We respect the right of first nations women and girls to set the priorities for their future, grounded in first nation ways of working and understand of your own needs, as set out in the implementation statement.
We recommend that the issues around advocacy must be clarified though legislation to ensure consistency of administration. We are of the view that theNFP sector is currently under resourced.Donors, quite rightly, prefer to see their funding directed to the cause and not to administration costs. However, governance and increasing reliance on technology has limited the capacity of volunteers to resource and manage organisations.This can only be addressed through a level of professionalisation that must be funded appropriately through government support.
Consent – and how it is defined and defended – goes to the heart of upholding women’s rights to bodily autonomy, agency and self-determination. Without control over their own bodies and selves, women are far less likely to be able to access broader legal, political and economic rights. Personal agency includes the right to decide freely when and with whom to have sex.
mproving decision-making around future pandemics requires an understanding of the decision-making that underpinned Australia’s COVID-19 response – not only how decisions were made, but also by whom and on what basis.
The terms of reference of this inquiry are extensive, however we particularly note that the inquiry is focussed on matters that are within the scope of the Victorian Government. The National Foundation for Australian Women has been engaged in a program of work that looks at workforce conditions for women, including many of the areas referenced in the terms of reference of this enquiry.
In the course of our submission, we make some remarks critical of two key recommendations from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) submission. The burden of our concern is the deregulatory approach underpinning both of these recommendations.
The National Foundation for Australian Women strongly supports the following measures – Improving women’s economic security through access to more affordable child care (including raising the Child Care Subsidy from 85% to 95% for low income families) and NSW Government commitment to support vulnerable families in accessing child care places.