The United Nation’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Count her in: Invest in women. Accelerate progress’. This theme focuses on strengthening women’s economic inclusion through providing the tools and opportunities to participate in economic decision-making. Women’s economic empowerment assists to close gaps in pay, industry employment, occupation choices and transitional pathways, while their higher workforce participation generally leads to better health, education, and political outcomes. This article summarises key employment and business statistics for women (15 to 64 years unless otherwise noted), their involvement in agriculture, he... Read more...
On 6 March 2024 Senator Penny Wong becomes the longest serving female Cabinet Minister. Her cumulative 2,769 days in Cabinet (over 7 and a half years from 2007–13 and 2022 onwards) sees her overtake fellow South Australian Amanda Vanstone (who served from 1996–7 and 2001–7). Upon such a notable achievement, this Flagpost article reflects on the broader history of women in Cabinet and highlights their important and varied contributions. Read more...
From 11 to 22 March, the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is scheduled to hold its 68th annual meeting, as the ‘principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women’. Australia played a formative role in establishing the CSW in 1946, and recently concluded a membership term from 2020 to 2023. This Flagpost gives an overview of some of the key Australian women who helped establish the CSW and direct its functions and efforts in the early years. Read more...
In this month’s release: Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and latest schools data Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ABS Building Approvals, January 2024 4 Mar ABS Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Method... Read more...
The second House of Representatives (HoR) debating venue, the Federation Chamber, is unique among Australian Parliaments. 30 years ago amendments to the Standing Orders (SOs) were made on 10 February 1994, to establish a second chamber to function in parallel to the HoR. After an existing committee room in Parliament House was refurbished at a cost of $854,902 (p. 51), the inaugural meeting of the second chamber was held 4 months later on 8 June 1994. It was on that occasion, John Howard remarked: If the Main Committee can add to the intelligent dispatch of business and, in this rather more intimate atmosphere, lift the quality of debate on some of the less cont... Read more...
In this month’s release: The health of the nation and the latest data on food insecurities in Australian households. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ABS Building Approvals, December 2023 1 Feb ABS International Trade Price Indexes, December 2023 1 Feb ABS Producer Price Indexes, December 2023 2 Feb ... Read more...
The Australia, UK and US enhanced defence and security partnership (AUKUS Partnership) can be expected to bring significant change to Australia’s defence trade control framework. Ahead of Parliament debating the Defence Trade Controls Amendment Bill, this article provides background by briefly explaining Australia’s current defence export regulatory framework. Read more...
A by-election for the federal electoral division of will occur on Saturday 2 March 2024. The seat has been vacant since 4 December, following the death of Peta Murphy MP. This Flagpost article provides details of the by-election process, and context regarding previous by-elections. Read more...
Welcome to the new year. In this month’s release: Injuries in Australia, including those caused by extreme weather and sports injuries; Rental Affordability Index report and 2022 Retirement Census. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ANZ ANZ Job Advertisements, December 2023 4 Jan ABS Retail Trade, November 2023 ... Read more...
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases quarterly estimates of employed people by industry (in their main job, if a person holds more than one job) in the publication Labour Force, Australia, Detailed. Quarterly data is available since November 1984, with the most recent data being August 2023. Read more...
Flagpost is a blog on current issues of interest to members of the Australian Parliament
Blog entries
Senate
House of Representatives
Get informed
Bills
Committees
Get involved
Visit Parliament
