The Government is committed to strengthening the provision of gender analysis, advice and mainstreaming across Government. The Minister for the Status of Women works with other Government Ministers to ensure that women’s issues and gender equality are taken into consideration in policy and program development and implementation.
The Office for Women (OfW) supports the Minister in this role, and is the central source of advice for Government agencies on the impact of Government policies and programs for Australian women.
OfW is working across Government to support Minister’s and their portfolios to achieve Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards.
Elizabeth Broderick, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner within the Australian Human Rights Commission to external website, and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, both also carry out important gender analysis across a range of policy issues.
The OfW has strengthened its role in advising Government agencies on the gender dimensions of policy and program development and implementation. For example, the Office for Women now provides advice on the gender dimensions of policy submissions to Cabinet Ministers, to ensure gender equality is considered in the early stages of policy development. This represents a key step in ensuring gender mainstreaming is implemented across Government.
More work aimed at establishing gender analysis as a key element of policy making will continue over the next months.