We gave it an assessment of “Needs Improvement”.
Though the 2021-2022 Budget took some important steps to recognise the issues facing women in Australia today, it was a missed opportunity for significant structural and economic reform to achieve a gender-equal society.
It was very clear the Women’s Budget initiatives were a quickly cobbled together response to the government’s newfound realisation, following the widespread support for the March4Justice, of the urgency of issues around women’s safety, economic security and health and wellbeing.
Re-introduction of the Women’s Budget Statement is welcomed and must be retained, to provide an evidence-based account of the issues faced by Australian women today and improved transparency of funding.
The key women’s initiatives in the Budget are also welcomed but do not go far enough, are unlikely to provide the long term structural change needed to achieve gender equality.
And a $3.4 billion investment towards women is less than 1% of overall budget, far short of what it could and should be.
Read our summary response to the Budget here
Read our full response and our assessment against each dimension of the Gender Equality Manifesto
