 Wish list for gender equality… ............................................................................. 38
10 References ............................................................................................................. 42
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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1 Executive summary
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) welcomes the opportunity to provide a
local government perspective to the development of a Victorian Gender Equality
Strategy that will guide the actions and priorities that the Victorian Government will
undertake to achieve equal social, civic and economic participation of women in
society. The gender equity activities that will be implemented to achieve equality
have the potential to deliver many multiplier social and economic effects that will
benefit the whole community, both for women and men of all ages.
Local government, being the closest tier of government to the community, is uniquely
placed to play a leading role and be a partner in these endeavours.
In this submission we identify that generational changes are needed, and that there
are multiple ways the Victorian Government can play a leadership role through
innovation and investment in many realms of community life and at critical life stages.
We begin with considering the life stages of Victorians, in particular the various
activities local government is intimately involved in supporting for particular age
cohorts such as early years, young people and older people. We then discuss
workplaces and identify some of the challenges particular to the public service.
Gender equity activities are proposed in community settings such as civic leadership,
sport/recreation and emergency management. Finally, we raise some issues
relevant for the Victorian Government to pursue with the Federal Government, such
as taxation, economic and child-care issues.
Whilst the issue of violence against women has gained increased attention in recent
years, particularly through the current focus brought about by the Victorian Family
Violence Royal Commission and the increased profile of the issue through advocates
such as 2015 Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, the relationship between men’s
violence against women and gender inequality continues to be not so well recognised
or understood.
Achieving the cultural change that will be needed to build from the status quo will
take considerable time, commitment and resourcing. At least a 10 year time-frame
will be required for there to be measurable outcomes, punctuated by shorter period
projects. There needs to be a clear, stepped out process and plan of action for
‘switching on’ a gender lens and applying it in realms of public and private influence.
Policy and practical responses will need to factor in the diversity of particular groups
in the community, such as a person’s age, ability, socio-economic status, faith,
migration, sexual orientation and gender.
Consistent with the first recommendation made in the MAV submission to the
Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, resourcing of gender equity
development officers in councils has considerable potential to enable the Victorian
Government achieve its goals and generate the traction necessary for progressing
gender equity principles and achieving the cultural change within organisations and
amongst communities.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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As one of the largest employers in Victoria, there are many changes that could be
made within the Victorian public service that will be influential in setting the example
for other organisations. Applying the international Gender Gap Index developed by
the World Economic Forum at a state level would enable Victoria to take a leadership
role in Australia and also to understand its progress against international standards
over time.
The MAV is committed to working with the Victorian Government to develop
structural, and place-based and culturally appropriate responses to progress gender
equality within local communities. On behalf of local government, we will be seeking
further opportunities for discussion with the Victorian Government on key partnership
projects, and would welcome the opportunity to facilitate a forum with local
government to progress the strategy’s development.
We are excited by the possibilities, and we look forward to further dialogue as the
Victorian Gender Equality Strategy is developed. The MAV sees this opportunity to
make a submission to the consultation paper as an important first step.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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2 Summary of recommendations
Opportunities for the Victorian Government
Potential partnerships with local
government
LIFE STAGES:
Early
years
Fund new parent programs that actively engage fathers and promote gender equity in
parenting, such as the Baby Makes 3 program, across the state with regional
coordination roles to support program implementation and evaluation and workforce
capacity development
Develop standardised on the job training professional
development for early years educators and MCH nurses
to be coordinated by the DET and DHHS
Provide funding for organisations raising awareness about sexualisation of toys for
young children, and devise incentive programs for toy manufacturers to amend their
products to be non-gendered
Develop standardised in-service curriculum on gender equality, violence prevention
and unconscious bias for early years educators and MCH services, to be delivered by
tertiary institutions as a core learning outcome in relevant qualifications
Integrate gender equity and challenging rigid gender stereotypes into the Victorian
Early Years Learning and Development Framework
Embed a gender lens across the funding, service planning and delivery of early years
and MCH services
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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Young
people
Adopt a long term vision to the approach and funding of Respectful
Relationships Education, acknowledging that generational culture change is
required to prevent violence against women
Support councils’ youth services to deliver respectful
relationships programs through the provision of standardised
on the job training for gender equity, violence prevention and
responding to disclosures
Establish partnerships with organisations with gender equity and violence
prevention expertise to provide strategic, operational and implementation advice
to schools and support the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
Respectful Relationships Education
Acknowledge and invest in councils’ youth services in working
to build civic engagement, leadership and respectful
relationships programs in schools and community settings.
Develop standardised in-service curriculum on gender equality, gender diversity,
violence prevention and unconscious bias for primary and secondary school
teachers, to be delivered by tertiary institutions as a core learning outcome in
relevant qualifications
Embed a gender lens across the funding, service planning and delivery of youth
services, including those delivered by local government and other youth services
Older
people
Apply a gendered lens to the development of the next state Elder Abuse
Prevention and Response Guidelines. The current guidelines do not utilise a
gendered approach
Support councils through strategic advice and funding to apply
a gender lens to their planning, programming, service delivery
and interactions with clients
Ensure gender equity and violence prevention initiatives adopt a life course
approach and develop relevant and appropriate interventions for older men and
women in appropriate settings
Work with councils to develop standardised on the job
professional development training for aged care staff on
violence prevention and gender equity
Investigate the establishment of a working with vulnerable people check, similar
to the working with children check
Develop standardised in-service curriculum on violence prevention and gender
equity for aged and home care staff, to be delivered by training institutions as a
core learning outcome in relevant qualifications
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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WORKPLACE SETTINGS:
Gathering the
evidence
Collect and report the data required for the score-card
elements of the Global Gender Gap Index developed
by the World Economic Forum
Require departmental annual reports report their
progress on achieving gender equality, and the
numbers of women in senior executive roles
Request the Victoria Grants Commission to collect a gendered analysis of
the local government workforce by position, seniority and age.
Support councils if there are changes they need to make to provide data
additional to that they already provide in the development of the Victorian
Family Violence Index and proposed Gender Equality Strategy.
Support the collection, collation and analysis of data at
an LGA level to inform the Victorian Family Violence
Index and the National Community Attitudes Survey
Integrate development of the Family Violence Index
and the proposed Gender Equality Strategy to ensure
consistency in measurement and avoidance of
duplication of effort.
Tackling inhibitors
Undertake a research project to identify what
ingredients are necessary to institute flexible work
arrangements for all employees without compromising
the outcomes the organisation needs to deliver
Leading by example
Monitor and publish the results of Victoria’s progress
using the measures contained in the international
Gender Gap Index developed by the World Economic
Forum
Expand the benchmarking reporting process developed
by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency to the
Victorian public service
Raise awareness among senior decision-makers about
how unconscious bias can discriminate against women
and offering mentoring programs and networking
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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opportunities to support women’s careers in the
Victorian public service
Encourage departmental secretaries to participate in
the Victorian Male Champions of Change Program
State funded
programs and
procurement
Require evidence of female participation as a
requirement for successful funding applications
Develop a gender lens checklist for grant funded
programs with built-in reporting and accountability
measures
Develop a gender lens checklist for procurement
contracts
Communications
Advocacy to the Federal Government to introduce
legislation that restricts sexist discriminatory publication
and broadcasting as well as holding offenders to
account
Support councils’ role and capacity to progress gender equity and influence
attitudinal change through developing a local government
communications/key messaging guide for working with the community and
the local media, using a diversity inclusive approach (for example plain
English and appropriate terminology).
Support and encourage community to make formal
complaints about sexist and discriminatory advertising
and media.
Develop media communication protocols for reporting
incidences relating to family and sexual violence.
Provide funding to consumer groups to raise
awareness about the sexual objectification of women in
advertising.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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COMMUNITY SETTINGS:
Civic
leadership
Task the Victorian Electoral Commission with analysing the
2016 local government election results to identify the
numbers of women standing for council by ward, and the
number elected
Fund the development of a gender equity training program for new and reelected councillors to build their awareness and capacity on ways to apply a
gendered lens to council decision making processes and the organisational and
community benefits this will enable.
Promote council elections with messages focussing on
encouraging women to stand for election as councillors
Examine and promote the ingredients of initiatives being practised in councils
which enable greater participation of councillors who have family and caring
demands
Monitor for compliance the Victorian Government’s policy
that no less than 50 per cent of all new appointments to
paid Victorian Government boards and Victorian courts are
women
Promote and extend the Victorian Local Government Women’s Charter
Fund and support for projects that encourage more women to participate in local
government decision-making, particularly those who are Indigenous, lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI), with disability or a multicultural
background.
Undertake specific networking projects in those local government areas which
have only one or less female councillor following the 2016 local government
elections
Support for mentoring of female councillors, for example the work ALGWA (Vic)
has been involved with
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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Preventing
violence against
women
Mainstream and tailored communications designed to assist people to
understand the link between gender inequality and violence against
women, including respectful relationships education activities.
Invest in workplace training to build understanding on the links between
everyday sexism, gender inequality and men’s violence against women
and disseminate learnings
Invest in partnerships with local government to drive activity at
the local level and embed the principles of gender equity and
prevention of violence against women in all council endorsed
strategic plans.
Resource gender equity development officers in councils in a
10 year strategy.
Support development and distribution of best practice policy guidelines
for employer support of employees experiencing or at risk of family
violence
Sport and
recreation
Emergency
management
Implement in full the recommendations from the recent state Inquiry into
Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation
Continue to fund and coordinate the Female Facility Grant Fund
Victorian Government to provide capacity building and support
for local government to take a gendered approach to their
policy, planning and programming for sport and recreation
infrastructure
Support promotion and training for councils and emergency service
organisations to improve their understanding of gender differences, and
incorporate gender considerations into their emergency management
policy, planning, decision making and service delivery
Resourcing of council staff to participate in training to improve
their understanding of gender differences, and incorporate
gender considerations into their emergency management
policy, planning, decision making and service delivery
Increase engagement and recognition of women in volunteer
emergency services organisations
Fund research into the effect gender differences and roles have on how
individuals and communities prepare for, respond to and recover from
disaster
Improve gender-specific support available post-emergency for both
emergency service organisations and the community
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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NATIONAL ISSUES
Advocate to the Federal Government to implement all recommendations from the Inquiry into the Economic Security for Women In Retirement
Advocate to the Federal government to extend reporting under the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012) to the public sector
Commit to extending the National Partnership Agreement of Early Childhood Education with the Victorian State Government on an enduring basis beyond
2017.
Establish a separate review of the home-based care sector with a view to building on the opportunities it presents to meet participation by women in the
workforce, economic development of women, and a flexible model of early childhood education and care for families.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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3 Introduction
Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was developed by the United
Nations in 1948, gender equality has been accepted as a fundamental principle of
human rights.
Whilst gender equality is based on the premise that women and men should be
treated in the same way, it fails to recognise that equal treatment will not produce
equitable results, because women and men have different life experiences.
Gender equity takes into consideration the differences in women's and men's lives
and recognises that different approaches may be needed to produce outcomes that
are equitablei. Hence activities to achieve equality are often denoted “gender equity”.
Even though great strides have been made in women’s economic and social
participation in Australian public life over the last century, women in Australia still do
not enjoy equality with men. This is evident through the low numbers of women
elected to Parliament and councils. They are poorly represented in senior executive
roles in all sectors of the economy, yet women outnumber male university graduates.
There continues to be a gender pay-gap with women having lower lifetime pay-rates
and less economic self-sufficiency. Sexual objectification of women in the Australian
media proliferates, and there continues to be a high rate of violence against women
and girls.
Increasing women’s participation in local government is a priority for the MAV,
illustrated by the MAV’s State Council May 2015 forum1 which resolved that the MAV
endorses the Victorian Government’s policy of at least 50% female representation in
future judicial and paid board appointments, commits funding and resources towards
a campaign to lift female representation and encourages councils to actively lift
female representation amongst the ranks of council chief executive officers and
senior executives.
Victorian councils have been increasingly active in preventing violence against
women and gender equity initiatives over the past decade. Most councils identified
violence against women as a priority action area in their most recent Municipal
Health and Wellbeing Plans, whilst some councils have developed dedicated plans to
guide their work in both gender equity and preventing violence against women.
Although there is no single cause of violence against women and their children, there
is international and local evidence that where greater gender equality exists between
girls and boys, and women and men, lower rates of violence against women occur.
The recently released Change the Story: a shared framework for the primary
prevention of violence against womenii by Our Watch makes clear that gender
inequality is at the core of the problem and is at the heart of the solution2.
1
The MAV State Council is the forum at which council representatives vote on the policy
direction and activities of the MAV.
2.Our Watch was originally established in July 2013 as the Foundation to Prevent Violence
against Women and their Children by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments. The
organisation has since developed as a national organisation with the Northern Territory,
South Australian and Tasmanian governments also becoming members
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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The MAV has been active in working with councils in the prevention of violence
against women since 2009, and has been supported by successive state
governments by funding an MAV based role since 2011. There are tangible benefits
of delivering the program through the MAV, due to the organisation’s reach and
influence across diverse areas of council business. In addition to convening a
statewide preventing violence against women network, attended by council officers
and representatives of key partner agencies, the MAV is also able to work with
council leadership on progressing the gender equality agenda, as outlined in the
Promoting Gender Equity MAV Prevention of Violence Against Women Leadership
Statement.
Councils’ leadership in this area can be seen in the following examples:

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Ballarat City Council’s Community Charter for the Prevention of Violence Against
Women
Brimbank City Council’s Plan to Prevent Men’s Violence Against Women 2015 –
2019 – Towards Gender Equity
Darebin City Council’s Women’s Equity Strategy, Gender Equity Action Plan and
Preventing Violence Against Women Action Plan
Greater Dandenong City Council’s Diversity, Access and Equity Policy
Greater Shepparton City Council’s Women's Charter Alliance Advisory
Committee
Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s Action Plan for Prevention of Violence Against
Women in Emergency Management
Manningham City Council’s Preventing Violence Against Women Strategy and
Action Plan
Maribyrnong City Council’s Respect and Equity: Preventing Violence Against
Women Evaluation Report, Respect and Equity: Preventing Violence Against
Women Guide for Local Government and Gender Equity Resources
Melbourne City Council’s We Need to Talk: Preventing Violence Against Women
Strategy 2013-2017
Monash City Council’s Gender Equity Strategy 2015-2020
Moreland City Council’s Active Women and Girls Strategy
Murrindindi Shire Council’s Gender Equity Statement of Commitment
Whittlesea City Council’s Gender Equity Strategy
Yarra City Council’s Gender Equity Strategy for a respectful, just and Fair Yarra
2013-2016
Many councils are also committed to this work on a regional level, being formal
partners in regional strategies with women’s health services and specialist family
violence services. Examples of regional strategies include:
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Together for Equality and Respect: A Strategy to Prevent Violence Against
Women in Melbourne’s East 2013-2017
Building a Respectful Community - Preventing Violence against Women - A
Strategy for the Northern Metropolitan Region of Melbourne 2011-16
Preventing Violence Against Women: Western Region Action Plan to Prevent
Violence Against Women
Gippsland preventing violence against women strategy: A coordinated approach
Hume Region Preventing Violence Against Women & Children Regional Strategy
Great South Coast Strategy to Prevent Violence Against Women and Children
Loddon Mallee Action Plan for the Primary Prevention of Violence Against
Women 2016-2019
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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4 Life stages - challenges and opportunities
There are so many potential actions and policy areas that could be listed in the
Victorian Government’s gender equality strategy that determining the priority areas to
focus on will not be an easy task. To assist the Victorian Government consider what
the strategy could include, this section of the submission focusses on key life stages
of Victorians where considerable changes could be made which will have maximum
effect. They focus on policy areas where local government is closely involved,
including early years, young people and older people.
Within each of these life stages, there is a need to go further and consider diversity
within these demographics. For example, those who are Indigenous, LGBTI,
culturally diverse or with disability often face barriers to navigating and accessing
family violence and gender equity programs and services that others do not need to
navigate. The opportunities and partnerships presented in this section incorporate
projects designed to consider people for whom the current model may not be working
as effectively as it could be.
Recommendations are separated into those which the Victorian Government can
undertake in respect of its own activities, and those which are specific to the
programs local government is involved with.
4.1
Gender equality and early years
The early years are a time when gender roles and stereotypical notions of what it
means to be masculine or feminine are shaped, and when positive influences on
children’s and families understanding of gender norms can most easily be achieved.
There are many opportunities for early year’s educators, policy makers and children’s
program developers to have a positive influence of gender equality.
Research suggests that from an early age children’s understanding of gender is
influenced by their experiences with their family, culture and lifestyle, as well as by
the broader community, early childhood environments and the media. Boys and girls
often experience responses and expectations from those around them due to their
gender, and gender role stereotypes often influence the way boys and girls begin to
experience life and how they play, for example ‘…boys are often verbally encouraged
to become actively involved in a variety of gross motor activities…Girls on the other
hand are often verbally encouraged to become actively involved in the quieter and
more passive fine motor activities’iii.
Gender stereotypes refer to preconceived ideas, characteristics, roles and
expectations which society or culture believes to be masculine or feminine. Gender
stereotypes can box children and adults into narrow definitions of ‘ideal’ masculine
and feminine behaviours and identitiesiv. Relevant to the early years, these
stereotypes play out through both overt or implicit social norms and practices such as
the belief that women are best suited to care for children, that boys are more
interested in rough and aggressive play and that girls are more sensitive and
emotional than boys and therefore different education and childrearing strategies
should be usedv.
So many influences on children imply that there are ‘typical’ ways of being a boy or
girl, thereby minimising awareness of the wide variety of gender expressions which
exist within, as well as between, the sexes. Many children’s books and television
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
14
programs still portray a world in which males fill traditionally masculine roles such as
fire officers or postal officers, whilst females are often limited to either princesses or
mothers. Increasingly, toys and games are marketed as being ‘for’ one gender or the
other – dolls and ovens are for girls and trucks and construction toys are for boys.
There are many television shows, books and toys aimed at boys that limit the male
identity to being about action and physical strength, with boys also portrayed as
much less likely to display empathy or nurturing skills – abilities that are generally
assigned to female characters. Female characters are often portrayed as ‘beautiful’
or ‘pretty’ and in search of a prince, reinforcing ideas that a female’s worth lies in her
appearance and need to be in a relationship with a man. Female characters are less
likely to be protagonists or leaders in storiesvi.
Gender stereotypes limit the ability of both adults and children to explore personal
interests, opportunities and responsibilities - now and into the future. International
and national research clearly identifies that adherence to rigid gender stereotypes is
a key driver of violence against women. The current focus on preventing violence
against women at a state and national level and an increased recognition of the
gendered drivers of family violence provides a key opportunity for councils, the state
government and early years educators and maternal and child health (MCH) nurses
in both the government and private sectors to examine their current services,
programs and practices for opportunities to embed gender equity.
Through its extensive reach with children and their families across the state, the early
years sector, including educators, MCH nurses, program managers, service planners
and funders providers provide a key avenue through their service and practice to
promote gender equality and diversity, challenge adherence rigid gender roles and
examine and understand unconscious bias relating to gender equality.
The purpose of promoting gender equity in early childhood services is to create
equitable and enriching lives for all children. To achieve this early childhood
professionals can work to identify inequities for boys and girls, and plan to overcome
these through an ongoing process of self-reflection, observation, planning and
evaluation of children’s play, language, toys and storytelling, to name a few.
In providing input to the Department of Education and Training’s (DET) Education
State and Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Roadmap for Reform
policy platforms, the MAV has recommended that universal public health and
prevention approaches are applied to reforms ‘that focus on developing children’s
and young people’s knowledge, skills, physical literacy and behaviour for lifelong
health and wellbeing’,vii and which amongst other efforts, will include quality content
for early childhood learning and development about the long-term value of health
care and learning, violence prevention, gender equity, and [infant] mental healthviii.
Victorian councils have led the way in promoting gender equity in the practice and
programming of early years and MCH settings, through strong partnerships and
funding from the state government and VicHealth. Examples of initiatives undertaken
in this space include:

Integration of gender equity into MCH services programs, services and practice to
encourage and support greater engagement of men and fathers in all aspects of
child rearing. Over 15 councils in both metropolitan and rural areas have
implemented the Baby Makes 3 program through their MCH service. The threeweek group program aims to promote gender equality and equal and respectful
parenting for first time mothers and fathers during the transition to parenthood.
The program has been extensively evaluated. The program has also built the
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
15
capacity, skills and confidence of MCH nurses to promote gender equality and
father engagement in their practice with families

Professional development sessions have been held at a number of councils for
early year’s educators. The sessions have aimed to increase educators
understanding of the role of gender norms in preventing violence against women
and children and practical strategies they can use in their service, environment
and practice to challenge adherence to rigid gender stereotypes with children and
their families

Many councils delivering early childhood services use a range of techniques
when caring and educating children. These include:

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reviewing equipment, materials and images used with children to make sure
they include gender diversity, non-stereotypical images and non-traditional
family lifestyles such as single or same sex parents
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using the different gender role models depicted in posters, pictures and books
to prompt discussions with children
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varying the usual placement of equipment and toys to promote variety in
children’s play. For example, place dolls in the block corner and Lego® in the
home corner
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using games, physical activity, humour, fun, adventure, music, imagination
and fantasy to identify and extend boys’ and girls’ common interests.
There are significant opportunities for libraries to promote gender equality through
their collections, public space, events and activities. Monash City Council recently
developed a children’s picture booklist of children’s books which challenge
gender stereotypes and provide broader ideas about who girls, boys, women,
men and people who identify as diverse genders can be, what they can be
interested in and achieve.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Fund new parent programs that actively engage fathers and promote gender
equity in parenting, such as the Baby Makes 3 program, across the state with
regional coordination roles to support program implementation and evaluation
and workforce capacity development

Provide funding for organisations raising awareness about sexualisation of toys
for young children, and devise incentive programs for toy manufacturers to
amend their products to be non-gendered

Develop standardised in-service curriculum on gender equality, violence
prevention and unconscious bias for early years educators and MCH services, to
be delivered by tertiary institutions as a core learning outcome in relevant
qualifications

Integrate gender equity and challenging rigid gender stereotypes into the
Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework

Embed a gender lens across the funding, service planning and delivery of early
years and MCH services
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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Partnership projects with local government:

4.2
Develop standardised on the job training professional development for early
years educators and MCH nurses to be coordinated by the DET and DHHS
Gender equality and young people
Young Australians are highly exposed and influenced by gender inequality in the
settings in which they live, work, study and play. This is evident in recent research
regarding the prevalence of violence experienced by young women and in attitudinal
data.
The 2012 Personal Safety Survey found that 13% of female survey respondents
aged 18–24 reported that they had experienced violence in the previous 12 months,
a higher rate than any other cohort of womenix. This violence may have particularly
serious consequences for young women given that exposure occurs at a critical life
stage, with adverse experiences in adolescence have the potential to impact
negatively on health, especially mental health, into adulthoodx.
Evidence from the 2013 National Community Attitudes Survey Young Australians'
Attitudes Towards Violence against Women report shows that young Australians
have more violence supportive attitudes than other age cohorts and are less likely to
support gender equality in decision making in intimate relationshipsxi.
More positively, this life stage is also a time during which prospects for prevention
are particularly strong. Violence prevention and gender equity programs and
initiatives have been shown to be effective using a comprehensive integrated, whole
of school and youth setting approach has been taken, they are recognised as a key
cohort to drive attitudinal and behavioural change.
The MAV welcomed the Victorian Government’s announcement in August 2015 that
Respectful Relationships Education will be included in the curriculum from 2016 in
Prep through to Year 10 as part of the ‘Education State’ reforms, and its strong
commitment to address the gender based drivers of violence against women through
primary and secondary schools as key settings.
International and national research has demonstrated the effectiveness of ‘whole of
school’ approach to respectful relationships education, in which an integrated and
comprehensive approach to violence prevention is taken within schools or other
youth settings. Such initiatives aim to address the gender based drivers of violence
against women through multiple approaches with schools, teachers, non-teaching
staff and the broader school community. A whole school approach which provides
students with multiple exposure to key messages across the curriculum and in
different areas of the school and community is more likely to result in sustained
changes at the individual level to promote gender equity and non-violence.
Key elements of whole school approaches may include curriculum delivery with
young people about gender based violence and how it can be prevented, and
organisational policies, procedures and cultures which promote gender equity among
and between students and staff. By taking such an integrated approach, it is more
likely that schools can create a culture where gender stereotypes and discrimination
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
17
are challenged, violence against women is not tolerated and gender equality is
promoted.
It is also critical that schools adopt organisational policies and practices which
promote gender equity among its staff, acknowledge the role of schools as
workplacesxii. Like a number of other sectors in Australia, there is gender inequality
between men and women in leadership positions within schools, despite significantly
more women employed in schools than men. It is also critical that professional
development is undertaken by teaching and other school staff on areas including
curriculum delivery, violence prevention, unconscious bias, gender equity and
responding to disclosures.
The MAV urges the government to ensure that Victorian schools are supported by
the DET to adopt whole of school approaches to prevent gender based violence
through the provision of high quality and coordinated resourcing, professional
development and implementation advice and expertise.
The Victorian DET’s Building Respectful Relationships: Stepping Out Against
Gender-Based Violence curriculum guidance for Year 8 and 9 students details a
comprehensive whole school approach. We recommend the Government continues
to employ this method in the state-wide rollout of curriculum, and draw from the
lessons learnt from the Respectful Relationships Education in Schools project to
inform the implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
It is also important to acknowledge that in addition to schools and formal learning
environments such as tertiary and training institutions, there are other youth settings,
including local government youth services, which have significant reach and
engagement with young people in their local communities.
This includes young people who are engaged in study and/or work and may also
receive violence prevention messages and activities through these settings, as well
as young people who are disengaged from study, work and other services who are
less likely to be exposed to violence prevention activities. Similar to a whole of school
approach, youth services can also adopted a whole of service approach to respectful
relationships with young people they work with and can model equal and respectful
gender relationships through their planning, services, policies, programs and
interactions. This approach has been successfully undertaken by a small number of
youth services in Victorian councils.
Local government delivers a broad range of services and programs aimed at
supporting the personal and social development of young people and their social
inclusion. Many of these programs and services focus on violence against women
and range from violence prevention activities aimed at connecting all young people
with their communities and promoting equal and respectful gender relationships,
through to early and secondary intervention programs.
All councils respond to emerging needs within their communities within available
resources and this includes the strong coordination and partnership development role
played by local government. Council youth services often play a critical partnership
coordination and facilitation role with other youth practitioners and youth settings in
their municipality, with many supporting schools to implement respectful relationships
education, or delivering such programs in local schools.
The role Victorian councils undertake in youth services is not fully acknowledged or
recognised by other levels of government and this is evidenced in the lack of a
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
18
system response or investment over many years. There is significant opportunity to
invest in council youth services to further harness the linkages between schools and
civic leadership and engagement, and to promote respectful relationships in a
sustained, coordinated state-wide effort.
Opportunities for the State:

Adopt a long term vision to the approach and funding of Respectful Relationships
Education, acknowledging that generational culture change is required to prevent
violence against women

Establish partnerships with organisations with gender equity and violence
prevention expertise to provide strategic, operational and implementation advice
to schools and support the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of
Respectful Relationships Education

Develop standardised in-service curriculum on gender equality, gender diversity,
violence prevention and unconscious bias for primary and secondary school
teachers, to be delivered by tertiary institutions as a core learning outcome in
relevant qualifications

Embed a gender lens across the funding, service planning and delivery of youth
services, including those delivered by local government and other youth services
Partnerships with local government:

Support councils’ youth services to deliver respectful relationships programs
through the provision of standardised on the job training for gender equity,
violence prevention and responding to disclosures

Acknowledge and invest in councils’ youth services in working to build civic
engagement, leadership and respectful relationships programs in schools and
community settings.
4.3
Gender equality and older people
Ageing brings its own issues for women, given the accumulation of the impacts of
broad social conditions and structures including sexism and ageism, the gender pay
gap, socio-economic characteristics, bio-medical factors and diverse life experiences.
Differing cohorts and generations of older women have experienced these impacts in
different ways and this needs to be taken into account in developing response
servicesxiii. It is critical that women’s health and wellbeing and gender equity
initiatives take a whole of life stage approach, and ensure that gender equity and
violence prevention initiatives are targeted at men and women in appropriate settings
and with relevant messages across the life span.
At this point in time older women are likely to be in relationships and social
environments where traditional norms about gender equity, intimate relationships and
gender norms existxiv. They are likely to have a high degree of economic dependence
on male partnersxv because over their lifetime they have experienced the gender pay
gap and gender superannuation savings gap. On average, Australian women
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
19
currently retire with half the superannuation of men, and earn $700,000 less in their
lifetimexvi. As a result, older women are at higher risk of homelessness.
Many older women, as grandparents, now provide critical childcare support to their
adult children. This role often has a significant impact on their opportunities to
pursue employment and personal interests.
Although some data indicates that older women are less likely to experience violence
than other age cohortsxvii (less than two percent reporting in the 2012 Personal Safety
Study than they had experienced violence in the last 12 months, compared to 13
percent of young women aged 18-24xviii), it is likely that violence against older women
perpetrated by intimate partners and close family members is significantly underreportedxix.
Elder abuse is a form of family violence and can be perpetrated by adult children,
other family members and carers. While elder abuse can be experienced by both
men and women, like other forms of family violence, the abuse is gendered with the
majority of victims/survivors being women and the majority of perpetrators being
male.
The increased reporting of violence against women occurring within aged care
facilities is a significant concern, with several risk factors intersecting to make it less
likely that assaults will be detected and appropriately responded toxx.In 2013, there
was a 14% increase in reports of alleged physical and sexual assaults in residential
aged care facilities in Australia, with 349 reports of unlawful sexual contact and 29
reports of unlawful sexual contact and ‘unreasonable force’xxi. The level of reported
abuse occurring within such facilities should be of significant concern to all levels of
government.
Local government has a critical role in creating safe and connected communities that
are inclusive of older people. All Victorian councils provide a wide range of services
to support healthy and positive ageing. Councils deliver a range of home care
services, meals on wheels, respite, social programs, facilities and positive / active
ageing programs designed to support older people living active and healthy lives in
their own homes as they age. The role of local government as a key provider of
Home and Community Care (HACC) services to older people is critical to the
identification of and response to elder abuse. In 2012/13, 300,000 Victorians
received in home HACC services from their local councils. HACC staff therefore hold
a unique position in having access to older people in their homes providing a critical
opportunity to identify suspected abuse of a vulnerable older person.
Councils have trained their HACC assessment and support staff and other staff
through the State Government elder abuse prevention training and continue to use
the online training currently available. Many councils have adopted Elder Abuse
Protocols to guide the response of council staff where there is a suspected case of
elder abuse, which outline the reporting and responses to suspected incidents of
elder abuse.
In order to prevent violence against women and address the underlying gender
based drivers of this violence, it is essential that aged care staff, both employed
within local government, for-profit and not-for-profit aged care providers, undertake
consistent and comprehensive training on violence prevention and gender equity.
This will enable them to challenge rigid gender stereotypes and promote gender
equity in their programming, service delivery and practice with clients.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
20
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Apply a gendered lens to the development of the next state Elder Abuse
Prevention and Response Guidelines. The current guidelines do not utilise a
gendered approach

Ensure gender equity and violence prevention initiatives adopt a life course
approach and develop relevant and appropriate interventions for older men and
women in appropriate settings

Investigate the establishment of a working with vulnerable people check, similar
to the working with children check

Develop standardised in-service curriculum on violence prevention and gender
equity for aged and home care staff, to be delivered by training institutions as a
core learning outcome in relevant qualifications
Partnerships with local government:

Support Councils through strategic advice and funding to apply a gender lens to
their planning, programming, service delivery and interactions with clients

Work with councils to develop standardised on the job professional development
training for aged care staff on violence prevention and gender equity
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
21
5 Workplace settings
As one of the largest employers in the state, the Victorian Government is ideally
placed to lead by example in ensuring its workplace structures and decision-making
processes support gender equality. There are also many opportunities for it to use its
influence as a major funder of contracted projects to imbed cultural change in a wider
number of commercial and community settings. The potential for multiplier effects is
considerable.
Like many other organisations in Australia, there are many women working in the
public service, but there continues to be very few reaching the senior echelons of
government departments. This is despite women making up the majority of
graduates from tertiary courses and lower level managers who in time will have the
potential to become senior managers and leaders.
This section focusses on the elements necessary to build cultural change, in
particular the need for gathering and monitoring of evidence, and suggestions for
how the Victorian Government could use its funding programs to drive change more
broadly in the community (section 5.1).
Discussion of possible initiatives relating to the public sector will be informative to
councils seeking to implement similar changes to workplace culture, recruitment and
senior manager appointments (section 5.2).
5.1
Gathering the evidence
Collecting and monitoring data is an essential ingredient to having the representation
of women in senior leadership roles as a core organisational priority. Not only will it
enable gaps to be identified, it will also assist in highlighting those areas most in
need of corrective action.
Applying the indicators used to generate the Gender Gap Index developed by the
World Economic Forum would enable the Victorian Government to monitor its
progress against the Australian score-card, and also to see its efforts in an
international context. While the source of some of the indicators would need to be
examined to enable statistics relating to Victoria to be derived in a comparable
manner to the way the international index is calculated, much of the data in the index
would appear to be already collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, or is
relatively easily obtained from existing information collected by the state. The
indicators cover economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment,
health and survival, and political empowerment.
Publication of the data of the gender make-up of the senior levels of each
government department would also be a useful way to ensure accountability. While
data is often available about the gender make-up of chief executive officers, in fact it
is what is happening in middle to senior ranks that will provide important information
about bottle-necks women encounter in organisational progression and career
development.
Instituting a gender lens across key strategies and plans of the state will also
contribute to reassessing the ways unconscious bias and the institutionalisation of
gender inequality occur. An absence of gendered data analysis in the development
of public policy and workplace practices can also inadvertently exacerbate gender
inequalities.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
22
The development of a Victorian Family Violence Index announced by the Minister for
Prevention of Family Violence in May 2015 is an important initiative that will help
better inform all levels of government and policy makers as to the scale of the issue
and what interventions are having a positive impact. It will also provide a valuable
resource in developing future strategic plans at both the state and local council level.
There is a wealth of data already collected and reported by councils which could be
utilised in the index. For example, measuring absenteeism could assist in monitoring
the impact of family violence on workplaces and employee performance. For
example, measuring absenteeism could assist in understanding the impact of family
violence on workplaces.
The longitudinal data being collected via NCAS3, being a commitment from the
National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022,
would benefit from expansion in future iterations, to allow for analysis of data at a
LGA level. This information would inform evidence-building practice and
interventions at a local level, and provide opportunity to measure where there has
been a shift in attitudes and behaviours over time periods.
In respect of the Victoria Government’s collection of local government workforce
data, there is currently a gap in being able to determine on a regular basis the gender
make-up of senior levels of councils. Currently the gender data that councils currently
provide to the Victoria Grants Commission (VGC) relates only to overall numbers of
male and female employees in full-time and part-time roles and by their directorate.
Adding collection of age and gender data of senior remuneration levels would not be
onerous for councils to provide, and having this as disaggregated data would bring
considerable benefits in highlighting where gender equity strategies and actions are
needed.
We suggest the same practices of monitoring and reporting should be used for
executive roles in the Victorian public service as a way of demonstrating to councils
that the state is interested to generate change throughout the public sector.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Collect and report the data required for the score-card elements of the Global
Gender Gap Index developed by the World Economic Forum

Require departmental annual reports report their progress on achieving gender
equality, and the numbers of women in senior executive roles

Support the collection, collation and analysis of data at an LGA level to inform the
Victorian Family Violence Index and the National Community Attitudes Survey
3
The National Community Attitudes towards Violence Against Women Survey (or NCAS) was
developed by VicHealth in partnership with The University of Melbourne, the Social Research
Centre and experts across Australia, and supported by the Australian Government
Department of Social Services as part of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against
Women and their Children 2010–2022. The survey has so far been undertaking three times,
in 1995, 2009 and 2013. The NCAS is a telephone survey of more than 17,000 provides a
snapshot of community attitudes to violence over time and points to the need for future
prevention activity. The next survey is due to be undertaken in 2017.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
23

Integrate development of the Family Violence Index and the proposed Gender
Equality Strategy to ensure consistency in measurement and avoidance of
duplication of effort.
Partnerships with local government:

Request the Victoria Grants Commission to collect a gendered analysis of the
local government workforce by position, seniority and age

Support councils if there are changes they need to make to provide data
additional to that they already provide in the development of the Victorian Family
Violence Index and Gender Equality Strategy
5.2
Tackling inhibitors to gender equality in the workplace
As a key setting which will influence generational change, workplace structures,
policies and practices provide considerable opportunity for progressing gender
equality. Introducing flexible work arrangements has considerable potential to
transform workplaces for all employees and improve organisational productivity.
The impacts of flexible work practices on gender equality are complex, however.
They also require demonstration projects to show how greater enabling greater
flexibility for large workforces can be achieved with no declines in productivity.
Women are far more likely than men to utilise part-time work, parental leave and
other non-standard working patterns. On the one hand, flexible work practices have
supported many women to re-enter the workplace after a period of absence from the
workplace, often due to caring responsibilities. However, on the other hand, use of
flexible work conditions has the potential to reinforce the gap between men and
women in the workplace. There are fewer opportunities for combining flexible work,
particularly part-time work, with access to promotions and associated pay rises,
management and supervisory positions, which are traditionally dominated by menxxii.
While there have been significant changes in Australian workplace cultures over the
last few decades, Australian research shows there are significant gender differences
in the uptake of flexible work. A survey of 2,887 Australian workers found that 24.2%
of women had requested flexibility compared to 17.3% of men. Requests were also
much less likely to be reported by those working in male-dominated industries and
male-dominated jobs. Almost 25% of men surveyed did not request flexibility despite
not being content with their current work arrangements, and having a preference to
work fewer hours. Men (17.4%) were also much more likely than women (9.8%) to
have their request for flexibility declinedxxiii.
More women than men requesting and accessing flexible work conditions also leads
to the assumption that flexible work is more relevant to women and workplace
policies and practices are often developed with this perspective in mindxxiv. The
persistent gender stereotypes such as women are more natural carers than men, that
men should be the ‘breadwinner’, that women returning from maternity leave don’t
want to move up the management ranks or that both male and female employees
that work part-time or from home aren’t committed to their careers, affect both
women and men’s utilisation of flexible work conditions.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
24
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Undertake a research project to identify what ingredients are necessary to
institute flexible work arrangements for all employees without compromising the
outcomes the organisation needs to deliver
Partnerships with local government:

Support councils to develop Gender Equity policies and practices including work
flexibility

Support councils to deliver training and education to management and staff on
gender equality, unconscious bias and bystander action in the workplace.
5.3
Leading by example
The Victorian Government Gender Equality Strategy should have as one of its
signature elements the need for the government’s own administration and practices
to adopt the measures and programs they will not doubt be seeking others in
community settings to take on.
Developing a state score card which contains, as much as is practical, the indicators
contained in the Gender Gap Index developed by the World Economic Forum would
enable Victoria Government to measure to an international standard its progress on
gender equity. The index measures the relative gaps between women and men
across four key areas of health, education, economy and politics. These measures
have been derived to give insight to the factors which demonstrate the equitable
distribution of resources between women and men, regardless of the overall level of
resources available. Understanding Victoria’s place in the index will help the
Victorian Government assess whether its gender equity initiatives are having impact.
It would also provide a basis for Victoria to play a leading role as an innovator to
inform the gender equity activities at a national level, and raise awareness in the
broader community.
Encouraging male departmental secretaries to participate in a the Victorian
Government Male Champions of Change Program would assist workplace leaders
explore and understand the organisational cultures they lead and how they can be
discriminatory to the equal advancement of women. Initiated by the Australian
Human Rights Commission and former Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Elizabeth
Broderick, the Male Champions of Change Program has the participation of a group
of 30 chief executive officers from across business and the federal government. A
Victorian program has also now started, with a small number of state government
departmental secretaries involved, along with one council CEO (Melbourne City
Council).
Irrespective of whether they participate in the male champions of change programs
or not, all senior Victorian public service executives, both male and female, can learn
from reflecting on their “leadership shadow”xxv to examine whether what they say,
how they act, what they prioritise and how they measure their organisation’s
performance progresses gender equality or not.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
25

5.4
Monitor Victoria’s status on the international Gender Gap Index developed by the
World Economic Forum
Introducing gender equity into the manager pipeline
While women are generally well represented as employees in the public service, they
are not at senior management levels. This is also the experience of councils. Whilst
women make up the significant majority of the 47,000 strong workforce (61%), only
18% of council chief executive officers are women4. A desk-top study of the 79
council websites undertaken by the MAV in March 2016 showed that almost 20% of
CEO positions and approximately 23% of senior executive positions are currently
held by women. Nationally, it is estimated 29% of senior manager roles (second and
third tiers) are filled by womenxxvi.
We raise these statistics in the context that there are many similarities in the issues
state and local governments face in terms of workforce profile and the low numbers
of women in first, second and third-tier management roles. One of the ironies in local
government is that the ageing profile of the workforce has led councils to initiate
programs aimed at retention of current managers to mitigate large-scale loss of
corporate memory in a short space of time as significant numbers of managers reach
retirement age. However this has also served to entrench a domination of men in
senior roles. As this case illustrates, there are timing and organisational issues that
come into play in workforce appointments by organisations under pressure to deliver
increasing numbers of services to communities with high expectations. Giving
priority to ensuring there are women in the pipeline now will be very important in
having female candidates for future senior positions.
An area that will be of interest to councils is if state government departments are
required to have targets for equal women representation on executive teams. If these
are contemplated, they would provide valuable learnings for local government about
their effectiveness in generating change.
Regardless of whether targets are introduced or not, each department should be
required to report in its annual report its progress on achieving gender equity at
senior management levels, and specifically the number of women in senior executive
positions. This would bring the Victorian Government into line with the requirements
for private sector businesses with over 100 employees to report under the Federal
Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012. As part of reporting under the
Act, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) provides annual confidential,
customised benchmarking reports to all compliant reporting organisations. The
benchmark data provides each reporting organisation to understand their relative
performance against different comparison groups: Australian industry overall (all
reporting organisations), organisations within the same industry, and organisations of
the same size; as well as a combination of these.
Other initiatives to consider that would assist build the numbers of women in the
managerial pipeline include:
4
Victoria Grants Commission data for 2013-14 shows that councils employed 29,039 women
and 18,127 men in full-time and part-time roles
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
26

Reviewing rates of pay and promotion to ensure there are no inequalities
between men and women undertaking comparable work

Putting in place incentives such as scholarships and rapid enhanced training
programs to get more women in positions of leadership and decision-making
positions

Provide opportunities for onsite child care in workplaces to allow breast-feeding
mothers to return to work

Parental leave provisions that remove the primary and secondary carer labels
and promotes co- parenting and opportunities for both to care and work

More sharing of childcare roles both with men and women with workplaces
allowing flexible hours for both
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Expand the benchmarking reporting process developed by the Workplace Gender
Equality Agency to the Victorian public service

Raise awareness among senior decision-makers about how unconscious bias
can discriminate against women and offering mentoring programs and networking
opportunities to support women’s careers in the Victorian public service

Encourage departmental secretaries to participate in the Victorian Male
Champions of Change Program
5.5
Gender equality in State funded programs
The Victorian Government has enormous potential to improve on gender equality
outcomes derived from state funded programs. Funded services could be
encouraged to apply a gender lens to the services they provide. They could also be
required to provide a statement in their funding applications listing how they be will
be ensuring their funded service encourages participation of women and other
people with diverse backgrounds.
The Victorian Government is also in a unique position to lead significant
improvements to gender equality outcomes through applying a gendered lens in
procurement processes. This study would assist in identifying opportunities for its
procurement to include specific gender equity requirements.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Require evidence of female participation as a requirement for successful funding
applications

Develop a gender lens checklist for grant funded programs with built-in reporting
and accountability measures
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
27

5.6
Identify opportunities for procurement to include specific gender equity
requirements
Gender equality in communications
Progress towards achieving gender equality is significantly hindered by the rampant
sexual objectification of women in advertising. The depiction of women in the media
and advertising can also contribute to the objectification and demoralisation of
women.
In the MAV submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence, we
recommended the introduction of legislation restricting the publication and
broadcasting of sexist and discriminatory advertising as a means of promoting
gender equality. This recommendation was supported by an article in The Australian
Financial Review about the Advertising Standards Bureau, which showed while the
percentage of ads found to have breached the Australian Association of National
Advertisers code of ethics has declined slightly in recent years, those who breached
the code faced no legal of financial consequences. If a breach was determined, the
advertising company must change or remove the advert, however by this stage the
advert has already been seen or heard by potentially millions of peoplexxvii.
The MAV believes this recommendation would enable advertising companies to be
held more accountable with substantial legal and financial consequences to dissuade
them from breaking the code in the first place.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Advocacy to the Federal Government to introduce legislation that restricts sexist
discriminatory publication and broadcasting as well as holding offenders to
account

Support and encourage community to make formal complaints about sexist and
discriminatory advertising and media.

Develop media communication protocols for reporting incidences relating to
family and sexual violence.

Provide funding to consumer groups to raise awareness about the sexual
objectification of women in advertising
Partnerships with local government:

Support councils’ role and capacity to progress gender equity and influence
attitudinal change through developing a local government communications/key
messaging guide for working with the community and the local media.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
28
6 Community settings
Dealing as they do with local communities, Victoria’s 79 councils are uniquely placed
to be influential leaders driving community change. Councils are also significant
employers of women, employing some 30,000 women in their organisations.
This section focusses on outlining those areas where partnership projects with local
government could achieve considerable multiplier benefits for the whole community.
They examine some of the specific activities councils are involved in delivering to the
various life stages of people living in Victoria. The topics covered are gender equality
in:
- Civic leadership
- Preventing violence against women
- Sport and recreation
- Emergency management
6.1
Gender equality in civic leadership
The MAV has worked for many years to support projects aimed at increasing the
number of women standing for council. We were one of the founding members of the
Women’s Participation in Local Government Coalition (WPILGC) that operated
between 1997 and 2013 undertaking partnership projects with the Victorian
Government and various women’s organisations. We continue to promote and
practise the principles of the Victorian Local Government Women’s Charter that was
launched in 2003 which 69 councils have since formally adopted.
Some inroads have been made since 2000 when only 27% of councillors were
women, however the current percentage of 34% is well below women’s 50%
presence in the community.
There continues to be work to do, though, to ensure that more women (and women
from diverse backgrounds) stand for councils. Research has shown in the past that
women are just as likely to be elected as men, the problem has been that fewer
women stand. There continues to be only one female councillor in 10 councils. We
also know that women are elected to council, they are more likely than men to be
chosen to be mayors. Currently 40% of metropolitan mayors are women. Research
undertaken by the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA)
show that the states with the highest percentages of female councillors also have
higher percentages of female chief executive officersxxviii.
While councils themselves undertake many activities to develop leadership potential
of women in their communities, there continues to be a need for state-wide
promotional activities to be undertaken through partnerships with the Victorian
Government.
The experience in the lead-up to the 2012 local government elections showed that a
small investment from the Victorian Government enabled many multiplier effects. For
example a Women’s Charter project administered by the MAV in 2010 as part of the
Year of Women in Local Government led to 65 councils endorsing or re-endorsing
the Victorian Local Government Women’s Charter. Promotional activities and
building connections with Women’s Charter champions in councils also undertaken
through this project spotlighted the issue of women needing to stand for election to
council and be involved in leadership roles in their communities. The multitude of
activities being undertaken with no doubt contributed to the five percent increase in
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
29
the proportion of women councillors that occurred in 2012, with a rise from 29% to
34%.
Notable about these activities was how a small investment from the Victorian
Government enabled many multiplier effects.
There is also an opportunity for a training program to be developed for new and
returning councillors to build awareness and capacity on ways to apply a gendered
lens to council decision making processes. This would assist in illustrating the links
between gender equality and the council’s organisational performance, the health
and wellbeing outcomes for the community, and the prevention of violence against
women.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Task the Victorian Electoral Commission with analysing the 2016 local
government election results to identify the numbers of women standing for council
by ward, and the number elected

Promote council elections with messages focussing on encouraging women to
stand for election as councillors

Monitor for compliance the Victorian Government’s policy that no less than 50 per
cent of all new appointments to paid Victorian Government boards and Victorian
courts are women
Partnerships with local government:

Fund the development of a gender equity training program for new and re-elected
councillors to build their awareness and capacity on ways to apply a gendered
lens to council decision making processes and the organisational and community
benefits this will enable.

Examine and promote the ingredients of initiatives being practised in councils
which enable greater participation of councillors who have family and caring
demands

Promote and extend the Victorian Local Government Women’s Charter

Fund and support for projects that encourage more women to participate in local
government decision-making, particularly those who are Indigenous, lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender or intersex (LGBTI), with disability or a multicultural
background.

Undertake specific networking projects in those local government areas which
have only one or less female councillor following the 2016 local government
elections

Support for mentoring of female councillors, for example the work ALGWA (Vic)
has been involved with.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
30
6.2
Gender equality in preventing violence against women
International research shows that where greater gender equality exists between girls
and boys, and women and men, lower rates of violence against women occurxxix.
Addressing gender inequality will allow us to respond to all forms of violence against
women, including family violence. Violence against women exists along a spectrum
from sexist jokes, gender based discrimination, street harassment and sexual
harassment, to assault, rape and murder. Violence against women in the public
sphere directly influences and reinforces attitudes about women in interpersonal
relationships, and vice-versa. We need to create equity between men and women
across all settings where people live, work, learn and play, and in all relations, in
order to address the pervasive gendered power imbalance and achieve an end to
men’s violence against women, including an end to family violence.
Violence against women is also very much a workplace issue, from sexist comments
to employees experiencing family violence, the impacts can be profound. The 2012
Australian Law Reform Commission Family Violence and Commonwealth Laws—
Improving Legal Frameworks report states that two thirds of Australian women who
report violence by a current partner are in paid employmentxxx. In a national survey5
on the extent of the impact of family violence in an employment context, nearly half
the victims reported family violence impacted their capacity to get to work - the major
reason being physical injury or restraint; and in the last 12 months, 19 percent
reported that family violence continued in the workplace, with 12 percent indicating it
occurred in the form of abusive phone calls and emails, and 11 percent stating that it
occurred by way of the violent person attending the workplacexxxi.
Victorian councils have been early adopters in addressing the issue of family
violence in the workplace, demonstrated by the introduction of family violence and
leave provisions into Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBA). Surf Coast Shire
Council was the first to adopt the family violence clause in 2010, with most of
Victoria’s 79 councils now having family violence provisions embedded in their EBA.
A number of councils have also developed a family violence policy for staff to
complement the EBA provisions, and clearly set out the support options available to
employees experiencing family violence, as well as the broader roles and
responsibilities of the organisation to manage the safety issues of employees and
colleagues.
The reach of councils is unique, with unparalleled access to people in private and
public spheres across whole of life course. The potential for positive interaction and
influence across these settings and at different ages provides a platform for mutual
reinforcement of gender equality messages and actions.
Consistent with the first recommendation made in the MAV submission to the
Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, resourcing of gender equity
development officers in councils has considerable potential to enable the Victorian
Government achieve its goals and generate the traction necessary for progressing
gender equity principles and achieving the cultural change within organisations and
amongst communities..
5
The National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey sample was 3,611 respondents
of which 81% were women and 90% were either a member of the National Tertiary Education
Union or the NSW Nurses Association.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
31
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Mainstream and tailored communications designed to assist people to
understand the link between gender inequality and violence against women,
including respectful relationships education activities.

Invest in workplace training to build understanding on the links between everyday
sexism, gender inequality and men’s violence against women and disseminate
learnings.

Support development and distribution of best practice policy guidelines for
employer support of employees experiencing or at risk of family violence
Partnerships with local government:

Resource gender equity development officers in councils in a 10 year strategy.

Invest in partnerships with local government to drive activity at the local level and
embed the principles of gender equity and prevention of violence against women
in all council endorsed strategic plans.
6.3
Gender equality in sport and recreation
Females of all ages generally have lower physical activity participation rates than
males. More than two-thirds of adult Australian females were classified as being
sedentary or having low levels of exercisexxxii. This has significant impacts on
women’s health and mental wellbeing and limits women’s opportunities to participate
fully and equally in community life.
In Victoria, four times as many females (44%) are choosing to participate in nonorganised or more flexible physical activity offerings compared to organised physical
activity (9%) and female participation through sporting or recreational clubs is lower
compared to malesxxxiii. Women’s participation in and experience of sport and
recreation is not homogenous, as women with women with a disability, low income,
low education, born in a non-English speaking country or live in a remote location,
are less likely to experience leisure and participate in sport than the rest of the
populationxxxiv.
Understanding and addressing both the motivations and barriers for female
participation in formal and informal sport and recreation, and addressing these
through targeted initiatives which are inclusive of life stage and diversity, is critical for
all levels of government in their sport and recreation planning, policy, funding,
infrastructure and programming. Some key barriers include scheduling of
opportunities and facility opening times; facility design; real and perceived
perceptions of safety; child friendly policies and places; gender norms and
stereotypes; limited access to women only teams, programs and spaces; historic
ground/court allocations favouring traditional sports and male teams; and limited
access to female role models including players, coaches and administratorsxxxv.
Sports clubs at both the local, regional and elite level play a natural leadership role in
the community and provide a unique opportunity to provide an inclusive and
welcoming environment for all member of the local community. However, many of the
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
32
entrenched beliefs and behaviours that shape our culture play out in sports settings
and some sporting environments can be associated with attitudes and behaviours
that support violence against women. There can also be gender inequities in sporting
clubs, such as men occupying leadership positions and women taking on support
roles, if they are on the committee at all.
Sporting and recreation environments have been identified by Victorian and state
frameworks as key settings to prevent violence against women and can be a key way
to target men and boys to promote gender equality and respect and welcoming and
inclusive club environments. Significant state government funded initiatives and
resources have been developed to support state sporting associations and local
clubs to promote welcoming and inclusive club environments and rake bystander
action which support women’s full and equal participation in sport and recreation and
prevent violence against women6.
The MAV applauds the State Government’s recent strong commitments and funding
announcements to gender equality in sport and recreation which aim to address a
number of the barriers identified to women’s participation in sport and recreation.
This includes the Female Facility Grant Fund and the Inquiry into Women and Girls in
Sport and Active Recreation. The development of a Victorian Gender Equality
Strategy provides an opportunity to take stock of and build upon current activity and
look for further opportunities to increase gender equity in sport and recreation.
Victorian councils have undertaken significant work to build community infrastructure
and facilities that are inclusive of women and girls. Councils are also investing in
policies and processes through their sport and leisure services to better engage of
women and girls. Leading examples include:

Active Women and Girls Policy and Strategy introduced by Moreland City Council
in 2009, requires sports clubs to demonstrate active participation of women and
girls. The policy is directly linked to sporting ground allocations, and any club
wanting to access community-owned facilities for their sports teams must
demonstrate the role girls and women have at their clubs. The driving force
behind introducing this policy was council’s recognition that males dominated
many clubs and the need to open facilities up to be more inclusive. Council has
seen a substantial increase in participation levels by females since the
implementation of the policy, in addition to other positive spin-off effects that are
driving the prevention of violence message further.

Gender Lens for Leisure Project by Knox City Council, produced a suite of
recommendations for the three outer east council’s Leisure Services teams
(Knox, Maroondah and Yarra Ranges) to identify the ways in which they could
support the equal participation, inclusion and respect of women and girls in sport
and recreation activities and recreation facilities.
6
Prominent initiatives and resources funded by the State Government and coordinated by VicHealth
include Everyone Wins and Stepping In.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
33
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Implement in full the recommendations from the recent state Inquiry into Women
and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation

Continue to fund and coordinate the Female Facility Grant Fund
Partnerships with local government:

6.4
Victorian Government to provide capacity building and support for local
government to take a gendered approach to their policy, planning and
programming for sport and recreation infrastructure
Gender equality and emergency management
Historically, emergency management has been a largely male dominated domain.
Whilst this is starting to shift, with a dedicated campaign to recruit more women to
emergency services, there are many aspects of emergency management that remain
gender blind.
The current focus on family violence provides an opportune time for emergency
service organisations, councils, partner agencies and volunteers to collectively
examine current systems and processes for ways gender equity can be embedded in
emergency management planning across the continuum of preparedness, response
and recovery.
Women and men experience disasters differently. Gendered roles such as caring for
children or knowing how to operate a generator or water pump affect how women
and men will experience and recover from natural disasters. Gender often shapes
how people perceive what is risky, who makes decisions as to whether to stay and
defend or leave the area, and how individuals get support or help following disasters.
We know that gender inequality is a key driver of violence against women and the
experience both internationally and locally, tells us that incidents of family violence
increase and escalate at times during and post-emergency. Reference
Being blind to the different needs of men, women and children can have serious
implications for the protection and recovery of people caught up in emergencies and
disasters.
The development of a Victorian gender equality strategy provides an opportunity to
take stock of current activity and look for ways in which gender equity processes can
enhance current practice and outcomes. There are existing partnerships between
state and local government, and other key stakeholders, that could provide an
effective conduit for the flow of best practice knowledge, such as the state-wide
Gender and Emergency Management Taskforce, co-chaired by the Victorian
Emergency Services Commissioner, Craig Lapsley.
MAV and Local Government Victoria (LGV) recently commissioned an independent
analysis of the benefits and costs of collaborative approaches to emergency
management by local government. The analysis found that local government
collaborations contribute to better outcomes for the community during and after
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
34
emergencies, and concludes that the net financial cost to councils of emergency
management collaborations should be seen as a marginal cost with the potential to
deliver substantial long-term benefits to councils, communities and other
stakeholdersxxxvi.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Support promotion and training for councils and emergency service organisations
to improve their understanding of gender differences, and incorporate gender
considerations into their emergency management policy, planning, decision
making and service delivery

Increase engagement and recognition of women in volunteer emergency services
organisations

Fund research into the effect gender differences and roles have on how
individuals and communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disaster

Improve gender-specific support available post-emergency for both emergency
service organisations and the community
Partnerships with local government:

Resourcing of council staff to participate in training to improve their understanding
of gender differences, and incorporate gender considerations into their
emergency management policy, planning, decision making and service delivery
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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7 National issues
7.1
Achieving economic security for women
Australian economic structures can systemically discriminate against women across
their lifetime. There are structural issues in our superannuation system that
discriminate against women over their life course, resulting in women on average
having half the retirement income of menxxxvii. The national gender pay gap is
currently 17.9%xxxviii. This persistent economic gaps are influenced by a number of
gendered norms and structures, including occupational segregation, gender
stereotyping, greater time spent undertaking unpaid work, fewer women in senior
leadership positions and interrupted careers through parenting and caring
responsibilities, impact women disproportionately to men which affect income
generation in the immediate and longer-term, as well as proving an obstacle to
career progression and promotion.
Research conducted in 2014 by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that
one in two (49%) mothers and over a quarter (27%) of the fathers and partners surveyed
reported experiencing discrimination in the workplace during pregnancy, parental leave or
on return to workxxxix. Changes are needed to legislation and policy that provide
support for new parents, and in particular address the disproportionate number of
women discriminated against when in caring roles.
7.2
Increasing childcare options for parents
Concerns about the accessibility, flexibility and affordability of childcare in Australia
are also prohibitive barriers for women’s participation in the workforcexl. The
Productivity Commission estimated that there may be up to roughly 165,000 parents
(primarily mothers) who would like to work, or work more hours, but are not able to
do so because they are experiencing difficulties with the cost of, or access to,
suitable childcarexli.
So that women can equally participate in the workforce, the MAV strongly
recommends that the Victorian Government maintain public investment in a universal
approach to early childhood education and care with a priority focus on vulnerable
families.
Opportunities for the Victorian Government

Advocate to the Federal Government to implement all recommendations from the
Inquiry into the Economic Security for Women In Retirement

Advocate to the Federal government to extend reporting under the Workplace
Gender Equality Act (2012) to the public sector

Commits to extending the National Partnership Agreement of Early Childhood
Education with the Victorian State Government on an enduring basis beyond
2017.

Establish a separate review of the home-based care sector with a view to building
on the opportunities it presents to meet participation by women in the workforce,
economic development of women, and a flexible model of early childhood
education and care for families.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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8 Conclusion
Working to achieve gender equality is the responsibility of everyone. You do not
need to be a ‘gender expert’ to be able to apply a gender lens to your work.
However, to engage the broader community, the Victorian Gender Equality Strategy
will require a clear, stepped out process and plan of action for ‘switching on’ a gender
lens and applying it in realms of public and private influence.
Having long-term goals (for example aiming for at least 10 years) supported by
mutually reinforcing shorter-term projects (three-year time-frames) will be important
in enabling the activities required to achieve the cultural change to be delivered.
'Gender asbestos – it’s built into the walls, the floors, the ceilings of
institutions and organisations, the behaviours, the practices. It’s often not
tangible.'
Elizabeth Broderick, Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Commissioner
2007- 2015
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/view-discuss/elizabeth-broderick-men%E2%80%99srole-creating-gender-equality;
Date recorded: 18 Nov 2014. In this lecture, Elizabeth describes how
gender inequality remains a pervasive and systemic issue in Australia,
and that equality cannot be achieved without commitment from men.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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9 Attachments
9.1
Wish list for gender equality…
The MAV held a preventing violence against women forum on 16 December 2015,
attended by Minister for Women and Minister for Family Violence Prevention, the
Hon. Fiona Richardson, along with 130 participants primarily from local government,
with some state government representatives and community agency partners.
Attendees were asked to provide a statement on their idea for gender equality.
These ideas are listed below.
“My idea for gender equality is…
Gender equality and early years
 That children will develop the awareness and attitude early from home and early
childhood service regarding respectful interactions and relationships
 Baby makes 3 embedded within MCH services and state government policy
 Change the gendering of children’s toys/ clothes/ activities.
 MCH, childcare and kinder to not reinforce gender stereo types in regards to
parenting; replicate Sweden’s parental leave policy and pay; support/guidance on
how to respectively co- parent blue and pink banned in hospitals
 Remove ridiculous pink and blue aisles in the toy shops
 Lobby toy manufacturers to regulate marketing that promotes gender stereotypes
i.e. #banthebarbie
 Children (boys and girls) feel equal to each other. Talk to kids about gender
 Don’t give gendered toys this Christmas!
 Little boys can wear the girls school uniform socks at school because they are
more comfortable without getting into trouble, little girls can get dirty, have messy
hair and scuffed knees and still be called beautiful
 Acceptance of public breastfeeding
Gender equality and young people
 Meaningful school programs pre-school to secondary that focus on gender
equality and respectful relationships. Delivered by trained, engaged school
teachers and that are embedded in school culture across all levels.
 Better education at an earlier age- more education around respectful
relationships at schools and less/ more difficult access for young people top
access pornography
 Assertive outreach for young people who are demonstrating negative gender
beliefs/ behaviours. – Lots of positive messaging about gender equality. –
working with young women to challenge ingrained beliefs they might have about
themselves/ their role. – campaign to stop casual sexism
 Increase the number of scholarships for women who are the ‘first’ of their family
to attend tertiary education with meaningful funding that includes tuition and living
allowance
 That our young girls have the same opportunities in education, work and
retirement
 Keeping committed in passion and funding to support the next generation, real
support for schools so they can actually deliver the respectful relationships
program in schools. ‘’ a right to respect a community responsibly’’
 Provide respectful relationships education in universities as well as
 Young people leading the change
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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

Implementation of respectful relationships training in both primary and secondary
schools and PD for teachers and GE specific teachers/ facilitators
Additional support funding assistance mentoring for apprenticeship/ traineeship
position within industries of a large gender divide
Gathering the evidence
 Routine reporting on sex- disaggregated data > health, workforce participation,
pay gaps/ audits
 That we must create systemic ways to involve all sectors in gender equality: aged
care, local government, disability, children’s services, and mental health. – Lets
set targets and measure progress.
 How come we (councils) don’t have mandatory reporting like business through
WGEA?
 Mandatory annual reporting of actions government and private sector against
gender equity measures that are tied to funding outcomes
 Councils to commit to gender targets
Workplaces leading by example
 Flexible workplaces who encourage women in leadership roles
 Parental leave provisions that remove the primary and secondary carer labels
and promotes co- parenting and opportunities for both to care and work.
 How do we encourage women and girls to take leadership roles? Maximum
quotas for male representation, professional development, mentoring, education
for men on the importance of women in leadership..
 No more male champions of change, only ‘champions of change’ or ‘champions
united for change’
 A role for men is to listen, not tell
 That men consult with women in a meaningful way and respect that women are
the experts in their own experiences and that men cannot and should not make
the decision for and on behalf of a women without equal participation from
women.
Introducing gender equity into the manager pipeline
 Leading Change: Women’s Leadership driven through setting meaningful targets
and quotas to make bold and courageous decisions
 More pathways for women in leadership
 Greater investment in building women’s leadership
 More women in decision making roles.
 Incentives, scholarships and rapid enhanced training programs to get more
women in positions of leadership to balance out gender inequity in decision
making positions.
 Equal opportunities in local government for women to become part of the
management teams
 Genuine shared parenting shared time/ earning power/care – would bridge the
gap between men and women in career progression, superannuation, earnings
and so on..
Gender equality in resource allocation
 Allocation of resources and services that is equitable, where girls and boys, men
and women are equally valued
 Allocation of resources that are adequate to prevent and address gender
inequality
 Women and girls get the same level of support and funding as men and boys
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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Gender equality in communications
 Stopping sexist and discriminatory advertising. Advertising portrays women as
strong, intelligent, powerful, capable and caring
 Media will ask females questions related to their skills, jobs and merit, rather than
clothes and relationships
 Regulation of the media on issues/ performance on GE issues
Community settings
 More prevention and early intervention programs and conversations encouraged
for children and teenagers, kinder, playgroup, school, sporting clubs, employment
(business), community activities/ community group
 For gender inequality to be taken seriously across all domains in life
 ALL women and ALL men have equal access to all of life’s opportunities
Gender equality in civic leadership
 More women elected to positions of influence and power either through merit or
quotas and that women are supported in their roles to be able to attend family
and community responsibilities and that the role of women in society, business
and community is valued and respected
Gender equality in preventing violence against women
 Continue to make link between violence against women in gender inequality in all
spheres of personal, community and political life.
 When the question becomes ‘why doesn’t he stop his violent and controlling
behaviour?’ instead of ‘what did she do to provoke him’.
 Equal representation of women in all areas of society- community and corporate
etc., resulting in the end of family violence!
 My idea for gender equality is that I (and all women) never need to question or rethink if it’s safe to walk alone. Or do things that men do each day. Without
question or judgement
 Women are safe and free from violence.
 We talk about the stats for women who experience family violence but where are
the stats for the men committing family violence. Issue needs to be reframed.focus on the unacceptability of violence against women. –men need to be held
accountable for their actions and perceptions. – Women need to feel empowered
and to be supported.
Gender equality in sport and recreation
 Women’s sport is equally/more popular than men’s sport. Go Matildas, Diamonds
and Hockyroos!
 For equality in music, for line-ups to feature more women and for women to play
more music so there isn’t a token lady on every festival but inundated with so
much talent and choice!
 A woman PM accorded the same respect and dignity as a male PM. Also more
female skate boarders at the skate parks
Achieving economic security for women
 Joint superannuation schemes for new parents so both partners have
contributions for retirement
 Restructure superannuation to address disadvantage created via gaps in the
workplace participation e.g. due to breaks for parental leave
 Economic equality for all women
 Enable women who have reduced work for caring responsibilities to catch up on
superannuation without penalty.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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
Men can work part-time or with flexible hours that suit family life without being
thought of as sensitive, effeminate or weird
Increasing childcare options for parents
 Opportunities for onsite child care in workplaces to allow breast feeding mums to
return to work if they want to.
Diversity
 My idea for gender equality is that there will be more leaders on the ASX boards
named Fatima, Tracey, Maria, Aisha, Shehani… than men named Peter
 A gender inclusive world that doesn’t operate in binaries and stereo types, but
celebrates diversity, fluidity and equality
 Gender equality that also addresses multiple terms of discrimination and
inequities – aboriginality, racism, disability…
 My idea for gender equality is where all women have equality, not just some
Breaking down gender stereotypes
 My idea for gender equality is a culture that challenges rigid gender stereo types,
and supports open perspectives and ideas about the construction of gender
 That rigid gender roles is eradicated and men, and women boys and girls have
the same expectations, and opportunities as each other from a range of diverse
backgrounds
 Removing negative connotations attached to being female which lead to
acceptance of inequality.
 Building the capacity of the community to understand how individual ‘’in built
cultures’’ can be changed how broadening understanding can create a shift to
enable a fair and inclusive community.
 After a meal the men get out of their chairs and clean up while the women retire
to another room
 Single fathers are not treated as a novelty or heroic unless so are single mothers
 Raising consciousness to the unconscious bias. Open to regular discussion about
the gender bias
 We have a bias that is unconscious as a result of growing up and being a part of
where gender inequality is the norm.
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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10 References
New Zealand Ministry for Women’s Affairs (1996), The full picture: Guidelines for gender analysis.
Our Watch, VicHealth, ANROWS. ‘Change the story: a shared framework for the primary prevention of
violence against women and their children in Australia’. 2015.
iii MacNaughton, G. (2000). Rethinking gender in early childhood education. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
iv Monash City Council, Promoting gender equality and challenging gender stereotypes: children’s
picture books, 2015. http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/our-services/violence-againstwomen/children-books-promoting-gender-equality-challenging-gender-stereoypes-booklist.pdf
v Our Watch, VicHealth, ANROWS. ‘Change the story: a shared framework for the primary prevention of
violence against women and their children in Australia’. 2015.
vi Monash City Council, Promoting gender equality and challenging gender stereotypes: children’s
picture books, 2015. http://www.monash.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/our-services/violence-againstwomen/children-books-promoting-gender-equality-challenging-gender-stereoypes-booklist.pdf
vii Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2015-2019
viii MAV Submission to the Education State, Early Childhood Consultation Paper and Roadmap for
Reform: Strong Families, Safe Children. October 2015
ix Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, 2012.
x VicHealth, Young Australian’s attitudes to violence against women (summary of findings), 2015.
xi ibid
xii Our Watch, Respectful Relationships Education in schools: evidence paper, 2015.
xiii COTA Victoria, Victorian Women’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2010-2014 Response paper, 2010.
http://cotavic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/womens_health_strategy_submission_june_2010_.pdf
xiv Our Watch, VicHealth, ANROWS. ‘Change the story: a shared framework for the primary prevention
of violence against women and their children in Australia’. 2015.
xv ibid
xvi
COTA, COTA Welcomes Inquiry into Superannuation Gap for Older Women,
http://www.cota.org.au/australia/News/NewsList/2015/cota-welcomes-inquiry-into-gender-gap.aspx
i
ii
Our Watch, VicHealth, ANROWS. ‘Change the story: a shared framework for the primary prevention
of violence against women and their children in Australia’. 2015.
xviii Parliament of Australia, Domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia: an overview of the issues,
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp
1415/ViolenceAust
xix ibid
xx Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, Norma’s project: a research study into the
sexual assault of older women in Australia,
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/585290/ARCSHS-Normas-Project-Report.pdf
xxi ibid
xxii Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Engaging men in flexible working arrangements,
https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/20130829_PP_engaging_men_flex_work_2.pdf
xxiii ibid
xxiv ibid
xxv Male Champions of Change Program “It Starts With Us: The Leadership Shadow”, March 2014,
http://malechampionsofchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/21.-Leadership-ShadowImplementation-Guide.pptx
xxvi ACELG 2014, Profile of the local government workforce
xxvii http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/advertising/punters-stir-storm-over-sexistsportsbet-ad-dangerous-hsbc-skateboarder-20150512-1mwk26
xvii
Gender Equality a Priority, President’s Report in Local Government FOCUS, January
2016, p4
xxix UNIFEM (2010) Investing in Gender Equality: Ending Violence against Women and Girls,
available at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/digitallibrary/publications/2010/1/ending-violenceagainst-women-and-girls-unifem-strategyandinformation-kit
xxviii
xxx
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety Survey, Catalogue No 4906.0 (2005), 11, 34.
ADFVC, ADFVC National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey (2011).
xxxii VicHealth, Female participation in sport & physical activity factsheet, 2015.
xxxiii ibid
xxxiv @Leisure, A Gender lens for leisure,
http://www.knox.vic.gov.au/files/Community/A_Gender_Lens_For_Leisure_Final_Report.pdf
xxxv ibid
xxxvi Collaborative Emergency Management - Costs and benefits for Local Government, 2015,
http://delwp.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/320390/Collaborative-Emergency-Managementcosts-and-benefits-for-local-government.pdf
xxxi
Victorian Government’s Gender Equality Strategy Consultation
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xxxvii
COTA, COTA Welcomes Inquiry Into Superannuation Gap For Older Women
http://www.cota.org.au/australia/News/NewsList/2015/cota-welcomes-inquiry-into-gender-gap.aspx
xxxviii Workplace Gender Equality Agency, What is the Gender Pay Gap,
https://www.wgea.gov.au/addressing-pay-equity/what-gender-pay-gap
xxxix Australian Human Rights Commission, Supporting working parents: pregnancy and return to work
national review, 2014, https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sexdiscrimination/publications/supporting-working-parents-pregnancy-and-return-work
xl Productivity Commission 2014, Childcare and Early Childhood Learning: Overview, Inquiry Report No.
73, Canberra.
xli Ibid
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