WOMEN’S SAFETY, ECONOMIC EQUITY, HEALTH AND REPRESENTATION

Women’s Safety, Economic Equity, Health and Representation

Women and gender-diverse people are all too often discriminated against in the workplace with lower wages, and workplaces not suited to their needs. Gendered violence is still an epidemic. Women and gender-diverse people struggle to get their healthcare needs met.

Australia has also been shocked in the last few years by the revelations of a culture of inappropriate behaviour and scandals that makes politics and parliaments unsafe places for women.

The Greens will continue to work to ensure that all women are safe, have equal opportunities and economic equality, are free from violence and harassment, and have the right to access free, safe sexual and reproductive health care.

We need change across workplaces, in our homes and out in the community for women and gender-diverse people to achieve equality.

Gendered violence is rising and The Greens have long pushed for urgent action to tackle this crisis. No one should be left without support. Frontline domestic and sexual violence services need to be fully funded. First Nations women, women from culturally diverse backgrounds, women in regional areas, older women, LGBTIQ+ women, and women with disabilities experience a disproportionate level of violence and economic insecurity and should be at the forefront of all responses to this epidemic of violence.

Improving women’s working lives, including with genuine workplace flexibility, equal pay and financial support for those in unpaid work is vital for gender equity.

The Greens will ensure that everyone has access to free and safe sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Increasing numbers of women are facing homelessness, with older women at particularly high risk of not being able to find a safe and affordable place to live. The Greens will fund massive increases in public and affordable housing so that everyone has a secure place to call home.

Women’s Safety

Everyone has a right to live safely and free from fear, but sexual, domestic and family violence is at crisis levels. One in four women experience sexual violence, and one woman is killed every week in Australia by a current or former partner. Meanwhile, frontline gendered violence services are overworked, underfunded and unable to meet demand, leaving many women without the support they need and deserve.

The Greens are committed to ending gendered violence with strategies at every point of intervention, from preventative education to crisis support, recovery services and legal assistance.

The Greens plan for Women’s Safety includes:

  • Fully funding frontline domestic and sexual violence services to meet demand, including by supporting women’s refuges to increase capacity and by ensuring no call to the Sexual Violence Helpline goes unanswered
  • Increasing funding for safe and holistic trauma recovery services, including for the ground-breaking Illawarra Women’s Trauma Recovery Centre
  • Increasing legal assistance funding for women and support women engaging in the justice system through comprehensive funding for Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services
  • Increasing funding for and the number of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations that deliver specialist support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experiencing sexual, domestic and family violence
  • Developing primary prevention programs for whole of community education of gendered violence and abuse, focusing on young people and frontline workforces 
  • Investing in the specialist sexual, domestic and family violence workforce with a commitment to a ten year workforce development strategy and more secure funding for the sector
  • Fully implementing the recommendations of the NSW Women’s Alliance 2023 Election Platform calling for Action to End Gendered Violence

Read More Here

Women’s Economic Equity

The gender pay gap is unacceptable. The wage cap imposed by the government on the public sector means that public sector workers have had real wages cuts. The workers hit hardest by these cuts are the lowest paid workers, who are predominantly women. Wages for teachers, nurses, midwives, paramedics and early childhood educators are simply too low.

Women are also predominantly those taking on unpaid work in our communities. Whether it be parenting, caring or volunteering, this vital contribution to society should be recognised and endorsed. The Greens have a plan to ensure that everyone in our society receives a universal wellbeing payment – an amount that allows them not just to survive, but to thrive.

The Greens plan includes:

  • Scrapping the public sector pay cap, which disproportionately affects highly feminised industries like teaching, nursing and early childhood education
  • Ensuring equal pay for equal work, and that women are free from systemic discrimination in workplace conditions, employment relationships and opportunities for promotion or advancement
  • Ensuring equal access to toilets for women in all trades and professions, including in male dominated industries
  • Mandating equal pay, prize money and opportunity for women in sport
  • Ensuring that unpaid work is appropriately recognised with access to the Universal Wellbeing Payment, a basic income for everyone
  • Ensuring women are adequately and equally represented in the enterprise bargaining process across all sectors
  • Addressing the homelessness crisis for older women and women at risk with a massive boost to funding for specialist older women’s housing and homelessness services
  • Pioneering regulatory changes to better empower women’s financial independence and protect against financial abuse

Women’s Health

The Greens plan for women’s health focuses on access to healthcare, with particular focus on reproductive healthcare, culturally safe care, and principles of universal healthcare. We believe that reproductive health care - including contraception and fertility treatment, maternity care and abortion, menopause care and gender affirming care - are essential components of comprehensive health care. We will ensure that this essential care is available across NSW, no matter your postcode or your income. We affirm every person’s right to make their own reproductive health choices.

The Greens plan for Women’s Health includes:

  • Access to free and safe sexual and reproductive healthcare, including:
    • Abortions
    • Pre and post-menopausal care, and HRT treatment
    • Contraception
    • Pre, ante and post-natal care
  • Better access to abortion, particularly in regional NSW
  • Agency and continuity for patients in maternal and birthing services
  • Birthing on Country and culturally safe birthing programs for First Nations women
  • Free period products across public schools and toilets
  • Increased and adequate funding for women's health centres
  • Increasing funding for safe and holistic trauma recovery services and access to long-term mental health services

Women’s Representation

The Greens want to see women represented equally in our society with opportunities for full participation in all areas of life, especially in government.

Democracy works best when parliament reflects our diverse communities and policies are informed by a range of voices. But to make this a reality, much work needs to be done to change political culture.

We have a strong track record of elected women representatives at federal, state and local government level. Currently five of our six MPs in the NSW Parliament are women.

Our plan includes:

  • Improving participation for women who experience added barriers and intersectional discrimination including First Nations women and women with disabilities, trans women and women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.
  • Legislation to reform and remove sources of direct, indirect and systematic discrimination against women
  • Fully implementing all the recommendations of the Independent Review into bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct at the Parliament of NSW (Broderick review)
  • Mandating the monitoring and reporting of equal opportunity and anti-discrimination strategies and programs
  • Equal access to all forms of education, training and work
  • Ensuring that all reform is consistent with Australia's commitment to the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

 

Reproductive Healthcare For All

Reproductive health care - including contraception and fertility treatment, maternity care and abortion, menopause care and gender affirming care - are essential components of comprehensive health care.

The Greens are committed to this essential care being available across NSW - no matter your postcode or your income. We affirm every person’s right to make their own reproductive health choices.

To achieve this, the Greens will ensure access to free and safe sexual and reproductive healthcare, ensure agency and continuity for patients in maternal and birthing services, promote Birthing on Country and other culturally safe programs, and properly fund women’s health centres.

The Greens plan includes:

  • Provide parents with support from a known midwife (and backup midwife) throughout their pregnancy and birth.
  • Replace the inefficient BirthRate Plus staffing model for midwives with safe midwife staffing ratios and give midwives a 15% pay rise.
  • Improve access to contraception, fertility treatment, abortion, and menopause care through the public health system.
  • Provide free period products in all public toilets and schools.
  • Deliver additional funding of $150 million over 5 years to Women’s Health Centres across the state.

Read more about our Reproductive Healthcare For All plan here