Futureproofing Australia: Gender Diversity in Politics

AUTHORS Jennifer Whelan and Jennifer Morris, with the assistance of Melissa Jones.

wfea.org.au

JUNE, 2015

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

CONCLUSION

RESEARCH FINDINGS

RESEARCH FINDINGS

PART 1: CURRENT AND PAST FEMALE ELECTED POLITICIANS

PART 2: POTENTIAL FEMALE CANDIDATES

1 2

5

3 4

3

7

8

16

19

03 Inspiring and Equipping Women to Succeed in Politics

INTRODUCTION

Inequality in gender representation in politics is a global issue.

As of January 2015:

• Only 22% of all national parliamentarians were female.i

• 10 women served as Head of State and 14 served as

Head of Government.ii

• Rwanda had the highest number of women

parliamentarians worldwide. Women won 63.8% of

seats in the lower house.iii

• Globally, there are 38 States in which women account

for less than 10 per cent of parliamentarians in single

or lower houses.iv

?Why conduct this research?

As UN Secretary General

Mr Ban Ki-Moon identified in 2011 v

Gender equality must be treated as an explicit goal of democracy building, not as an add -on.

04 Women for Election

Entrenched gender inequality in politics has proven to be particularly difficult to address in Australia.

Although Australia has one of the highest education rates of women in the world, this is not reflected

in the proportion of women in senior roles within the Australia political landscape.

Australia ranks 43rdvii of 187 countries internationally for female representation in Parliament. We are

ranked behind countries such as South Sudan, Angola, The Philippines and Zimbabwe.

Equally concerning is the recent downward trend of female participation in Australian political life.

Although women’s representation in Australian politics had increased consistently from 1994 until

2009- peaking at 30.8% across all Australian parliaments in aggregate - this percentage declined to

28.3% in 2012 and only increased very slightly to 29% in 2013.viii

The 2013 election results strengthened the existing imperative for a new approach to addressing

gender inequality in Australian politics (leading to the establishment of Women for Election Australia)

and highlighted the need to clarify the key challenges and issues for Australian female politicians

(resulting in the research in this report).

2013 Australian Federal Election Candidates by Gender

MALE

1,247 (73%)

470 (27%)

FEMALE

In the Federal Election of 2013 there were 470

female candidates of a total of 1717 candidates

(27.7%).vi

Only 39 of the 150 MP’s (26%) were women.

05 Inspiring and Equipping Women to Succeed in Politics

Women for Election Australia (WFEA) is a non-partisan, not for profit organisation which was

established in 2013. WFEA’s vision is to increase the number and influence of women in elected and

appointed office in Australia.

Women for Election Australia

Our Aim is to strengthen our democracy by changing the way politics is done in Australia: to change

entrenched practices and mindsets to enable the leadership potential of women to be fully realised.

As overseas experience has shown, there are meaningful societal benefits for nations that have more

women in parliament: increased female representation in Parliament leads to more representative

and holistic decision-making.

Our Mission is twofold. Firstly, to be a catalyst for change by raising awareness of gender imbalance

in politics and by providing thought leadership through our research and advocacy work. Secondly,

to provide excellent customised training and support in Australia for women to run for office or to

move up the ladder to higher elective office.

Our Unique curriculum is designed by, and for,

women and addresses the particular cultural

challenges faced by women in politics in

Australia.

Our Ultimate Goal is to ensure real and

sustainable change in the political landscape.

Our Focus is non-partisan, based on our

common needs and experiences as political

women, not our differences as political

partisans.

AIM

MISSION

UNIQUE CURRICULUM

ULTIMATE GOAL

FOCUS

06 Women for Election

WFEA invited 53 current female politicians at local, state and federal government levels

and 3 past female politicians, also at all levels of government, to participate in this

research. Women were able to participate either via focus groups (conducted on 20

February and 25 March 2015), one on one interviews or by replying to the questions in

e-mail, as best suited their schedules.

WFEA also conducted in-depth one on one interviews with 5 women between 23-60

years old from different educational and political backgrounds who whilst active in their

community and concerned about issues of social justice, have walked away from a

career in politics. These women were interviewed in order to identify their perceived

barriers to entry to Australian politics, both self-imposed and systemic.

The women who participated in the research, and who consented to being identified,

are listed at Appendix 1. WFEA sought permission from all participants to have their de-

identified responses included in this report which both outlines the challenges faced

by, and explores strategies to increase the number of, women in political public life in

Australia.

A draft copy of the report was made available to all research participants prior to this

research being published to give participants the opportunity to ensure that they could

not be inadvertently identified by their responses.

Methodology

1

2

3

4

07 Inspiring and Equipping Women to Succeed in Politics

All current or past politician research

participants were asked the following

questions:

1. What are the key challenges women find

when standing for election and when in

office?

2. What do you know now that you wish

you knew ‘back then’ when you started in

politics?

3. What are the key challenges facing the

next generation of women entering

parliament and what skills will the next

generation of female politicians need

to equip them for the future? Are they

different to the challenges you faced? If

so, how?

Time permitting, research participants were

also asked the following questions:

4. If a program like WFEA had been offered

to you at the beginning of your political

career, would you have taken it up? If not,

why not?

5. What are the central training and support

needs of women who have already

succeeded in Australian politics?

6. Despite the challenges what has kept

you in politics and what qualities have

enabled you to stay?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The one-on-one interviews and focus groups were semi-structured so participants were able to also

raise other issues that were of concern to them. These responses are reported under the heading:

7. “Other matters of concern raised by participants”.

The women who, whilst active in their community and concerned about issues of social justice, have

walked away from or discounted a career in politics were asked the following questions:

1. What perceptions do you have about the political arena which might make you hesitant about

entering into politics?

2. What are the personal factors/information deficits that you identify as inhibiting you from

considering entering politics?

08 Women for Election

RESEARCH FINDINGS

CURRENT AND PAST FEMALE ELECTED POLITICIANS

What are the key challenges facing female politicians in Australia?

QUESTION 1 The research participants identified five key challenges: cash and career, candidate selection,

culture, childcare and family and a conflict of values.

Participants noted both that funding a campaign is expensive (‘costs $5,000 -$7,000 and must be

self- funded’), that a career in politics often means a drop in salary, that local government councillors

do not receive superannuation and that there are no clear career advancement pathways in politics

(‘there is no set career path so it’s difficult to navigate’).

Participants identified four central issues regarding candidate selection.

i. The long lead in time required (‘You need to commit to attending party meetings and lobbying 6

years before next pre-selection’).

ii. A lack of understanding about the mechanics of how you join a political party and a lack of

practical support (‘It’s difficult to do all of the paperwork… in local government, you must have

an electoral officer’).

iii. The brutality of the pre-selection and campaign process (‘The campaign process can be more

brutal than the job