Policy D5: Women

1.      women have the right to equal respect, responsibilities and rewards in society.

2.      women have the right to equal access and participation in decision-making processes in all areas of political, social, intellectual and economic endeavour.

3.      women have the right to freedom from violence.

4.      women have the right to equal pay for work of equal value, and to have their unpaid caring responsibilities acknowledged and properly valued throughout their lifetime.

5.      women have the right to make informed, supported choices about all aspects of their lives, including sexual identity, health, reproductive health processes, birthing and child-bearing, and how they balance participation in paid work with caring responsibilities.

6.      social structures which disadvantage women must be changed.

7.      all public policy and legislation to be consistent with Australia's commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the UN Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

8.      equal representation of women and men in public life.

9.      women to be able to live their lives free from violence.

10. equal pay for equal work that acknowledges and values women's specific interaction with the paid workforce.

11. women to have access to safe and confidential health and wellbeing services, including reproductive health services.

12. women to have equal access to appropriate well-resourced education services, from early childhood education through to higher education, which recognise the specific barriers women face in accessing education.

13. women to have access to safe and secure accommodation through a comprehensive housing policy and the provision of adequate crisis housing.

14. family-friendly workplaces and public spaces.

15. legislate to remove sources of discrimination against women.

16. address the negative effects - physical, emotional and economic - of violence against women, through adequately funded, appropriate health and education programs.

17. further develop and support national anti-violence public education campaigns and programs, including family violence.

18. end the criminalisation of consensual adult sex work.

19. implement the National Maternity Action Plan.

20. ensure that all women have access to legal, free and safe pregnancy termination services including unbiased counselling.

21. improve women's access to crisis services, including housing, especially in rural, regional and remote areas.

22. ensure access to culturally appropriate crisis services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

23. fully fund paid parental leave.

24. fund community-based affordable, accessible, quality childcare and provide incentives for on-site childcare facilities in workplaces.

25. recognise and give due weight to the work of those involved in homemaking, child raising, caring for the elderly or disabled and working for community organisations by including those activities in the calculation of national economic measures.

26. introduce an equitable retirement income system that effectively and adequately provides women with financial independence when they retire.

27. re-establish the federal Office for the Status of Women, including its position as part of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

28. develop and support programs to increase the skills of women as candidates and members of Parliament and to actively promote women to stand as candidates for election.