The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) is dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of Australian women, including in intellectual, cultural, political, social, economic, legal, industrial and domestic spheres, and ensuring that the aims and ideals of the women’s movement and its collective wisdom are handed on to new generations of women. We are a feminist organisation, independent of party politics and working in partnership with other women’s organisations. In our advocacy work, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to their elders past and present.
Background
The issue of children’s safety in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services has become a central issue for Australian governments and parents around Australia following the arrest of two educators charged with numerous cases of child sexual abuse in Queensland in August 2023 and Victoria in May 2025, and two charged with assault of a toddler in New South Wales in July 2025. An ongoing Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) investigation into child safety in the ECEC sector has been the main source of publicly available information on incidents of abuse and follow up.
We note that the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) published a Review of Child Safety Arrangements under the National Quality Framework (Child Safety Review) in December 2023. Following a consultation period which closed in June 2025, a Decision Regulation Impact Statement (DRIS) was published in mid-August 2025. Federal, state and territory governments have responded with a raft of measures and are working on joint initiatives to improve child safety. Our understanding is that options agreed by Education Ministers in August 2025 will proceed to legislation through the Victorian Parliament (as the host jurisdiction of the National Law) for adoption by other jurisdictions. Timeframes for legislative amendments to take effect will be determined by Education Ministers. Legislation was also introduced and passed by the Australian Parliament in July 2025 to address a number of key issues relating to child safety and quality in ECEC in Australia, regulation, compliance and training.
Improving productivity
The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) is a leading advocate for gender equality in Australia, independent of party politics and dedicated to promoting and protecting women’s rights through policy advocacy, research, and education.
The evidence globally and in Australia is clear that advances towards gender equality contribute to nations’ resilience, deliver economic gains and accelerate productivity.i Despite progress on improving gender equality in Australia, women are still more likely to work part time, be underemployed, and experience lower pay and job security compared to men.
NFAW congratulates the Government on its work on Gender Responsive Budgeting and gender impact analysis in its Budget processes. The Working for Women Strategy is an important milestone for gender equality in Australia and a useful framework. There is more to be done to align all government processes to integrate gender equality considerations.
This submission seeks to inform the Economic Reform Roundtable of the productivity benefits from investing in gender equality.
Australia must recognise that supporting gender equality is an investment
Reducing gender wage gaps is not an inefficiency but an overall better utilisation of women’s skills, and so an economy-wide productivity gain.
Building economic resilience in the face of global uncertainty
Introduction
The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) is a leading advocate for gender equality in Australia, independent of party politics and dedicated to promoting and protecting women’s rights through policy advocacy, research, and education.
The evidence globally and in Australia is clear that advances towards gender equality contribute to nations’ resilience, deliver economic gains and accelerate productivity.i Despite progress on improving gender equality in Australia, women are still more likely to work part time, be underemployed, and experience lower pay and job security compared to men.
NFAW congratulates the Government on its work on Gender Responsive Budgeting and gender impact analysis in its Budget processes. The Working for Women Strategy is an important milestone for gender equality in Australia and a useful framework. There is more to be done to align all government processes to integrate gender equality considerations.
This submission seeks to inform the Economic Reform Roundtable of the gender implications of building economic resilience and the benefits from investing in gender equality.
Workplace flexibility is improving but is at risk, and there is more to be done
Strengthening budget sustainability
Introduction
The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) is a leading advocate for gender equality in Australia, independent of party politics and dedicated to promoting and protecting women’s rights through policy advocacy, research, and education.
The evidence globally and in Australia is clear that advances towards gender equality contribute to nations’ resilience, deliver economic gains and accelerate productivity.i Despite progress on improving gender equality in Australia, women are still more likely to work part time, be underemployed, and experience lower pay and job security compared to men.
NFAW congratulates the Government on its work on Gender Responsive Budgeting and gender impact analysis in its Budget processes. The Working for Women Strategy is an important milestone for gender equality in Australia and a useful framework. There is more to be done to align all government processes to integrate gender equality considerations.
This submission seeks to inform the Economic Reform Roundtable of the gender implications of Budget processes and the advantages of progressing gender equality, particularly focussing on the third theme of strengthening Budget sustainability.
Australia should increase and broaden the tax base, and make it more progressive
We urge the next Government to be bold and to continue to progress the gender reforms initiated by the 47th Parliament.
NFAW has examined the policy areas that are of most relevance to the economic wellbeing of women, and our analysis shows that the Albanese Government has placed gender reform at the core of its decision making, improving the lives of many women.
The heart of those reforms has been in the machinery of government: ensuring that policy decisions include analysis of the effects on women; revitalising the Women’s Budget; and strengthening the role of WGEA.
The changes to the Fair Work Act and the implementation of Gender Panels; higher wages in the care sector, a highly feminised workforce; the extension of childcare and progressing aged care reforms will all benefit women.
There are still policy areas that need attention. Climate change is real, and women bear the burden of disaster recovery; and women receiving Jobseeker and other welfare payments are living in poverty.
Affordable housing, whether as a homeowner or renter, is a matter of urgency. We urge the incoming Government to accelerate programs that have been commenced – not change course.
We are facing geo-political uncertainty. The incoming government could see this as a sign to apply the brakes on programs that address inequality.
We call on the incoming government to be bold and continue to invest in programs that reduce gender and intergenerational inequality.
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| Professor Helen Hodgson Chair Social Policy Committee |
Marie Coleman AO PSM Advisor to Social Policy Committee |
The National Foundation for Australian Women welcomes the announcement by the Assistant Minister for Women, Kate Thwaites, on 29 October 2024 that the Australian Government has finalised a new set or agreements for five National Women’s Alliances.
These organisations play a crucial role in coordinating and supporting women’s organisations and feminist movements in Australia and have done so since 2012.
The new arrangements represent some continuity, but also disruption to the sector.
Jane Madden, President of NFAW said: “The loss of the Equality Rights Alliance, which decided not to continue, will be missed. NFAW stands ready to work in close collaboration with the new Working with Women Alliance, led by the YWCA of Canberra. We look forward to participating to ensure the new Alliance is established on feminist principles of collegiality, participation, and openness”.
NFAW expects that working with the new alliance will help to strengthen and hold the government to account for the Implementation of the Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality announced on the 7 March 2024.
About the National Foundation for Australian Women:
NFAW is a leading feminist organisation in Australia dedicated to promoting and protecting women’s rights through policy advocacy, research and education.
www.nfaw.org
For more information, contact:
Jane Madden, President, 0406 384 672
Sally Moyle, Vice President, 0400 167 927
The Government's refusal to include questions on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in the 2026 Census is a troubling and distressing decision that undermines the inclusion of Australia’s LGBTQIA+ community. While the Government claims to be avoiding divisive debates on sensitive topics, its actions have only deepened the sense of exclusion felt by LGBTQIA+ individuals across the nation.
The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) has been closely monitoring these developments with growing concern. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) dedicated considerable time and effort to consulting LGBTQIA+ communities and expert stakeholders on the proposed Census questions, only for their work to be dismissed by political leaders.
Commenting on this week’s reluctant concession to include a single question on sexuality is inadequate Sally Moyle, Vice President of the NFAW says, “this action fails to recognize the diverse experiences of trans, intersex, and gender-fluid communities. While it may seem like a small step forward, it directly contradicts the Government’s own guidelines, published just in July, which emphasize the importance of considering “sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics, and sexual orientation at all stages of the research project”.
The National Foundation for Australian Women calls on the Government to reverse its decision and to allow, for the first time, the Australian Census to properly and fully count the LGBTQIA+ community.
Says Moyle, “this blatant political interference in scientific research further marginalizes a community already too often used as a political football, undermining the potential for accurate health and social policy development”.
About the National Foundation for Australian Women:
NFAW is a leading feminist organisation in Australia dedicated to promoting and protecting women’s rights through policy advocacy, research and education.
www.nfaw.org
For more information, contact:
Sally Moyle, Vice President, 0400 167 927
Helen Hodgson, Chair, Social Policy Committee, 0418 906 162 (note WA)
NFAW's 2024 Federal Budget gender lens analysis finds that the budget's initiatives only partially reflect the ambition outlined in the Government's Working for Women—A Strategy for Gender Equality, released in March.
While there are some commendable efforts to include gender impact analysis, particularly women's careers in the Future Made in Australia program, it has not yet been fully integrated across the entire budget process.
"The government's efforts in integrating gender analysis into the budget process, including requiring gender impact assessments for significant project proposals, are commendable," said Sally Moyle, Acting NFAW President.
"Nonetheless, NFAW urges further investment in gender-responsive budgeting, capacity development across government, and enhanced monitoring and accountability mechanisms."
"Working for Women acknowledges the economic disadvantage that women experience," said Professor Helen Hodgson, Chair of the NFAW Social Policy Committee.
"While some of the budget measures will reduce that disadvantage, the budget lacks ambition overall.
"The Working for Women strategy has set high expectations for real and ambitious action. NFAW calls on the Government to realise these commitments in forthcoming budgets, ensuring comprehensive and sustained progress towards gender equality."
Key budget highlights:
Despite these positive measures, NFAW is concerned about several critical areas:
Read the 2024 Federal Budget gender lens analysis in full
About the National Foundation for Australian Women:
NFAW is a leading advocate for gender equality in Australia, independent of party politics and dedicated to promoting and protecting women's rights through policy advocacy, research, and education.
For more information, contact:
Sally Moyle, Acting NFAW President, 0400 167 927
Professor Helen Hodgson, Chair Social Policy Committee, 0418 906 162 (note AWST)
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In March 2024 the Australian Government released “Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality”. This strategy identified five key priority areas to address the economic inequality that women experience. The five areas that the Government identified are:
This is the framework that NFAW has adopted this year in our analysis of the 2024-25 Budget.
We welcome the headline measures that restructure the stage 3 tax cuts and superannuation on Commonwealth funded Paid Parental Leave, both measures that we have been calling for in our previous Gender Lens projects. These will particularly help women, as shown in our detailed analysis of these measures.
But there is a lack of ambition and structural reform across key portfolios.
The most intractable issues relate to the effect that the Gender Pay Gap has on women’s earnings, and the causes of that pay gap. The Government supports higher wages in the Aged Care and ECEC sectors, but there is still work to be done in this space, including the feminised professions of teaching and nursing that are largely funded by the states and territories.
We welcome the Women’s Budget Paper that has again identified some of the key initiatives and outcomes across portfolios. These examples are based on the requirement that Departments and Agencies implement gender responsive budgeting.
We note that OECD best practice for Gender Responsive Budgeting includes an assessment of the impact of budgets as part of the implementation. It is in that spirit that we present our independent analysis: A Gender Lens on the Budget: 2024-25.
In addition to the authors named on the papers NFAW would like to thank the editorial team of: Jennifer Bushell; Caroline Edwards; Helen Innes; and Mary Welsh. We also acknowledge the work of Dr Kathy MacDermott as principal editor over previous years that has shaped this year’s Gender Lens.
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| Professor Helen Hodgson Chair Social Policy Committee |
Marie Coleman AO PSM Advisor to Social Policy Committee |