NFAW welcomes the opportunity to respond to this inquiry into the way the Victorian state government budget addresses gender equity. We view the inquiry as particularly timely in the light of its intersection with the government’s Gender Equality Bill. Indeed, our recommendations and discussion largely address the intersection of an annual Women’s Budget Statement (WBS) with the operational arrangements proposed in the Bill. Our full submission is below.

Recommendations:
NFAW welcomes both the introduction of a Gender Equality Bill and the initiation of this inquiry into theconduct of gender budgeting in Victoria. We congratulate the Victorian Government on its leadership in the area of gender-responsive public policy. We do, however, have some concerns regarding the operational arrangements proposed in the Bill as they relate to gender budgeting, and recommend accordingly that:

Recommendation 1: That the Victorian Government set the relevant targets to measure progress of the Gender Equality Strategy Outcomes Framework and establish monitoring and reporting processes.

Recommendation 2: That the Government amend its Gender Equality Bill to require agencies to undertake their budget impact analyses annually; to give legislated stability to targets, indicators and other reporting criteria; and to give implementation monitoring responsibility to an independent entity—either an established NGO or an independent statutory authority.

Recommendation 3: That, in the absence of amendments to the provisions of the Victorian Gender Equality Bill set out in recommendation 2 above, the government provide legislatively for its Parliamentary Budget Office to take on the task of preparing Victoria’s annual WBS. The legislation should mandate comprehensive budget coverage, that is, coverage that identifies both the positive outcomes and the negative impacts of their activities to achieve gender equality.

Recommendation 4: The Office for Women should be tasked and resourced to support departments and agencies to develop spending proposals that are gender sensitive and to understand gender responsive budgeting and gender analysis.

Recommendation 5: That the Victorian Government invite civil society groups representing the interests of women to make their pre-budget submissions earlier in the budget cycle, so that agencies can advise ministers concerning the outcome of those consultations before ministerial priorities are broadly fixed in October.

 

 

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