Sex roles and stereotyping
3.1 Australia's commitment to breaking down gender stereotyping is widespread at the national, and state and territory levels. In recent years, the focus on establishing better work-life balance and greater involvement by fathers in parenting has helped increase community awareness about these issues and created wider work and life choices for many women.
Modifying social and cultural patterns of conduct
Responsibilities relating to family
3.2 The burden of caring for children, elderly parents, and people with disability, and for doing housework, continues to fall disproportionately to Australian women. For more information about caring and its effects on women's social and economic participation, see paragraphs 9.21 to 9.30 and 11.4 to 11.7.
3.3 For the first time, in the 2006 Census Australians were asked to report the number of hours per week spent in unpaid work. Men were more likely than women to spend less than five hours per week in unpaid work, whereas women were more likely to spend five hours or more engaged in unpaid tasks. Women were 4.5 times more likely than men to spend 30 hours or more per week in unpaid work.9 In Australia, marriage increases the time women spend in unpaid work, but men's housework contributions decline when they marry. Parenthood increases couples' time in unpaid work, but the effects are greater for mothers than for fathers.10
Balancing family responsibilities
3.4 In 2004, Australian, state and territory and New Zealand women's ministers agreed that the engagement of men and boys in working toward gender equality should be pursued. Ministers also agreed to encourage relevant ministries to promote the benefits of parenting to men and help them better parent their children. Since then, the Australian Government Office for Women has collected information from jurisdictions on initiatives to engage fathers in parenting.
3.5 One of these initiatives includes the New South Wales Office for Women's support for the production of the You're a parent now DVD in 2007. The DVD aims to assist new mothers and fathers improve their relationship and communication skills so they can better support their children's development. The DVD is distributed through all public hospitals.
3.6 In December 2006, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Human Services tabled a report in the Parliament of Australia on balancing work and family.11 The report addresses a broad spectrum of issues, including social change since the 1960s, the tax system, the welfare system, fertility, workplace relations, child care, and care of people with disability. The report discusses how each of these issues affects others and makes 19 recommendations; most focus on child care.
3.7 In 2007, the Australian Human Rights Commission provided a report to the Australian Government entitled It's about time: Women, men, work and family. This report examined issues associated with balancing family responsibilities and paid work. This included issues related to achieving balance within families, such as the gender relations that underpin the lives that men and women lead, and the legal, policy and attitudinal frameworks that affect the range of men's and women's choices. The report made 42 recommendations for policy and legislative change, including that the Government developed education and awareness campaigns regarding sharing care and other unpaid work.
3.8 States and territories have also implemented tailored programs in their jurisdictions to encourage work-life balance-for instance, South Australia released a strategic plan in 2004 (updated in 2007) which includes a target to improve the quality of life of all South Australians through maintenance of a healthy work-life balance. The target's aim is to enable more men to have time for family commitments and more women to participate in paid work while better balancing family commitments.
3.9 In February 2007, South Australia established the Parliamentary Select Committee Inquiry into Balancing Work and Life Responsibilities to examine best practice employment standards, economic arguments for work-life balance, and the impact of Australian and South Australian industrial relations' changes. The committee presented its final report to the South Australian Parliament on 9 April 2008 and the South Australian Government will respond later in the year.
3.10 The Australian Government funds the Family Relationships Services Program, which includes two major components, designed to encourage men to participate in the care of their families and children. The program delivers counselling, relationship education and skills training, support and family dispute resolution services to men and their families to help them improve and better manage their relationships with their partners, ex-partners, children and step-children. Family Relationship Education and Skills Training is a preventative education program that helps men and women develop the skills to foster positive, stable relationships with their partner or family. Using this preventative approach, services also promote positive parenting and non-violent problem solving.
Portrayal of women in the media
3.11 The Australian Government broadcasting industry codes of practice deal with content matters, including the harmful and negative portrayal of women in broadcast media. The Australian Communications and Media Authority is responsible for registering and administering the codes of practice.
3.12 The Australian Government Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice and Commercial Radio Codes of Practice advise broadcasters to avoid placing inappropriate emphasis on gender, or on physical characteristics and stereotyped gender portrayals. As well, the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice encourages broadcasters to try to achieve a better balance when using women and men as 'experts' and to include more coverage of the achievements of women in areas like sport.
3.13 The Living in Harmony program is the Australian Government's key anti-racism program and aims to address issues of cultural, racial and religious intolerance by promoting respect, fairness, inclusion and a sense of belonging for everyone. The program is a community-based education initiative that seeks to strengthen community relations through a range of funding and information strategies. In line with the Beijing Platform for Action, paragraph 243(c), which relates to portrayal of women in the media, the program encourages fair and appropriate reporting of diversity issues, including the multiple roles of women, by producing specific university and cadet journalism curriculum materials.
3.14 In 2004, the Victorian Government introduced the Victorian Government Gender Portrayal Guidelines. These were developed in consultation with key industry groups and stakeholders, for use in the Government's media, advertising and public relations campaigns.
3.15 In 2005 Queensland adopted the Smart Women - Smart State strategy, a whole-of-government framework, designed to increase women's participation in education, training and employment, particularly in the areas of science, engineering and technology where women are under-represented. A Taskforce is currently focused on delivering the Smart State Strategy: Science, Engineering and Technology Action Plan (2006 - 2009), a 12 point Action Plan which aims to enhance girls' and women's participation in science, engineering and technology. Since 2003, the Queensland Office for Women has coordinated the annual Smart Women - Smart State Awards, which recognise achievements by women in science, engineering and technology. The Queensland Office for Women also delivers the Queensland Government's Women in Hard Hats strategy, which aims to promote careers and encourage greater participation by women in non-traditional employment in the mining and construction industries, as well as in emerging science and technology fields.
Educating men and boys
3.16 The Australian Human Rights Commission plays an important role in educating the community about human rights and responsibilities.
3.17 Australia's education system also promotes human rights education through civics and citizenship education. National Statements of Learning for Civics and Citizenship agreed by all states and territories recognise that civics and citizenship aspects of curricula in Australia help promote an appreciation of the local, state/territory, national, regional and global rights and responsibilities of citizenship and civic life.
3.18 Australia's agreed National Goals for Schooling state that schooling in Australia should be socially just, so that students' outcomes from schooling are free from the effects of negative forms of discrimination based on sex, language, culture and ethnicity, religion or disability; and of differences arising from students' socioeconomic background or geographic location.
3.19 The Australian Capital Territory has embedded issues of access and equity, valuing the contributions of girls and women, and the critical analysis of gender perspectives in its school curricula, which is supported by a gender equity strategy for schools.
3.20 For more information about human rights education in Australia, see paragraphs 91 to 94 in Australia's Common Core Document, June 2006.
Indigenous men's initiatives
3.21 As part of the Indigenous Women's Development program, established in 2004, funding was provided for interactive learning sessions where Indigenous men discussed issues their families and communities faced and developed leadership strategies for reconnecting men with their family and community responsibilities. This led to the development of a men's leadership program, which among other things, focuses on community leadership, conflict management skills, strengthening community participation, and promoting community awareness of family violence.