6 years ago
RECOMMITTING THE NATION TO THE FIGHT FOR GENDER EQUALITY
Kelly O’Dwyer MP
The Minister for Women, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, will be representing Australia at the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) in New York from the 12th until the 15th of March 2018.
“At CSW62 I will recommit Australia to working for global gender equality of all women. Australia has demonstrated leadership at CSW in the past and I intend to continue to lead, particularly on issues of workforce participation and women’s economic empowerment,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
The Australian Government is focussed of improving the lives of Australian women and we are looking forward to sharing our successes and hearing from other nations about their journey.
In particular the Turnbull Government is improving outcomes for Australian women with:
- Strong progress in achieving our targets for improving female workforce participation with a record number of Australian women employed improving their financial security.
- A commitment to female leadership demonstrated by record numbers of women on Australian Government Boards where they are able to influence at the highest levels.
- The development of ground breaking programs to address cyber safety via the work of the eSafety Commissioner and the introduction of legislation to address the devastating occurrence of the non- consensual sharing of intimate images.
- Developing women’s enterprise both in Australia and globally through programs such as the National Innovation and Science Agenda investment in the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship program and the new global Women’s Entrepreneurs and Finance Initiative which provides financial and technical assistance for women-led small and medium enterprises in developing countries.
- The priority theme for CSW62 is Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls. The review theme is Participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communications technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women.
- “The Australian Government is committed to showcasing the knowledge and achievements of Australian women on an international stage and I am delighted that our delegation includes Dr Sharman Stone the Ambassador for Women and Girls, Ms Kate Jenkins, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Ms June Oscar AO, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and our two civil society delegates Dr Pat Hamilton and Ms Jo Stewart-Rattray,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
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With expertise and depth of experience in Australia’s rural and IT sectors respectively I am confident that Dr Hamilton and Ms Stewart-Rattray are extremely well placed to make a valuable contribution to the CSW62 themes.
Both delegates nominated to attend CSW62 through a competitive application process run by The Office for Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.