The Office for Women provides secretariat services to the:
Commonwealth, State, Territory and New Zealand Ministers' Conference on the Status of Women (MINCO)
The objectives of MINCO are:
- to provide a Commonwealth/State mechanism for the coordination and development of policies which affect the status of women especially on those issues which cross Commonwealth/State, Territory and New Zealand borders;
- to facilitate action on matters of mutual concern; and
- to refer and/or present agreed issues and strategies to other Ministerial groupings.
MINCO meets annually.
The Secretariat is provided by the Office for Women:
MINCO Secretariat
Office for Women
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
PO Box 7576
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610
Email OfW (women@fahcsia.gov.au)
Phone: 1800 808 863
Fax: (02) 6212 9572
Women's Advisers Meeting (WAM)
The Standing Committee of Commonwealth/State Women's Advisers (Women's Advisers Meeting or WAM) is a consultative forum for strategic discussion, exchange of information and co-ordination of Commonwealth and State activities pertaining to women. The Standing Committee serves as the "officials group" for the Commonwealth/State Ministers' Conference on the Status of Women, and meets four times per year.
National Women’s Safety Taskforce
The National Women’s Safety Taskforce addresses the three issues of women’s safety: sexual assault, domestic violence and Indigenous family violence.
The National Women’s Safety Taskforce:
- identifies opportunities for strategic collaboration between all jurisdictions to enhance knowledge and develop good practice, building on the outcomes of the Partnerships Against Domestic Violence and informed by:
- National Roundtable on Sexual Assault;
- Ministerial Council on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs;
- Attorney-General’s National Crime Prevention Programme; and
- relevant initiatives within jurisdictions.
- identifies areas that may benefit from national coordination and collaboration in policy and programme responses to sexual assault, domestic violence and Indigenous family violence.
- facilitates and supports national collaborative policy approaches, programme planning and initiatives.
- promotes the sharing of knowledge and the dissemination of information on preventing and responding to sexual assault; domestic violence and Indigenous family violence, including the effectiveness of programmes and initiatives currently funded by states, territories, the Commonwealth or New Zealand, or through joint funding arrangements.
- reports annually to the Ministerial Council (MINCO)
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Gathering (NATSIWG)
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Gathering Working Group is an important voice for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women of Australia.
The Indigenous Women’s Gathering was established by the Officials Meeting of the Commonwealth, State, Territory and New Zealand Ministers Conference on the Status of Women (MINCO) in 2002 to address the issues relating specifically to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women.
The NATSIWG represent the views of women through consultation with the women's sector, their own constituencies, and organisations relevant to women's concerns. Its main goals are about advancing the economic, social and spiritual well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and to achieve progress and real positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
The gatherings focus on one of the three priority themes from the National Action Plan; women and leadership (boards and policy development); women and safety (family/community violence, child abuse protection); and women and economic security (employment, publicity of achievements, small business, education seminars). These three priority actions are focussed on to address community leadership initiatives, establish programs and services to tackle community dysfunction, and to forge links to the business sector to foster economic independence.
The NATSIWG Working Group advise MINCO on identified national priority issues for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
The Gathering has been held on an annual basis to provide a voice and act as a conduit between MINCO, Officials from the Women’s Advisers Meeting (WAM) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in their local communities. At MINCO 2007 Ministers agreed to fund the Gathering for two years until 2009.