After more than a decade of neglect, the Albanese Government spent its first years in office addressing some of the most neglected areas of gender equality and developing ambitious infrastructure for future progress, including a 10 year commitment to gender equality: Working for Women: A National Strategy for Gender Equality.
As a result, Australia now ranks 13th in the Global Gender Gap Index, its highest ever position. This concrete progress is to be congratulated. However, the 2026 Budget fails to build on that momentum - investments are diminishing and continued progress is at risk.
There are some positive steps in this Budget (tax reform, child support, funding for the First Nations-led national strategy to end violence), but the environment in which it has landed is fraught. Under these circumstances, a failure of momentum may not be easy to recover.
This Budget has been framed as an economic reset intended to improve intergenerational fairness. Like all of the budgets under the present Government, it is intended to be a gender-responsive budget, incorporating gender impact analysis to reduce gender bias in planning and resourcing across government.
However, there are concerning indications that gender responsive budgeting may not be maturing evenly across government. Economic decisions (NDIS, Defence spending, climate change policy) have been budgeted despite significant, negative gender impacts. Gender responsive budgeting has been the backbone of this progress by the government to date. It must be maintained with energy and resourcing. It should be mandated across government with legislative amendments.
This Gender Lens on the Budget has been produced as an annual report on the implementation of government commitments to gender equality across the federal Budget since 2014. It is developed entirely by volunteer experts giving their time and expertise to holding government to account. This process continues to demonstrate the importance of the unpaid work of the feminist movement in demanding progress towards equality.
NFAW extends our heartfelt thanks to the 40 authors, including those who declined attribution, who created this Gender Lens on the Budget report, to our Directors, and, particularly, to Jen Bushell, our Executive Officer, without whom this report would not be produced.
24 May 2026
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| Sally Moyle Board Chair National Foundation for Australian Women |
Helen Dalley Fisher AM Chair - Policy Committee National Foundation for Australian Women |