NFAW calls on the Next Government to Continue Progress for Women. We urge the next Government to be bold and to continue to progress the gender reforms initiated by the 47th Parliament.

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 second Albanese Budget builds on the initiatives introduced in the “bread and butter” budget from October 2022. Women’s economic equality was a priority last year, with changes proposed to childcare and paid parental leave (PPL) to enable economic activity.

Since 2014 NFAW has undertaken an in-depth analysis of the Budget papers through a Gender Lens. In 2021 the Government reintroduced a Women’s Budget Statement, but our analysis looks behind this year’s document to separate the facts from the spin; new money from reannouncements; to see what is actually being done to respond to the needs of women.

NFAW is a feminist organisation, independent of party politics. These position papers have been developed by NFAW’s Social Policy Committee to analyse the 2021-2022 Federal Budget and its impacts on women and therefore on the community and the nation as a whole.

These position papers have been developed by NFAW’s Social Policy Committee to summarise 2020-2021 Budget measures of importance to women in Australia. It also contains a summary of modelling on the impacts of increased government expenditure in the care sectors – see Appendix A.

NFAW is dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of Australian women, including 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. NFAW is a feminist organisation, independent of party politics. These position papers have been developed by NFAW’s Social Policy Committee to summarise 2019 Budget measures of importance to women in Australia.

Budget 2018-19 is not a great Budget for Women. That said, it is the first Budget for some time when there have been two women (Sen. Michaelia Cash and Kelly O’Dwyer) members of the Expenditure Review Committee, and where the Minister for Women (O’Dwyer) is an avowed feminist and has expressly required the Office for Women to assist her in her role on the ERC.