This a share of the Australian Gender Equality Council (AGEC) announcement regarding the upcoming Federal Election. AGEC believes a gender equal Australia will be achieved when the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of all genders are equally valued, respected and are manifest and clearly evident in Australian society.
2025 FEDERAL ELECTION PRIORITIES – WORKING FOR BALANCE
Women make up just over half of Australia’s population and yet we continue to face significant safety issues in our homes, workplaces and communities, additional barriers to accessing employment, and, as a result increased income insecurity throughout our lives.
Women are more likely to make serious claims for mental health conditions at work (59%) compared to men, because they are more likely to be impacted by psychosocial hazards (Safe Work Australia, 2024). Despite this, our model workplace safety laws remain silent on the minimum controls for occupational violence, bullying, and sexual and gender-based harassment hazards, which disproportionately impact women (Australian Women Lawyers, 2024).
At home, 27% of women have faced violence from an intimate partner or family member, with 1.6 million women (16%) enduring economic abuse from a partner they live with (ABS, 2021-22).
Women struggling financially are far more likely to suffer abuse at the hands of men. Financial hardship can ignite new violence, intensify existing abuse, or serve as a tool for control. Outcomes are worse for women facing economic insecurity who also have restrictive long-term health conditions, recent pregnancies, children, or identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. In addition, women who have lost their jobs, taken pay cuts, or reduced their working hours are significantly more likely to experience physical and sexual violence from a current or recent partner for the first time (Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, 2022).
Despite this, we are seeing a global rollback of essential legal protections and commitments to ensure women’s safety and equality.
In the 2025 Federal Election, the Australian Gender Equality Council is calling upon all parties and candidates to commit to priority actions to address women’s safety and respect at work, at home, and in the community, and to commit to addressing the root causes of violence; women’s inequality, and the attitudes and behaviours which fuel disrespect and violence.
Please amplify our call to all parties and candidates by supporting these key priorities for a gender-equal Australia.
Coral Ross
Chair Australian Gender Equality Council
To learn more about AGEC’s Federal Election Priorities and the call for a Candidate Pledge go to AGEC’s Election webpage >>
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