In late June, WWDA CEO Carolyn Frohmader, attended the two-day forum of the National Women’s Alliances (NWAs) – held in Canberra. The Forum was organised by the Office for Women (OFW) to provide the National Women’s Alliances to come together in person; to meet the new Minister for Women, Minister Kay Gallagher, to highlight the work of the NWA’s; to engage with Minister Gallagher to provide key and emerging issues from the each of the NWA’s.
Minister Gallagher addressed the NWA’s to outline the key election commitments from the new Government in relation to gender equality. These include, but are not restricted to:
- Establishing an Independent Women’s Economic Security Taskforce to assist the government in advancing economic equality.
- Developing a National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality
- Providing a gender lens on policy
- Implementing Gender responsive budgeting
- Strengthening the Office for Women
The Office for Women provided information regarding how the NWA’s could be involved in, and influence government policy in relation to gender equality. This includes, for example:
- Providing advice, insights and policy solutions regularly
- Providing evidence to demonstrate the problem and back in the solution
- Participating in roundtables, Working Groups, Forums and responding to consultation requests
- Responding to OFW requests for advice on specific issues,
- Raising priorities and emerging issues of the NWA’s.
The OFW also provided the NWA’s with an overview of its international work, and upcoming key international events. For example, the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will take place in New York in March 2023. The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The CSW takes place each year and has a priority theme. The priority theme for the 67th session is: “innovation and technological change and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.” This is an important event for WWDA, and we will be looking forward for ways we can showcase some of WWDA’s initiatives at CSW67.
The National Women’s Alliances two-day forum was an important opportunity for the Alliances to engage with the new Government and highlight some of the key issues facing those we represent.
For more information on the National Women’s Alliances, go to:
https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/grants-and-funding/national-womens-alliances
For more information on the Office for Women, go to:
