RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2014–15              9 July 2014

Representation of women in Australian parliaments 2014

Dr Joy McCann and Janet Wilson

Politics and Public Administration

Executive summary

•       Across Australia women continue to be significantly under-represented in parliament and executive government, comprising less than one-third of all parliamentarians and one-fifth of all ministers.

•       Internationally, Australia’s ranking for women in national government continues to decline when compared with other countries.

•       The representation of women in Australia’s parliaments hovers around the ‘critical mass’ of 30 per cent regarded by the United Nations as the minimum level necessary for women to influence decision-making in parliament.

•       There is no consensus amongst researchers in the field as to why women continue to be under-represented in Australia’s system of parliamentary democracy, although a number of factors contribute to the gender imbalance. This paper includes discussion of some of the structural, social and cultural factors influencing women’s representation including the type of electoral system, the culture of political parties, and the nature of politics and the parliamentary environment in Australia.

•       This updated paper draws on recent data and research to discuss trends and issues relating to women in Australian parliaments within an international context. It includes data on women in leadership and ministry positions, on committees and as candidates in Commonwealth elections. Whilst the focus is on the Commonwealth Parliament, the paper includes comparative information about women in state and territory parliaments. 

•       The issue of gender diversity is also discussed within the broader context of women in leadership and executive decision-making roles in Australia including local government, government boards and in the corporate sector.

Abbreviations

AD: Australian Democrats

ALP: Australian Labor Party

D4D: Dignity for Disability Party

GRN: Australian Greens or the Greens

IND: Independent

IND LAB: Independent Labor

LNP: Liberal National Party

LIB: Liberal Party of Australia

NAT: The Nationals

Introduction

According to the United Nations, women and men should participate equally in the decision-making processes of parliament.[1] As at 7 July 2014 women comprise 29.0 per cent of all parliamentarians in Australia (see Table 1 below), well below the proportion of women in the Australian population (50.2 per cent in the 2011 Census).[2] Despite individual women having held key political leadership positions in recent years—including that of Prime Minister of Australia—women continue to represent less than one-third of all parliamentarians in Australia and occupy one-fifth of all ministry positions.

Women first entered the Commonwealth Parliament in 1943 and female representation remained at less than five per cent until 1980. Since then it has increased very slowly to the current level of 30.5 per cent. This includes 26.7 per cent in the House of Representatives (the lower House) and 38.2 per cent in the Senate (the upper House). In international terms, however, Australia’s comparative ranking for women in national parliaments has steadily declined over the past decade from 20th position in 2001 to 48th in 2014.

There is now a considerable body of research on the issue of women’s parliamentary representation in Australia. Whilst there is no consensus as to why women continue to be under-represented in Australia’s system of parliamentary democracy, researchers have identified a number of factors that are likely to inhibit women’s political participation. These issues, which are discussed further below, include party candidate selection practices, the nature of the electoral system, the challenges women face in balancing work and family responsibilities, discriminatory views about women in politics, and the adversarial nature of the parliamentary environment.[3]

Most statistics are presented as at 30 April 2014. Where possible they have been updated to include the composition of the new Senate as at 7 July 2014.[4]

How does Australia rate?

Parliamentarians

Women currently comprise 29.0 per cent or less than one-third of all Australian parliamentarians, with variations between jurisdictions and chambers (see Table 1 below).

There is a marked difference in the percentage of women in the Senate (38.2 per cent) and House of Representatives (26.7 per cent).[5] This is also the case in three of the five bicameral parliaments: New South Wales (NSW), Western Australia (WA) and Tasmania (Tas.). Of the other two bicameral parliaments, women comprise one-third of both chambers in Victoria (Vic.), while South Australia (SA) has a slightly higher representation in the lower house.[6]

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Legislative Assembly currently has the highest proportion of women members (41.2 per cent), and the Queensland (Qld) Legislative Assembly has the lowest (21.3 per cent). Overall, women have the highest level of representation in the three smallest parliaments: Tasmania (Tas.), Northern Territory (NT) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). See below for a discussion of the influence of electoral systems.

Table 1: Composition of all Australian parliaments by gender, as at 7 July 2014

Parliament

Lower House

Upper House

Total for both chambers

M

F

Total

% F

M

F

Total

% F

M

F

Total

% F

Commonwealth

110

40

150

26.7

47

29

76

38.2

157

69

226

30.5

NSW

74

19

93

20.4

29

13

42

31.0

103

32

135

23.7

Vic.

59

29

88

33.0

27

13

40

32.5

86

42

128

32.8

Qld*

70

19

89

21.3

-

-

-

-

70

19

89

21.3

WA

46

13

59

22.0

21

15

36

41.7

67

28

95

29.5

SA

35

12

47

25.5

17

5

22

22.7

52

17

69

24.6

Tas.

16

9

25

36.0

9

6

15

40.0

25

15

40

37.5

ACT*

10

7

17

41.2

-

-

-

-

10

7

17

41.2

NT*

15

10

25

40.0

-

-

-

-

15

10

25

40.0

Total

435

158

593

26.6

150

81

231

35.1

585

239

824

29.0

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from Commonwealth, state and territory parliamentary websites

*Single chamber only

Leadership positions

The Australian Human Rights Commission’s Gender Equality Blueprint 2010 identified women in leadership as one of five key priority areas in achieving gender equality. Given this objective, how does Australia rate?[7]

Vice-regal positions

Women currently occupy three of the 10 vice-regal positions in Australia, and only one woman will occupy the position at the end of 2014 as follows:

•       Marie Bashir: the first female Governor of New South Wales (appointed 2001, term ends 2014)

•       Penelope Wensley: the third female Governor of Queensland (appointed 2008, term ends 2014), and

•       Sally Thomas: the first female Administrator of the Northern Territory (appointed 2011).[8]

Dame Roma Mitchell (Governor of SA, 1991–96) was the first woman to be appointed to a vice-regal position in Australia. No woman has yet been appointed to a vice-regal role in West Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, the Territory of Norfolk Island, or the Australian Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The ACT does not have an Administrator.

Quentin Bryce (Governor-General of Australia, 2008–14) is the only woman to have been appointed to the role of Governor-General since 1901. She had previously served as Governor of Queensland (2003–8).

Government leaders

In recent years there have been notable highs and lows in terms of women in executive leadership roles. A snapshot of female leaders in mid-2011, for example, showed that women occupied four of the nine government leader positions in Australia, as follows:

•       Julia Gillard: the first female Prime Minister of Australia (ALP, 2010–13)

•       Lara Giddings: the first female Premier of Tasmania (ALP, 2011–14)

•       Katy Gallagher: the third female Chief Minister of the ACT (ALP, 2011–),

•       Anna Bligh: the first female Premier of Queensland (ALP, 2007–12).

As at 30 April 2014 only one Australian government has a female leader: Katy Gallagher (ALP), Chief Minister of the ACT.

No women have served as Leader of the Opposition in the Commonwealth Parliament, however three women have served as Deputy Opposition Leader: Jenny Macklin (ALP), Julia Gillard (ALP) and Julie Bishop (LIB).

Every state and territory except South Australia has had at least one female premier or chief minister. Eight women have led ALP state or territory governments, and one woman (Kate Carnell) has led a Liberal territory government. The ACT has had the highest number of female government leaders: Rosemary Follett (ALP, 1989, 1991–1995), Kate Carnell (LIB, 1995–2000), and Katy Gallagher (ALP, 2011–). Two of the state and territory opposition leaders are currently women: Delia Lawrie (ALP, Leader of the Opposition for the NT) and Annastacia Palaszczuk (ALP, Leader of the Opposition for Qld).

Presiding officers

The most senior leadership role in Australia’s parliaments is that of presiding officer. They maintain the authority of their chamber, and uphold its rights and privileges. In the Commonwealth Parliament the presiding officers are the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In the state and territory parliaments the Speaker is the presiding officer in the lower or single house, and the President is the presiding officer in the upper house (in bicameral parliaments).

There is currently a female Speaker in seven of the nine parliaments in Australia (see Appendix 4). This includes the current Speaker in the Commonwealth Parliament, Bronwyn Bishop MP, who is the third female Speaker in the 113-year history of the House of Representatives. It also includes Elise Archer MP, appointed on 6 May 2014 as the first female Speaker in the Tasmanian Parliament. There are currently no female Presiding Officers in an upper house in those jurisdictions with a bicameral parliament.

Ministers

The Commonwealth ministry comprises Ministers of State who form the Federal Executive Council. The ministry is selected and led by the Prime Minister, and is responsible for the decision-making process of government. The Commonwealth ministry, unlike the states and territories, is divided into an inner and outer ministry.[9] Women’s representation in the full ministry (16.7 per cent) is much lower than in the Commonwealth Parliament. This includes 5.3 per cent in the Cabinet or inner ministry and 36.4 per cent in the outer ministry (see Figure 1 below).[10] The Leader of the Opposition leads the Opposition ministry or shadow cabinet. Women have higher levels of representation in the Opposition ministry (37.9 per cent) than in the Government ministry. This includes 26.3 per cent in the shadow Cabinet and 54.5 per cent in the outer ministry.

Figure 1: Proportion of women in Government and Opposition ministries in the 44th Parliament

Sources: Commonwealth Government Abbott Ministry, 19 March 2014; Shorten Shadow Ministry, n.d., Australian Parliament House website, all accessed 23 June 2014

In state and territory parliaments (see Table 2 below) women hold less than one-quarter of all ministry positions (21.4 per cent) and a little more than one-third of all shadow ministerial positions (35.3 per cent). The ACT has the highest percentage of women in Cabinet (40 per cent) and Qld has the lowest (10.5 per cent).

Table 2: Ministries and shadow ministries in Australian parliaments by gender, as at 30 April 2014

Parliament

Government

Opposition

Male

Female

Total

% Female

Male

Female

Total

% Female

Commonwealth

25

5

30

16.7

18

11

29

37.9

States and territories*

ACT

3

2

5

40.0

5

2

7

28.6

SA

9

4

13

30.8

7

1

8

12.5

NSW

17

5

22

22.7

15

6

21

28.6

Tas.

7

2

9

22.2

3

4

7

57.1

NT

7

2

9

22.2

4

4

8

50.0

Vic.

18

5

23

21.7

15

9

24

37.5

WA

14

3

17

17.6

14

5

19

26.3

Qld

17

2

19

10.5

3

5

8

62.5

All states and territories

92

25

117

21.4

66

36

102

35.3

All Australian parliaments

117

30

147

20.4

84

47

131

35.9

Source: State and territory parliament, government and political party websites

*All ministers in state and territory ministries are members of Cabinet

Parliamentary secretaries

Members and senators may be appointed by the Commonwealth Government as parliamentary secretaries to assist ministers in their work. They are sworn in as members of the Federal Executive Council, but do not have their own portfolio. In the past they were known as assistant ministers or parliamentary under-secretaries. In the House of Representatives, parliamentary secretaries sit in the row of seats immediately behind the government frontbench. They can stand in for a minister in the Chamber, and perform all the duties of the minister on the floor except for answering questions on portfolio matters. Their legal status and extent of their powers is the subject of debate from time to time.[11] Since 1999 they have been paid a salary of office. All state and territory jurisdictions with the exception of the ACT have parliamentary secretaries (in Qld they are known as assistant ministers). Table 3 below shows the current gender balance of parliamentary secretaries in all jurisdictions.

Table 3: Parliamentary secretaries in Australian parliaments by gender, as at 30 April 2014

Parliament

Male

Female

Total

%
Female

Commonwealth

11

1

12

8.3

State and territories

SA

0

2

2

100.0

NT

3

2

5

40.0

WA

5

3

8

37.5

Qld*

8

4

12

33.3

Vic.

9

2

11

18.2

NSW

11

2

13

15.4

Commonwealth

11

1

12

8.3

Tas.

2

0

2

0

ACT

-

-

-

-

All states and territories

49

16

65

24.6

All Australian parliaments

60

17

77

22.1

Source: Commonwealth of Australia, The 43rd Parliament, Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2011, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, accessed 10 June 2014; state and territory parliament and government websites

* Parliamentary Secretaries were redesignated as assistant ministers following the 2012 Queensland election

Candidates in Commonwealth elections

Of the 1,717 candidates in the 2013 Commonwealth election, 470 (27.4 per cent) were women. This included 143 women (27 per cent) in the Senate half-election and 327 (27.5 per cent) in the House of Representatives election, as follows:

Table 4: Female candidates in 2013 Commonwealth election

State/Territory

Senate

House of Representatives

Seats

Male

Female

Total

% Female

Seats

Male

Female

Total

% Female

NSW

6

80

30

110

27.3

48

260

92

352

26.1

Vic.

6

71

26

97

26.8

37

245

99

344

28.8

Qld

6

62

20

82

24.4

30

176

57

233

24.5

WA

6

47

15

62

24.2

15

95

33

128

25.8

SA

6

55

18

73

24.7

11

46

20

66

30.3

Tas.

6

37

17

54

31.5

5

21

14

35

40.0

ACT

2

19

8

27

29.6

2

8

5

13

38.5

NT

2

15

9

24

37.5

2

10

7

17

41.2

Australia

40

386

143

529

27.0

150

861

327

1,188

27.5

Sources: ‘Senate nominations by gender’, Election 2013, Australian Electoral Commission, 1 November 2013; ‘House of Representatives Nominations by gender’, Election 2013, Australian Electoral Commission, 4 November 2013, all accessed 21 February 2014.

Candidates for the Senate

An analysis of Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) data for Senate candidates between the 1983 and 2013 Commonwealth elections (Table 5 below) indicates that the proportion of nominations by female candidates in the 2013 election (27.0 per cent) was at its lowest since 1987 (26.7 per cent). Over the twenty-year period, the highest proportion of female candidates for each of the major parties was attained in 2007 by the ALP (55.5 per cent) and the Liberal Party (40.7 per cent).

Both of the larger minor parties (the Australian Democrats and Australian Greens) have consistently had a high proportion of women candidates in those elections contested. The Democrats had the highest number of female candidates for that party in 2004 with 63.6 per cent or nearly two-thirds of their candidates being women, whilst the Greens reached a record high for any party in 2010, with women comprising 71.4 per cent or more than two-thirds of their total candidates.

Table 5: Percentage of female candidates for the Senate by party, 1983–2013

Election year

Political party

ALP
%

LIB*
%

NAT
%

AD
%

GRN
%

Others
%

All parties
%

1983

27.5

11.8

17.7

32.3

0

15.6

19.2

1984

25.0

22.6

25.0

34.6

0

26.8

26.7

1987

23.9

23.4

28.0

28.0

50.0

27.8

26.7

1990

25.0

19.2

18.2

52.2

56.3

26.1

29.6

1993

21.4

22.6

30.0

52.2

55.0

29.2

31.6

1996

48.0

32.1

42.9

36.0

64.7

29.4

34.9

1998

40.7

39.3

22.2

28.0

61.9

26.0

30.7

2001

48.0

22.6

37.5

46.2

54.5

27.2

32.6

2004

44.0

28.6

27.3

63.6

56.7

25.2

32.4

2007

55.5

40.7

10.0

33.3

58.6

33.2

36.8

2010

48.3

30.4

50.0

35.7

71.4

29.9

35.5

2013

41.9

39.1

14.3

21.4

46.2

36.7

27.0

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from AEC data

*includes NT Country Liberal Party

Candidates for the House of Representatives

Amongst the major political parties (ALP and Liberal/Nationals Coalition), the proportion of female candidates for the House of Representatives has fluctuated considerably since the early 1980s. An analysis of AEC data for House of Representatives candidates between the 1983 and 2013 Commonwealth elections indicates that the proportion of nominations by female candidates in the major parties and larger minor parties remained steady at around 17–18 per cent between 1983 and 1990, increasing to a high of 27.9 per cent in 1996 and remaining steady at around 27 per cent until 2013.

As Table 6 shows, the proportion of female candidates for both major parties was relatively similar for Commonwealth elections held between 1983 and 1996. In 1998, however, the proportion of ALP female candidates leapt from 20.3 per cent in 1996 to 34.5 per cent in 1998, and subsequently remained above 30 per cent, and reached its highest level (38.7 per cent) in 2001. The proportion of female candidates for the Liberal Party increased substantially from 15 per cent in 1993 to 25.6 per cent in 1996, and reached its highest level (25.8 per cent) in 1996. The Nationals achieved the party’s highest proportion of female candidates (30.3 per cent) in 2001 then fell sharply in 2010 to 6.3 per cent of the Nationals’ total candidates.

Of the larger minor parties, the Greens and the Australian Democrats have maintained a relatively stable proportion of female candidates for those elections that they have contested, with the Greens reaching their highest level in 2001 (48.0 per cent) and the Democrats in 2007 (37.2 per cent).

Table 6: Percentage of female candidates for the House of Representatives by party, 1983–2013

Election year

Political party

AD

%

ALP

%

LIB*

%

LNP

%

NAT

%

GRN

%

Others

%

All parties

%

1983

23.3

16.0

8.2

-

3.0

-

23.0

17.0

1984

26.8

12.2

11.4

-

9.7

-

23.8

17.4

1987

35.7

17.6

8.7

-

4.8

-

18.6

17.8

1990

27.1

12.8

14.1

-

12.8

39.3

16.0

17.8

1993

25.0

17.7

15.0

-

13.4

46.0

25.9

23.6

1996

34.7

20.3

25.6

-

6.5

42.2

26.5

27.9

1998

28.4

34.5

23.0

-

15.6

46.3

21.7

27.0

2001

36.7

38.7

17.9

-

30.3

48.0

16.4

27.7

2004

35.2

30.7

23.7

-

20.8

46.2

21.4

27.5

2007

37.2

30.0

23.1

-

25.0

38.7

19.6

25.8

2010

12.0

31.3

20.7

20.0

6.3

41.3

24.0

27.1

2013

-

32.7

23.1

20.0

5.0

46.0

15.4

27.5

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from AEC data

*includes NT Country Liberal Party

Historical overview

South Australia led the world in women’s political rights in 1894, when women won the right to vote and to sit in the SA Parliament. Most Australian women (excluding Indigenous women in some states) won the right to vote in Commonwealth elections as a result of the passing of the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902. Four women stood at the 1903 election, the first Commonwealth election conducted after the passage of that Act. None of the four candidates were successful, but they were the first female candidates for any national parliament in the British Commonwealth.[12]

By 1909 all Australian states and the Commonwealth had enfranchised most women. Women won the right to vote in WA in 1899, but they did not win the right to sit in the State Parliament until 1920. Edith Cowan was the first woman to enter any Australian parliament when she won the WA Legislative Assembly seat of West Perth in 1921.[13]

Women were not elected to the Commonwealth Parliament until 1943, when Dorothy Tangney won a Senate position to represent WA and Enid Lyons was elected to the House of Representatives in the seat of Darwin, Tasmania.[14] By 1980, women still made up only three per cent of the House of Representatives and 10.9 per cent of the Senate (see Figure X below).[15] Appendix 6 presents a selection of key milestones for women in Australia’s parliaments.

Trends in women’s representation

Since Federation, women have comprised just 11 per cent of the 1,656 members who have served in the Commonwealth Parliament (see Figure 2 below).[16]

Figure 2: Total number of senators and members since 1901 by gender, as at 1 July 2014

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from Parliamentary Handbook

Figure 3 shows that women’s representation in all Australian parliaments has increased by less than 10 per cent over the last 17 years, from 20.7 per cent in 1997 to 29.0 per cent in 2013. As shown in Figure 3 below the highest level of female representation was achieved in 2009 (30.8 per cent) and has declined since then.[17]

Figure 3: Representation of women in all Australian parliaments, 1997 to 2013

Source: Gender and party statistics for all Australian parliaments regularly published by Parliamentary Library

Longest-serving women in parliament

Bronwyn Bishop MP, currently Speaker of the House of Representatives and one of only five women to have held a seat in both Houses, is the second longest-serving woman in the Commonwealth Parliament with a total period of service of 26 years 10 months 21 days as at 30 June 2014. Kathy Martin (later Sullivan) is the longest-serving woman in the Commonwealth Parliament with a total service of 27 years three months and 25 days. Appendix 7 provides a list of women who have served in the Commonwealth Parliament for ten years or more.

Youngest women

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young (GRN), elected to the Senate for South Australia in 2007 at the age of 25, is the youngest woman to enter the Commonwealth Parliament. Natasha Stott Despoja (AD) was previously the youngest, following her election to the Senate in 1995 at the age of 26. Kelly Vincent (D4D), elected to the South Australian Legislative Council in 2010 at the age of 21, is the youngest woman to be elected to any Australian parliament.

Indigenous women

Senator Nova Peris is the first Indigenous woman to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament since Federation.[18] She was selected as a Senate candidate for the NT and elected at the 2013 federal election.

Indigenous women are under-represented in all state and territory parliaments. Carol Martin (ALP) was elected to the WA Parliament on 10 February 2001, becoming the first Indigenous woman to be elected to any Australian parliament. She was re-elected in 2005 and 2008.[19] The NT has had the largest number of Indigenous Australian women MPs of all the state and territory parliaments. Marion Scrymgour (ALP) was elected to the NT Legislative Assembly in 2001 and became the first Indigenous female minister in Australia in 2003. She served as Deputy Chief Minister of the NT between November 2007 and February 2009, making her the highest-ranked Indigenous person in government in Australia’s history.

In 2005, another two Indigenous women were elected to the NT parliament—Malarndirri McCarthy, and Alison Anderson. Alison Anderson was a minister in the Northern Territory government from 2005 until she resigned from the ALP in 2009 to become an Independent. She subsequently joined the Country Liberal Party in 2011, and more recently moved to the Palmer United Party, becoming leader of the party in the NT.[20] In New South Wales, Linda Burney became the first Indigenous person to be elected to the NSW Parliament in 2003. She held several ministerial positions in the NSW Cabinet between 2007 and 2011, and became Deputy Leader of the Opposition in NSW in 2011.[21]

International comparisons

Around one in five parliamentarians across the world are women. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s (IPU) data on 188 countries as at 1 April 2014, women comprise 21.9 per cent of all parliamentarians in national parliaments. Of these, 38 countries exceed 30 per cent female representation in the lower or single House which has been widely adopted as the so-called ‘critical mass’ necessary for women to ‘make a visible impact on the style and content of political decision-making’.[22]

The IPU’s historical data indicates Australia’s ranking for women in the Commonwealth Parliament has significantly declined over the past decade when compared with national parliaments globally (see Figure 4 below). Australia’s ranking declined from 20th place in 2001 to 44th in 2013. A comparison of the top 50 IPU country rankings for women in national parliaments in 2013, 2008 and 2001 is at Appendix 1

Figure 4: Women in national parliament: Australia’s world ranking 2001–2013

Source: Compiled from Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in national parliaments archive

As at 1 April 2014, Australia’s ranking had further declined to 48th position, behind New Zealand (25th) and ahead of Canada (54th) the United Kingdom (64th), and the United States of America (84th).[23] The IPU’s regional averages show that Nordic countries have the highest number of women in the single house or lower house of their national parliaments (42.1 per cent), followed by the Americas (25.7 per cent), European OSCE member countries including Nordic countries (24.9 per cent) and European OSCE member countries excluding Nordic countries (23.2 per cent).[24] The Pacific region has the least number of women MPs overall (13.4 per cent). However of those national parliaments with an upper house, the Pacific region has the highest average number of women (38.6 per cent).[25]

In September 2011, women political leaders attending the 66th session of the UN General Assembly in New York noted that women comprised less than 10 per cent of world leaders and fewer than one in five parliamentarians. They signed a joint statement calling for women’s equal right ‘to participate in all areas and at all levels of political life’ and reaffirming support for the role of the UN in achieving gender equality and empowerment of women.[26]

Given the slow progress internationally, many countries have adopted some form of gender quota to increase women’s representation in politics.[27] Electoral quotas have gained international support and have shown to be effective in ‘fast-tracking’ women’s political representation to produce equality of results, not just equality of opportunity. The Quota Project, a global database of quotas for women in politics, reports that half of the countries of the world today use some type of electoral quota system for women, including candidate quotas, reserved seats and voluntary quotas for political parties. Different systems are preferred in different regions. Reserved seats tend to be used in the Arab region, in South Asia and partly in Africa.[28] However, electoral quotas remain controversial in liberal democracies such as Australia, where critics oppose them on the basis that they discriminate against men and undermine the selection of candidates on the basis of merit.

Structural factors

The problem of women’s parliamentary under-representation is found in many countries worldwide. The United Nations has identified a number of barriers that inhibit women from being elected to national parliaments including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. These barriers include:

•       the nature of the electoral system

•       the nature and processes of political parties

•       women’s lower levels of education and socio-economic status

•       traditions and beliefs about the role of women in society, and

•       the burden of combining work and family responsibilities.[29]

In recent years, academic researchers have examined these barriers in the Australian context in order to understand the particular structural barriers and issues that influence women’s political representation and parliamentary experience. These include the electoral system, the turnover rate of parliamentarians, the party system, and the structure and operation of the parliament itself.[30]

Electoral systems

International research over several decades has suggested that the type of electoral system used has a direct impact on the representation of women. The Beijing Platform for Action, developed at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, recognised this by calling on national governments to review the impact of their electoral systems on women’s representation and to undertake necessary reforms.[31]

The electoral system known as proportional representation (PR) involving multi-member electorates is widely considered to be more favourable to women than single-member systems. A comparison of women’s representation in the Commonwealth Parliament since the first women entered parliament in 1943 shows that women have had greater success in being elected to the Senate than to the House of Representatives (see Figure 5 below).[32] According to political scientist Scott Bennett, where PR is used ‘parties feel they can afford to allocate more places on candidate lists to female candidates’.[33] Australian election analyst, Tony Smith, suggests that the electoral system used in the Senate also favours the minor parties which tend to be younger and:

…less prejudiced against women than Labor and the Coalition, whose longer histories created traditions in times when the public and private spheres were sex-differentiated. It might also reflect the fact that most ambitious men aim for the lower house where government is formed, and regard upper house seats as career backwaters.[34]

Figure 5: Proportion of women senators and members in the Commonwealth Parliament, 1943–2013

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from Parliamentary Handbook

The influence of political parties

The candidate selection process used by political parties is another significant factor in determining the level of parliamentary representation by women.[35] The decisions they make are usually influenced by the party’s rules and strategies for maximising the number of seats they win. In Senate elections where candidates compete for multiple positions, parties have adopted a de facto list system, ‘with the parties effectively sealing the fate of individual candidates by virtue of determining their order on the party ticket’.[36]As former senator Margaret Reynolds has observed:

… it is easier for women to gain the endorsement of their parties for preselection for upper houses where a listing system is adopted and it is easier to argue for power sharing. Whereas, when there is only the one position there is considerable competition.[37]

The problem was recognised by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs as early as 1992. In its report, the Committee recommended that ‘all political parties examine their selection procedures for systematic discrimination against women and develop appropriate affirmative action programmes which would give women equal opportunity to take a greater role in the political process’.[38]

Between 1903 and 1943, only 26 female candidates were nominated for election to the Commonwealth Parliament, and no woman was endorsed by a major party for the Senate prior to the start of World War II. Whilst there were more female candidates during the 1950s and 1960s, they were rarely supported by the major parties ‘in the belief that women could not poll well in Commonwealth elections’. By 1971, only seven women had been elected to the Senate and three to the House of Representatives.[39] Where women were supported by major parties, they tended to be endorsed for marginal seats—a trend that was reported in the 1990s.[40]

A survey conducted by Malcolm Mackerras in the 1980s however showed that, once female candidates were preselected, they were generally getting equal results to those of male candidates.[41] Of the 1,054 candidates contesting 150 seats for the 2007 Commonwealth election in the House of Representatives, for example, 14.7 per cent of the female candidates and 14.1 per cent of the male candidates were successful. These results suggest that the reasons for women’s political under-representation are more to do with party preselection processes than the polls.[42]

The strategies that parties use for preselection are therefore of particular significance to women’s representation. The following table presents the party affiliations of all women who have served in the Commonwealth Parliament between 1943 and 2013 (see Appendix 2 for a list of all names). It shows that the ALP has had the highest party representation of women in the Parliament since 1943 (50.6 per cent) followed by the Liberal Party (33.3 per cent).[43]

Table 7: Number of women in the Commonwealth Parliament by party, 1943–2014

Party

Number of women

Senate

House of Representatives

Total

Australian Labor Party (ALP)

36

59

95

Liberal Party (LP) (a)

27

35

62

The Nationals (NAT) (b)

3

3

6

Australian Greens (GRN)

10

-

10

Australian Democrats (AD) (c)

9

-

9

Independents (IND) (d)

2

2

4

Independent Labor (IND LAB)

-

1

1

Palmer United Party (PUP)

1

-

1

Total

88

100

188 (e)

Source: Parliamentary Handbook

Explanatory notes:

a)     includes Enid Lyons, United Australia Party (UAP), Natasha Griggs, Country Liberal Party (CLP), and Agnes Robertson who represented the Liberal Party from 1949 until 1955 when she was elected representing the Country and Democratic League, aligned with the Country Party (CP)

b)     includes Country Party (CP), National Party (NP) and National Party of Australia (NPA)

c)     includes Janet Powell who left the Australian Democrats (AD) in July 1992 and subsequently sat as an Independent; also Meg Lees who resigned from the AD in July 2002 and sat as an Independent until she formed the Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) in April 2003.

d)     includes Jo Vallentine who, although elected to represent the Nuclear Disarmament Party (NDP), sat as an Independent until July 1990 when she was elected to represent the WA Greens; also includes Irina Dunn who represented the NDP until she was expelled for refusing to comply with the party’s request that she resign in favour of Robert Wood who had been elected to the Senate but was initially ineligible to take up his seat

e)     this total represents 183 women including five women who have served in both Houses: Cheryl Kernot (AD, ALP), Belinda Neal (ALP), Kathy Martin/Sullivan (LIB), Bronwyn Bishop (LIB) and Deborah O’Neil (ALP)

Figure 6 illustrates the trends in female representation by major party across all Australian parliaments between 1994 and 2013.

Figure 6: Percentage of women in all Australian parliaments by major party, 1994–2013

Source: Historical data for composition of Australian parliaments by party and gender, maintained by Parliamentary Library since 1994

The following summarises some of the ways in which the major parties in Australia have responded to the issue of women’s political participation and parliamentary representation in recent decades.[44]

Party commitment to gender equity

Rule 10 of the ALP’s National Constitution developed in 2011 committed the party to having equal numbers of men and women at all levels in the organisation and in preselections for public office.[45] The ALP’s National Labor Women’s Network, launched in 1996 at the National ALP Conference, represents all women members of the party. It encourages women ‘to participate in all levels of the Party’s structure, the government and public life’.[46] EMILY’s List is a women’s network established by prominent Labor women in 1996 to provide financial, political and personal support for the election of ‘progressive’ Labor women candidates committed to pro-choice positions on abortion and other gender equity issues. The group claimed to have helped elect 123 Labor women to parliaments across Australia by 2004. It actively supports Labor women’s campaigns in parliamentary elections Australia-wide. Its slogan is ‘When women support women, women win’.[47]

The Liberal Party encourages women’s preselection through a range of mentoring, training and support mechanisms. The party also has a long history of women’s representation on the Federal Executive. The Federal Women’s Committee (FWC) was established in 1945 at the inaugural meeting of the Liberal Party Federal Council in August 1945, and incorporated in the party’s Constitution in October 1946. The FWC has had representation on the party’s Federal Executive since then, and actively promotes women for elected office. The party’s federal Constitution also requires the vice-president of the party to be a woman, and the federal party and some of the state divisions have designated organisational positions for women.[48] In addition to the work of the FWC, the party’s state branches have their own peak women’s councils that provide advocacy and support. The Women’s Council of the NSW Liberal Party, for example, aims to increase representation, membership, and awareness of issues concerning women.[49]

The Nationals provide opportunities for women to participate in the party and seek leadership or parliamentary office. The National Party Constitution includes provision for a Women’s Federal Council (WFC). The President is a member of the party’s Federal Council and the Policy Standing Committee, while two delegates of the WFC attend the Federal Conference.[50] The WFC promotes and supports women to take on leadership roles within the party with a particular focus on increasing the involvement of women in policy, politics and decision-making.[51]

Amongst the larger minor parties, both the Australian Greens and the Australian Democrats have embraced gender equity as a founding principle in their respective organisations. The Greens have attributed their higher female representation in parliament to the party’s open decision making and preselection processes, a strong emphasis on grassroots membership, and the party’s acceptance of gender equity as a core principle.[52] The state Greens parties have also adopted specific strategies. The NSW Greens’ Constitution, for example, requires the state party to attempt to achieve at least 50 per cent representation by women as well as membership from rural and regional areas and amongst minority and disadvantaged groups.[53]

Affirmative action and quotas

Whilst gender quotas of different kinds are widely used internationally to increase women’s participation in national parliaments, they have been somewhat controversial in the Australian context. In 1981 the ALP Conference endorsed affirmative action principles whereby women were to hold 25 per cent of all internal party positions. In 1994 the ALP adopted a mandatory 35 per cent preselection quota for women in winnable seats at all elections by 2002.[54] The proportion of female candidates preselected rose from 14.5 per cent in the 1994 election to 35.6 per cent in the 2010 election. As political commentator Hutch Hussein points out, these figures clearly demonstrate how the rule changes within the ALP have helped to achieve greater gender equality in Australia’s parliaments.[55] A 40:40:20 quota system was introduced from 1 January 2012 ‘to produce an outcome where not less than 40% of seats held by Labor will be filled by women, and not less than 40% by men’. The remaining 20 per cent may be filled by candidates of either gender.[56]

Figure 7: Female candidates and elected members in House of Representatives by major party as percentage of total candidates and members elected, 1998–2013

Source: Data compiled by Parliamentary Library from Australian Electoral Commission election data and Parliamentary Handbook

The Coalition parties (Liberal Party and the Nationals) have not adopted affirmative action measures for their respective parties’ parliamentary wings on the basis that gender quotas contradict the principle of merit. The Liberal Party uses women’s networks within the party, and provides support and mentoring to encourage women who stand for preselection. Nevertheless, the issue has been the subject of debate in recent years. In 2010, Liberal Senator Judith Troeth prepared a policy paper noting that, from its formation in 1944, the Liberal Party had reserved 50 per cent of the Victorian Division’s executive positions, and that these arrangements had survived the party’s ‘recent radical reform’ in Victoria.[57] She called for the introduction of a quota system for the Victorian Division to endorse women for preselection in a minimum of 40 per cent of its seats for the Commonwealth election to be held in August 2010, recommended that the quota be increased to 45 per cent within a five year period, and that women comprise 50 per cent of training candidates. In 2012 Liberal Party historian Margaret Fitzherbert noted that women gained prominence in the early years of the Liberal Party as a result of party activists promoting female candidates. Since the 1990s, however, she observed that there had been a decline in numbers and an increasing reliance on merit-based preselection processes. She pointed to the importance of ‘persistent pressure to keep preselecting women’ as well as the need to address aspects of party culture that may discriminate against women seeking preselection.[58]

An analysis of female candidates compared with the percentage of women elected to seats in the House of Representatives by major party (see Figure 7 above shows that in 1998 both major parties had a similar level of female representation (23.9 per cent ALP and 23.4 per cent Liberal Party) although the ALP had a higher proportion of female candidates (34.5 per cent) than the Liberal Party (23 per cent) as a result of the ALP’s introduction of a 35 per cent preselection quota in 1994. Since 2001, however, the ALP’s female representation of both candidates and elected MPs has been consistently higher than that of the Liberal Party, averaging 33 per cent for candidates and 31.5 per cent of elected MPs, compared with the Liberal Party’s average of 21.9 per cent for candidates and 22 per cent for elected MPs.

Cultural and social factors

Recent international research has drawn attention to the social and cultural factors that influence both the level (sometimes called ‘descriptive or symbolic representation’) and contribution (or ‘substantive representation’) of women parliamentarians.[59] Some studies have suggested that lower numbers of women in parliament directly impacts on how citizens generally perceive their level of inclusion in society. One US study, for example, noted that ‘[w]omen in public office stand as symbols for other women, both enhancing their identification with the system and their ability to have influence within it.’[60] The study also found that prevailing perceptions of traditional social roles still actively discourage women from standing as political candidates. Even where women do stand for election, they are less likely than men to seek leadership positions or to be motivated by political ambition.[61]

The Westminster system of representative democracy has tended to promote a confrontational style of politics in the chambers. This has been reinforced by the ‘majoritarian’ model of government versus opposition, as well as the tradition of strong party discipline. Political scientists Marian Sawer, Manon Tremblay and Linda Trimble argue that this model of democracy makes cooperation on areas of interest to women more difficult on the floor of the chamber, suggesting that women parliamentarians find more scope for cross-party cooperation on committees. A notable example of cross-party cooperation occurred in the Commonwealth Parliament in 2005, when four women from the ALP, Australian Democrats, Liberal Party, and The Nationals joined together in a private members’ bill to remove ministerial power over the use of the ‘abortion pill’, RU486.[62] An Australian women’s rights activist, Sara Dowse, noted in 2009:

The fact that a vote like the one on RU486 has yet to be repeated prompts some reflection. For how well does our parliament actually serve the citizens it’s designed to represent, if women, who comprise over half the voting population, still constitute less than a third of the parliament?[63]

In a recent Australian study involving interviews conducted with women MPs in the Victorian Parliament in 2012 the researcher found that, whilst achieving a ‘critical mass’ was important, it was their willingness to use their position to act for women that had challenged the nature of political leadership.[64] This finding echoes that of international gender expert, Drude Dahlerup, whose research on the impact of women in Scandinavian legislatures found that numbers alone were less important in creating cultural changes in parliament than the actions of women to bring about ‘women-friendly’ policies.[65] According to a survey conducted by the IPU in 1998, women in parliament tended to feel a particular responsibility to represent women and women’s interests, a point also made recently by Queensland’s former (and first female) Premier, Anna Bligh.[66]

Several key arguments have emerged over time about the need for higher levels of women’s representation in national parliaments, including that:

•       women bring particular experiences and priorities (based on women’s traditional maternal role in the family)

•       women should have equal rights to participate in decision-making and should not be discriminated against

•       women comprise 50 per cent of the population but have much lower representation in parliament (referred to in Europe for example as the ‘democratic deficit’)

•       at least 30 per cent representation is necessary to achieve a critical mass in order to ‘make a visible impact on the style and content of political decision-making’[67], and

•       more women in politics would ‘change the way politics was done’ (referring to the way in which women might to exercise power differently to men).[68]

These arguments continue to resonate in public debates about women in parliament in Australia. In an analysis of women in parliament in 2010, for example, the Australian Bureau of Statistics described the issue of women’s under-representation in terms of equal rights:

One of the principles underpinning democratic government is that parliament should represent and express the will of the people. Civil society is seen by many to be more effective if parliament is widely representative of the population. Since women make up approximately half of Australia's population, their representation in parliament is seen as crucial in a democratic society.[69]

Rachel Nolan, formerly a Minister in the Queensland Bligh Labor Government, has recently written that the equal rights argument tends to ignore the fact that women bring different qualities to leadership roles and that ‘their different perspectives are exactly what we need … The exclusion of women is the exclusion of diverse thinking’.[70] Political scientists Lenita Freidenvall and Marian Sawer note that this argument—that women parliamentarians bring different gendered life experiences—is a powerful argument in older-established democracies such as Australia.

Recent studies of women in leadership in the corporate sector have framed the argument differently, placing less emphasis on equality and diversity, and more on the outcomes including corporate image, economic performance and good governance. In 2013 the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) went further, stating that:

The gender gap isn’t just an image problem: it has real implications for the performance of every aspect of our society: In business, in the community, in politics and for families. Despite the gains made in recent decades, the transformation of the barriers facing young women and the slow progress across major ‘women in leadership’ headline indicators suggests that our current approach to tackling these challenges either isn’t working or is working at an incremental pace.[71]

Standing for election

One factor that has historically influenced the number of women seeking election to Australian parliaments relates to their personal circumstances and networks. In a study of 36 women political candidates contesting the 1982 Victorian state election, political scientists Marian Sawer and Marian Simms found that most had experienced conflict between campaigning whilst meeting their family and childcare responsibilities. They also encountered prejudice from those who thought that women were not equipped to deal with ‘hard’ policies such as economics, suggesting that the party would lose votes at election because of their gender. According to one successful candidate, the disadvantages of being a woman candidate in the 1980s could be summed up as having ‘weaker access to established power networks..., lack of accumulated income’, and the strain of juggling campaigning with family responsibilities.[72]

Since the 1980s, lack of access to established networks is less likely to be an issue for women standing for election because successful candidates are increasingly coming from professions that equip them for their political careers. As the following table illustrates, women entering the Commonwealth Parliament are now more likely to come from occupational backgrounds similar to those of their male colleagues. In 1988, teaching was the most common previous occupation amongst women in the Senate, whilst their male colleagues in both Houses tended to come from occupations in law, business management, unions and other professional or administrative roles. By 2008, there were fewer parliamentarians coming from a career in education, and women and men were tending to come from professional careers in law, business management and professional or administrative roles in the House of Representatives, and unions, politics and business management in the Senate. As Marian Sawer notes, this means that women are more likely to have the professional networks that inform their political careers, as well as enabling them to ‘work collectively’ with other women and represent the interests of their constituents.[73]

While data has not been collected for this paper in relation to the seniority of women prior to entering parliament, recent research suggests that women are poorly represented in senior positions. A 2011 study of the legal profession in New South Wales, for example, revealed that whilst the number of female solicitors in the state had increased to 46 per cent since 1988 (grown at a rate of 452 per cent compared to 65 per cent for men), there was only one female managing partner in the largest 30 firms in Australia. Of those law firms with 40 or more partners, only 23 per cent were women, and the figure was even lower in mid-sized and small law firms.[74]

Table 8: Previous occupations by gender in Senate, 1988, 2008 and 2011

Occupation*

Year

1988

2008

2011

M

F

Total

M

F

Total

M

F

Total

Barristers, solicitors, legal

7

3

10

5

3

8

6

5

11

Business executives, managers

11

2

13

13

5

18

11

4

15

Farmers and graziers

4

-

4

2

2

4

1

1

2

Lecturers, professors, teachers

5

6

11

4

2

6

2

1

3

Local government official (non-elected)

-

-

-

-

1

1

-

1

1

Medical practitioners, dentists, nurses, other health professionals

3

3

6

1

-

1

2

-

2

Members of state/territory legislatures

3

-

3

2

-

2

2

3

5

Other professional and administrators

8

2

10

5

2

7

2

2

4

Party and union administrators and officials

14

-

14

13

5

18

15

5

20

Political consultants, advisers

2

-

2

2

6

8

1

6

7

Public service/policy managers and administrators

1

-

1

-

1

1

-

1

1

Researchers, research assistants, electoral and project officers

2

-

2

2

-

2

3

1

4

Tradespersons

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

-

1

Total

60

16

76

49

27

76

46

30

76

*Occupation immediately prior to entering the Commonwealth Parliament

Source: Summary of data compiled by M Lumb from Parliamentary Handbook

Table 9: Previous occupations by gender in House of Representatives, 1988, 2008 and 2011

Occupation*

Year

1988

2008

2011

M

F

Total

M

F

Total

M

F

Total

Barristers, solicitors, legal

19

1

20

13

8

21

10

9

19

Business executives, managers

25

-

25

25

9

34

32

10

42

Farmers and graziers

14

-

14

7

-

7

6

0

6

Lecturers, professors, teachers

14

2

16

1

-

1

1

1

2

Local government official (non-elected)

-

-

-

-

1

1

1

1

2

Medical practitioners, dentists, nurses, other health professionals

5

1

6

3

-

3

3

1

4

Members of state/territory legislatures

13

1

14

8

1

9

7

1

8

Other professional and administrators

23

2

25

12

6

18

11

2

13

Party and union administrators and officials

12

-

12

16

4

20

14

2

16

Political consultants, advisers

3

-

3

18

5

23

22

3

25

Public service/policy managers and administrators

5

-

5

5

2

7

4

5

9

Researchers, research assistants, electoral and project officers

5

3

8

3

4

7

2

2

4

Total

138

10

148

111

39

150

113

37

150

*Occupation immediately prior to entering the Commonwealth Parliament

Source: Summary of data compiled by M Lumb from Parliamentary Handbook

In the parliament

Portfolios

Annabelle Rankin, as Minister for Housing, was the first woman to administer a Commonwealth department in 1966. Since then, 51 women have served as ministers (Cabinet and non-Cabinet) and parliamentary secretaries in the Commonwealth Parliament (see list of women at Appendix 3).

An analysis of portfolios held by women (see Figure 8 below) shows that few women have held senior portfolios associated with matters of government, defence, foreign affairs, justice, finance, infrastructure and communications. These include:

•       Julia Gillard: Prime Minister (24 June 2010–27 June 2013)

•       Julie Bishop: Minister for Foreign Affairs (18 September 2013–present)

•       Nicola Roxon: Attorney-General (14 December 2011–4 February 2013)

•       Senator Penny Wong: Minister for Finance and Deregulation (14 September 2010–18 September 2013)

•       Senator Helen Coonan: Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer (26 November 2001–18 July 2004), and

•       Senator Margaret Guilfoyle: Minister for Finance (3 November 1980–11 March 1983).

To date, no woman has been appointed as Treasurer, Minister for Defence, or Transport, although women have served in the more junior positions of Minister for Defence Science and Personnel and Minister assisting the Minister for Defence. The majority of portfolios held by women have been associated with social and cultural services including the community services and housing, ageing, employment, training and workplace relations, education, health, sport, tourism, Indigenous affairs, women, arts, housing, local government, and social security.

Former Commonwealth MP and academic, Mary Crawford states that, despite increasing numbers of women in parliaments in industrialised democracies such as Australia, in many ways they remain ‘gendered organisations’.[75] She argues that a ‘gendered division of labour’ is evident in the types of ministries traditionally allocated to women in the Commonwealth Parliament, and that a ‘further hierarchy’ was created with the distinction between the inner ministry or Cabinet and the outer ministry.

Figure 8: Portfolios held by women in Commonwealth Parliament, 1943–2014

Source: Summary of data compiled from Parliamentary Handbook

* including the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and Vice-President of the Executive Council

** including community services, families, youth, housing, human services, social security, social inclusion

Parliamentary committees

In the 44th Parliament (see Table 10 below) women chair 40 per cent of committees in the Senate and 32 per cent in the House of Representatives. In the Senate there are currently no female chairs of Joint Select Committees, Parliamentary Joint Committees or Joint Standing Committees. The parliament delegates some of its tasks and associated powers to committees comprising small groups of senators or members. They have the power to perform functions which the Houses themselves are not equipped to perform, including gathering evidence from expert groups and individuals, and allowing direct contact between the parliament and the people. Most committees comprise representatives of all parties, and participation has become a very important aspect of the work of senators and members.[76]

The earliest committees were established in 1901, mostly dealing with the workings of the parliament. The current Senate committee system took shape from 1970 with the establishment of the Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committees and Estimates Committees. In 1987 the House of Representatives established a comprehensive committee system with eight general purpose standing committees. The numbers have increased since then and the names and subject areas have varied over time.[77]

Table 10 below lists the gender composition of committee chairs in the 44th Parliament. The role of committee chair is regarded as a stepping stone to senior political positions including minister or parliamentary secretary, and the roles are highly sought after.[78] The first woman to chair a committee was Senator Marie Breen OBE, who chaired a domestic standing committee, the Senate Printing Committee, from 1965 to 1968. In 1968 Senator Dame Ivy Wedgwood chaired the Senate Select Committee on Medical and Hospital Costs, and also one of the first of the Senate’s new legislative and general purpose standing committees, the Health and Welfare Committee (1970–71). That Committee’s report on the health needs of people with mental and physical disabilities in Australia was the first to be tabled by these influential committees.[79]

Table 10: Committee chairs in the 44th Parliament by gender, as at 30 April 2014

Senate

Chairs

Committees chaired by women

Male

Female

Total

% female

Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committees

-          Legislation

7

1

8

12.5

Community Affairs

-          References

2

6

8

75.0

Community Affairs; Education and Employment; Environment and Communications; Finance and Public Administration; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade; Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Select Committees

1

2

3

66.7

National Broadband Network; School Funding

Joint Select Committees

1

-

1

0

-

Parliamentary Joint Committees

4

-

4

0

-

Joint Standing Committees

1

-

1

0

-

Domestic Standing Committees

2

3

5

60.0

Privileges; Scrutiny of Bills; Senators’ Interests

Total Senate

18

12

30

40.0

House of Representatives

Chairs

Committees chaired by women

Male

Female

Total

% female

House Standing Committees

6

3

9

33.3

Economics; Indigenous Affairs; Infrastructure and Communications

Joint Standing Committees

6

3

9

33.3

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade; Migration; Public Works

Domestic House Committees

5

2

7

28.6

Appropriations and Administration; Selection

Total House of Representatives

17

8

25

32.0

Source: Committee Offices, Departments of the Senate and House of Representatives

Parliamentary researcher Sonia Palmieri examined committees between 1987 and 2008 and identified a number of factors that influence the selection of committee chairs. These included the chamber in which they sit, their political party, their experience as deputy chair, and their expertise in relevant fields prior to entering parliament. She noted that the number and range of House of Representatives committees chaired by women had ‘improved significantly’ since the 1980s, reflecting the increase in the number of women parliamentarians as well as their range of experience prior to entering parliament. She also noted particular differences that have emerged between the two chambers. The House of Representatives, for example, has a strong tradition of appointing women to procedural committees, whilst relatively few women have chaired joint committees which tend to deal with higher status issues such as foreign affairs.[80] This reflects Crawford’s observation that committees considered to have a higher status are typically dominated by men—foreign affairs, economic and financial matters and security and terrorism issues—whilst women are typically found on the ‘less prestigious and powerful’ committees dealing with ‘soft’ or ‘nurturing’ issues including health, education and welfare.[81]

The parliamentary environment

The parliamentary environment itself has also become the focus of researchers seeking to understand the slow progress in women’s representation. For most of the twentieth century, women were either absent or present in very small numbers in Australia’s parliaments, and the values, rules, procedures and practices that prevail have been largely shaped by male parliamentarians. The proportion of women parliamentarians has grown steadily since the 1980s, and some reforms have been introduced that go some way to addressing these changes. On 30 June 1994, for example, the House of Representatives passed a resolution requiring that references to members should be made using gender-inclusive pronouns, including ‘chair’ rather than ‘chairman’. The Standing Orders were amended accordingly on 9 November 1994.

With the increase in the number of women having children whilst in office, there have also been cross-party calls for family-friendly reforms to the parliamentary environment and its practices. In 1983 Ros Kelly became the first woman to have a baby while serving in the Commonwealth Parliament. Since then a number of female parliamentarians have had children whilst in office and there have been several instances where very young children have been brought into the chambers. The presence of children in the chambers has attracted a range of responses from presiding officers, parliamentary colleagues, and the media.[82] Most notably, in 2009, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s two-year old child was removed from the Chamber during a division after a ruling by the President of the Senate relating to access by ‘strangers’ or ‘visitors’.

This incident became the focus for a wider debate about work-life balance for parliamentarians, and drew attention to the competing demands of a modern workplace, ensuring that a nation’s democratically elected members can fully participate in the parliament, and upholding the rules of parliamentary practice. In more recent years, some measures have been put into place to accommodate the parenting needs of parliamentarians, staff, and members of the public visiting Parliament House. These have included an on-site childcare facility, rooms for breast-feeding mothers, and a special provision for nursing mothers to vote by proxy during divisions in the House of Representatives.[83]

The IPU has called for parliaments to strengthen their role in advancing gender equality in parliamentary environments and mainstreaming a gender perspective into parliamentary processes. According to the IPU’s report Gender mainstreaming in the Australian Parliament:

… gender equality is not guaranteed simply by the presence of women in parliament. It also depends on a parliament’s gender sensitivity and awareness, its policies and infrastructure. Gender-sensitive parliaments ‘remove the barriers to women’s full participation and offer a positive example or model to society at large.[84]

One such strategy that has been widely adopted in national parliaments is the establishment of parliamentary bodies or standing committees specifically dealing with matters of gender equality. According to the IPU, there are currently 138 such bodies in 113 countries, although the Australian Parliament does not have such a body.[85]

Beyond the parliament

The representation of women in Australian parliaments can also be seen as a reflection of gender diversity in other leadership and executive decision-making roles. The Office for Women within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet highlights the importance of women’s participation in key decision-making roles such as local government and board membership. According to the Office, community leadership roles in local government, for example, offer ‘a positive pathway’ for women to move into more influential leadership roles.[86] Journalist Catherine Fox has argued that ‘[w]hen you normalise women’s presence in leadership and senior ranks’, women are no longer treated as a minority group and are less likely to be subject to the type of ‘scrutiny and double standards’ that women have experienced in senior positions such as those in parliaments and on boards.[87]

Local government

Election to local government offers an important avenue for those seeking pursuing parliamentary careers. In the 44th Commonwealth Parliament, 12 female senators and members previously had experience in local government.[88] Whilst women’s representation in elected local government positions varies across the jurisdictions, in general it remains less than 30 per cent of all elected representatives. A national survey of local government councillors in 2011, for example, showed that women comprised 27.8 per cent of elected representatives and 22.6 per cent of mayoral positions (see Table 11).[89]

The Australian Local Government Association has noted that, despite efforts to increase women’s participation in elected and executive roles, the proportion of women elected to local government had changed little in the past 20 years.[90] Whilst more recent comparative data is not available for all local governments in Australia, reports from the two largest states indicate little change. Following local government elections in Victoria and New South Wales in 2012, women comprised 34 per cent of all Councillors and 25 per cent of mayors in Victoria, and 27 per cent of Councillors and 19 per cent of mayors in New South Wales.[91]

Table 11: Women in local government, as at October 2011

State

Candidates

Elected representatives

Mayors

M

F

Total

% female

M

F

Total

% female

M

F

Total

% female

NSW (2008)

2,961

1,480

4,441

33.3

1,068

387

1,455

26.6

114

34

148

23.0

Vic. (2008)

1,363

612

1,975

31.0

443

188

631

29.8

61

18

79

22.8

Qld (2008)

940

423

1,363

31.0

313

167

480

34.8

50

11

61

18.0

WA (2009)

738

312

1,050

29.7

497

196

693

28.3

97

31

128

24.2

SA (2010)

912

362

1,274

28.4

468

179

647

27.7

53

14

67

20.9

Tas. (2009)

215

76

291

26.1

243

38

281

13.5

20

7

27

25.9

NT (2008)

140

66

206

32.0

96

51

147

53.1

12

4

16

25.0

Total

7,269

3,331

10,600

31.4

3,128

1,206

4,334

27.8

407

119

526

22.6

Source: Compiled by Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and supplied by the Australian Local Government Association, 27 October 2011

Women on boards

Government boards

In 2010 the Commonwealth Government set a target of 40 per cent women and 40 per cent men on Commonwealth Government board positions by 2015, and this target was achieved for the first time in 2013.[92] As Table 16 shows, the percentage of women appointed to Commonwealth Government boards and bodies has gradually increased from 33.4 per cent to the current level of 41.7 per cent, although the total number of women occupying the available positions has remained relatively unchanged. The Office for Women maintains AppointWomen, an online register that matches ‘board-ready’ women with vacancies on Government boards and decision-making bodies, and BoardLinks designed to increase the number of potential candidates for boards.

Table 12: Women on Commonwealth Government boards and bodies, 2008–2013

Year

Boards and bodies

Positions

Women

% women

2008–9

529

5,655

1,887

33.4

2009–10

530

6,115

2,029

33.2

2010–11

466

3,960

1,396

35.3

2011–12

457

4,129

1,587

38.4

2012–13

460

4,039

1,685

41.7

Sources: Women on Australian Government boards reports for 2008 ̶2013[93]

Corporate boards

The matter of gender diversity on corporate boards has attracted attention both in Australia and overseas, with many countries adopting strategies or quotas to increase the number of women in boardrooms. See Appendix 5 for a list of organisations that maintain data on women on boards.[94]

In 2011 the Australian Institute of Company Directors reported that women accounted for nearly 30 per cent of all new board appointments by the 200 largest companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX 200), largely as a result of the ASX corporate governance recommendations on gender diversity that required members to adopt and disclose a diversity policy, establish measurable objectives for gender diversity on boards, and provide results in annual reports. The Institute attributed its success to its chairmen’s mentoring program, where 80 leaders have mentored and recruited women.[95] However, by 2013, women comprised only 15.8 per cent of board members of ASX 200 companies, and 48 of the ASX 200 boards did not have any women members.

In recent years a number of business organisations have examined the trends and proposed initiatives to address gender diversity in leadership positions as follows:

•       A Deloitte study of global trends published in 2011 noted that the debate about the role of women in public life has rapidly shifted in recent years, from equality of opportunity and promotion on merit to that of productivity and good governance. The study provided an overview of initiatives introduced in different countries to increase the number of women on corporate boards.[96]

•       In another international study published in 2013, Thomson Reuters found a steady increase in the presence of women on corporate boards internationally, noting that those with women board members had out-performed those without women on their boards.[97]

•       A 2013 study by the Business Council of Australia, a business lobby group representing 120 of Australia’s biggest companies, noted the ‘inherent biases [that] have produced a “male-gendered concept of merit-based assessment’’ in many companies’, and committed its membership to a quota of 50 per cent of senior positions to be filled by women in the next decade.[98]

•       According to a 2013 study of the gender gap in leadership positions by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), women account for more than half of Australian professionals, but represent less than 10 per cent of executives. The study concluded that:

Despite the progress made over the past 50 years, Australia still has a long way to go to achieve equality of opportunity. The failure of meritocratic processes due to unconscious bias, gender stereotypes and the reinforcement of those stereotypes, the way we have historically designed and organised work without much thought to non-work responsibilities, lack of mentoring and role models, and the prohibitive cost of childcare are all barriers to gender equality in the workplace.[99]

Conclusion

Under-representation of women in parliament remains a significant challenge in Australia. More than 110 years after the first women contested a Commonwealth election, only one in four Members in the House of Representatives and two in five Senators are women. Despite several women having filled high profile roles in Commonwealth, state and territory parliaments in recent years, including Prime Minister, Attorney-General and Minister for Foreign Affairs, women continue to be significantly under-represented in the Commonwealth Parliament and in senior federal ministries and parliamentary positions. 

Recent studies of women in Australia’s parliaments indicate that there are still significant social and cultural factors that inhibit women from participating on an equal basis as men. The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and parliamentary associations such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, are focusing on ways to encourage national parliaments to better accommodate women. The IPU’s 2008 global study of women in parliament, Equality in politics: a survey of women and men in parliament stated that parliaments have a key role to play in mainstreaming gender in society as a whole as well as within the parliamentary environment itself.[100] More recently the IPU has advocated a gender-sensitive parliament that will respond to ‘the needs and interests of both men and women in its work as a nation’s peak legislative institution’.[101] The IPU found that ‘women are overwhelmingly the main drivers of progress in gender equality in parliament but that parliaments, as institutions, also have responsibilities’.[102]

The subject of women’s under-representation in leadership and decision-making has also been a matter of considerable debate beyond the parliamentary environment. The proportion of women elected to local government in Australia, for example, has changed little in the past 20 years and remains well below 30 per cent. Women have been better represented on government boards in recent years since the introduction in 2010 of a 40 per cent target within five years. The gender imbalance in leadership positions has also been a matter of concern in the corporate sector where the representation of women on corporate boards remains low. Strategies for improving women’s representation on corporate boards has now shifted focus from creating equality of opportunity and promotion on merit to that of improving productivity and good governance by tapping into a wider talent pool.

Appendix 1: Women in national parliaments—top 50 ranked countries 2013 with 2008 and 2001 compared

2013

Lower or single House

Upper House or Senate

Ranking

% Female

% Female

2008

2001

1

Rwanda

63.8

38.5

1

18

2

Andorra

50.0

-

37

48

3

Cuba

48.9

-

3

12

4

Sweden

45.0

-

2

1

5

Seychelles

43.8

-

40

21

6

Senegal

42.7

-

47

40

7

Finland

42.5

-

4

3

8

South Africa

42.3

32.1

17

10

9

Nicaragua

40.2

-

64

70

10

Iceland

39.7

-

15

6

11

Norway

39.6

-

11

5

12

Mozambique

39.2

-

13

9

13

Denmark

39.1

-

7

2

14

Ecuador

38.7

-

37

46

“

Netherlands

38.7

36.0

5

4

15

Costa Rica

38.6

-

9

31

16

Timor-Leste

38.5

-

25

-

17

Belgium

38.0

40.8

12

22

18

Mexico

36.8

32.8

43

42

19

Argentina

36.5

27.5

6

15

20

Germany

32.8

21.7

18

7

21

Spain

36.0

34.2

10

11

“

United Republic of Tanzania

36.0

-

23

24

22

Uganda

35.0

-

21

?

23

Angola

34.1

-

8

43

“

The FYR of Macedonia

34.1

-

20

91

24

Austria

33.3

29.0

29

13

“

Grenada

33.3

15.4

86

14

25

Serbia

33.2

-

51

-

26

New Zealand

32.2

-

14

8

“

Slovenia

32.2

7.5

86

53

27

Algeria

31.6

7.0

113

106

28

Zimbabwe

31.5

47.5

77

67

29

Italy

31.4

29.0

52

69

30

Guyana

31.3

-

24

34

“

Portugal

31.3

-

27

33

31

Cameroon

31.1

20.0

83

97

32

Switzerland

31.0

19.6

26

23

33

Burundi

30.5

46.3

22

47

34

Trinidad and Tobago

28.6

22.6

31

58

35

Luxembourg

28.3

-

42

40

36

Ethiopia

27.8

16.3

48

84

37

Afghanistan

27.7

27.5

28

-

38

Philippines

27.3

25.0

55

?

39

France

26.9

22.2

65

59

40

Lesotho

26.7

27.3

37

104

“

Tunisia

26.7

-

44

57

41

Belarus

26.6

35.1

19

65

42

South Sudan

26.5

10.0

-

-

43

El Salvador

26.2

-

72

71

44

Australia

26.0

41.3

32

20

45

Bolivia

25.4

47.2

71

57

46

Iraq

25.2

-

35

85

47

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

25.0

-

36

27

48

Canada

24.7

37.9

46

26

49

Bulgaria

24.6

-

50

16

“

Sudan

24.6

17.9

66

70

50

Namibia

24.4

26.9

30

19

“

Viet Nam

24.4

-

33

17

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in national parliaments, 1 December 2013, 31 December 2008 and 12 October 2001, accessed 25 February 2014.

Appendix 2: Women in the Commonwealth Parliament, 1943–2014

Senate (listed in order of election; date in brackets indicates when term commenced)

Name

Age

Party

State

Date elected

Left Parliament

Why

1.          Tangney, (Dame) Dorothy Margaret

36

ALP

WA

21 Aug 1943

30 Jun1968

Def

2.          Rankin, (Dame) Annabelle Jane Mary

38

LIB

Qld

28 Sep 1946 (1 Jul 1947)

24 May 1971

Res

3.          Robertson, Agnes Robertson

67

LIB;CP±

WA

10 Dec 1949 (22 Feb 1950)

30 Jun1962

Ret

4.          Wedgwood, (Dame) Ivy Evelyn

53

LIB

Vic.

10 Dec 1949 (22 Feb 1950)

30 Jun1971

Ret

5.          Buttfield, Nancy Eileen

42

LIB

SA

11 Oct 1955*
25 Nov 1967 (1 Jul 1968)

30 Jun1965
11 Apr 1974

Def
Ret

6.          Breen, (Dame) Marie Freda

59

LIB

Vic.

9 Dec 1961 (1 Jul 1962)

30 Jun1968

Ret

7.          Guilfoyle, (Dame) Margaret Georgina Constance

44

LIB

Vic.

21 Nov 1970 (1 Jul 1971)

11 Jul 1987

Ret

8.          Coleman, Ruth Nancy

42

ALP

WA

18 May 1974

11 Jul 1987

Ret

9.          Martin, Kathryn Jean (later Sullivan)**

32

LIB

Qld

18 May 1974

5 Nov 1984

Res

10.       Melzer, Jean Isabel

48

ALP

Vic.

18 May 1974

30 Jun1981

Def

11.       Ryan, Susan Maree

33

ALP

ACT

13 Dec 1975

29 Jan 1988

Res

12.       Walters, Mary (Shirley)

50

LIB

Tas.

13 Dec 1975

30 Jun1993

Ret

13.       Haines, Janine

32

AD

SA

14 Dec 1977*
18 Oct 1980 (1 Jul 1981)

30 Jun1978
1 Mar 1990

Ret
Res

14.       Hearn, Jean Margaret

59

ALP

Tas.

15 Oct 1980*

30 Jun1985

Ret

15.       Bjelke-Petersen, Florence Isabel

60

NP

Qld

18 Oct 1980 (12 Mar 1981)

30 Jun1993

Ret

16.       Reid, Margaret Elizabeth

45

LIB

ACT

5 May 1981*

14 Feb 2003

Res

17.       Giles, Patricia Jessie

51

ALP

WA

18 Oct 1980 (1 Jul 1981)

30 Jun1993

Ret

18.       Crowley, Rosemary Anne

44

ALP

SA

5 Mar 1983

30 Jun 2002

Ret

19.       Reynolds, Margaret

41

ALP

Qld

5 Mar 1983

30 Jun 1999

Ret

20.       Zakharov, Alice Olive

53

ALP

Vic.

5 Mar 1983

6 Mar 1995

Died

21.       Knowles, Susan Christine

33

LIB

WA

1 Dec 1984

30 Jun 2005

Ret

22.       Vanstone, Amanda Eloise

31

LIB

SA

1 Dec 1984

26 Apr 2007

Res

23.       Vallentine, Josephine (Jo)

38

NDP; Ind;
GWA±

WA

1 Dec 1984 (1 Jul 1985)

31 Jan 1992

Res

24.       Newman, Jocelyn Margaret

48

LIB

Tas.

13 Mar 1986*

1 Feb 2002

Res

25.       Powell, Janet Frances

43

AD

Vic.

26 Aug 1986*

30 Jun1993

Def

26.       West, Suzanne Margaret

39

ALP

NSW

11 Feb 1987*
24 Mar 1990 (1 Jul 1990)

11 Jul 1987
30 Jun 2002

Def
Ret

27.       Bishop, Bronwyn Kathleen**

44

LIB

NSW

11 Jul 1987

24 Feb 1994

Res

28.       Jenkins, Jean Alice

49

AD

WA

11 Jul 1987

30 Jun1990

Def

29.       Patterson, Kay Christine Lesley

42

LIB

Vic.

11 Jul 1987

30 Jun 2008

Ret

30.       Dunn, Patricia Irene (Irina)

40

NDP; Ind ±

NSW

21 Jul 1988*

30 Jun1990

Def

31.       Bourne, Victoria Worrall

35

AD

NSW

24 Mar 1990 (1 Jul 1990)

30 Jun 2002

Def

32.       Kernot, Cheryl**

38

AD

Qld

24 Mar 1990 (1 Jul 1990)

15 Oct 1997

Res

33.       Lees, Meg Heather

41

AD

SA

4 April 1990*

30 Jun 2005

Def

34.       Sowada, Karen Nicole

29

AD

NSW

29 Aug 1991*

30 Jun1993

Def

35.       Chamarette, Christabel Marguerite Alain

43

GWA

WA

12 Mar 1992*

30 Jun1996

Def

36.       Margetts, Diane (Dee) Elizabeth†

38

GWA

WA

13 Mar 1993 (1 Jul 1993)

30 Jun 1999

Def

37.       Troeth, Judith Mary

52

LIB

Vic.

13 Mar 1993 (1 Jul 1993)

30 Jun 2011

Ret

38.       Denman, Kay Janet

56

ALP

Tas.

24 Aug 1993*

30 Jun 2005

Ret

39.       Neal, Belinda Jane**

31

ALP

NSW

8 Mar 1994*

3 Sep 1998

Res

40.       Collins, Jacinta Mary Ann

32

ALP

Vic.

3 May 1995*
24 Nov 2007 (8 May 2008)

30 Jun 2005

Def

41.       Stott Despoja, Natasha Jessica

26

AD

SA

29 Nov 1995*

30 Jun 2008

Ret

42.       Lundy, Kate Alexandra

28

ALP

ACT

2 Mar 1996

43.       Mackay, Susan Mary

35

ALP

Tas.

2 Mar 1996 (8 Mar 1996)

29 Jul 2005

Res

44.       Allison, Lynette (Lyn) Fay

49

AD

Vic.

2 Mar 1996 (1 Jul 1996)

30 Jun 2008

Def

45.       Coonan, Helen

48

LIB

NSW

2 Mar 1996 (1 Jul 1996)

28 Aug 2011

Res

46.       Ferris, Jeannie‡

54

LIB

SA

2 Mar 1996 (1 Jul 1996)
24 Jul 1996*

12 Jul 1996
2 Apr 2007

Dis
Died

47.       Gibbs, Brenda

48

ALP

Qld

2 Mar 1996 (1 Jul 1996)

30 Jun 2002

Def

48.       Payne, Marise Ann

32

LIB

NSW

9 Apr 1997*

49.       Synon, Karen Margaret

39

LIB

Vic.

13 May 1997*

30 Jun 1999

Def

50.       Crossin, Patricia (Trish) Margaret

42

ALP

NT

16 Jun 1998*

6 Sept 2003

Ret

51.       McLucas, Jan Elizabeth

41

ALP

Qld

3 Oct 1998 (1 Jul 1999)

52.       Kirk, Linda Jean

35

ALP

SA

10 Nov 2001 (1 Jul 2002)

30 Jun 2008

Ret

53.       Moore, Claire Mary

46

ALP

Qld

10 Nov 2001 (1 Jul 2002)

54.       Nettle, Kerry Michelle

28

Grn

NSW

10 Nov 2001 (1 Jul 2002)

30 Jun 2008

Def

55.       Stephens, Ursula Mary

47

ALP

NSW

10 Nov 2001 (1 Jul 2002)

56.       Webber, Ruth Stephanie

37

ALP

WA

10 Nov 2001 (1 Jul 2002)

30 Jun 2008

Def

57.       Wong, Penny Ying Yen

33

ALP

SA

10 Nov 2001 (1 Jul 2002)

58.       Fierravanti-Wells, Concetta (Connie) Anna

44

LIB

NSW

9 Oct 2004 (5 May 2005)*

59.       Adams, Judith Anne

58

LIB

WA

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

31 Mar 2012

Died

60.       Hurley, Annette Kay†

50c

ALP

SA

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

30 Jun 2011

Ret

61.       McEwen, Ann

50

ALP

Qld

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

62.       Milne, Christine Anne†

52

Grn

Tas.

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

63.       Nash, Fiona Joy

39

NP

NSW

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

64.       Polley, Helen Beatrice

48

ALP

Tas.

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

65.       Siewert, Rachel Mary

43

Grn

WA

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

66.       Wortley, Dana

46c

ALP

SA

9 Oct 2004 (1 Jul 2005)

30 Jun 2011

Def

67.       Brown, Carol Louise

42

ALP

Tas.

25 Aug 2005*

68.       Boyce, Suzanne (Sue) Kay

56

LIB

Qld

19 Apr 2007*

69.       Fisher, Mary Jo

44

LIB

SA

6 Jun 2007*

14 Aug 2012

Res

70.       Bilyk, Catryna Louise

49

ALP

Tas.

24 Nov 2007 (1 Jul 2008)

71.       Cash, Michaelia Clare

37

LIB

WA

24 Nov 2007 (1 Jul 2008)

72.       Hanson-Young, Sarah Coral

26

Grn

SA

24 Nov 2007 (1 Jul 2008)

73.       Kroger, Helen Evelyn

49

LIB

Vic.

24 Nov 2007 (1 Jul 2008)

74.       Pratt, Louise Clare†

36

ALP

WA

24 Nov 2007 (1 Jul 2008)

75.       McKenzie, Bridget

41

NP

Vic.

21 Aug 2010 (1 Jul 2011)

76.       Rhiannon, Lee†

60

Grn

NSW

21 Aug 2010 (1 Jul 2011)

77.       Singh, Lisa Maria†

39

ALP

Tas.

21 Aug 2010 (1 Jul 2011)

78.       Urquhart, Anne Elizabeth

53

ALP

Tas.

21 Aug 2010 (1 Jul 2011)

79.       Waters, Larissa Joy

34

Grn

Qld

21 Aug 2010 (1 Jul 2011)

80.       Wright, Penelope (Penny) Lesley

50

Grn

SA

21 Aug 2010 (1 Jul 2011)

81.       Thorp, Lin Estelle†

47

ALP

Tas.

20 Jun 2012*

82.       Ruston, Anne

LIB

SA

5 Sep 2012*

83.       Lines, Susan (Sue)

59

ALP

WA

15 May 2013*

84.       Peris, Nova

42

ALP

NT

7 Sep 2013

85.       O’Neill, Deborah†

52

ALP

NSW

13 Nov 2013*

86.       Lambie, Jacqui

42

PUP

Tas.

1 July 2014

87.       Reynolds, Linda

LIB

WA

1 July 2014

88.       Rice, Janet

52

GRN

Vic.

1 July 2014

*casual vacancy

** served in both Houses

† served in more than one Australian House of Parliament
‡ Jeannie Ferris: resigned on 12 Jul 1996 (her eligibility in question); chosen by SA Parliament to fill that casual vacancy on 24 Jul 1996
± Agnes Robertson: LIB; Country Party from 1955
± Irina Dunn: NDP; Independent Senator for Nuclear Disarmament from 22 Aug 1988
± Jo Vallentine: NDP; Independent Senator for Nuclear Disarmament from 17 May 1985; GWA from 1 Jul 1990

House of Representatives (listed in order of election)

Name

Age

Party

Constituency

Date elected

Left Parliament

Why

1.          Lyons, (Dame) Enid Muriel

46

UAP

Darwin (Tas.)

21 Aug 1943

3 Mar 1951

Ret

2.          Blackburn, Doris Amelia

57

Ind Lab

Bourke (Vic.)

28 Sep 1946

10 Dec 1949

Def

3.          Brownbill, Kay Cathrine Millin

52

LIB

Kingston (SA)

26 Nov 1966

25 Oct 1969

Def

4.          Child, Gloria Joan Liles

52

ALP

Henty (Vic.)
Henty (Vic.)

18 May 1974
18 Oct 1980

13 Dec 1975
19 Feb 1990

Def
Ret

5.          Darling, Elaine Elizabeth

44

ALP

Lilley (Qld)

18 Oct 1980

13 Mar 1993

Ret

6.          Kelly, Roslyn Joan

32

ALP

Canberra (ACT)

18 Oct 1980

30 Jan 1995

Res

7.          Fatin, Wendy Frances

41

ALP

Canning (WA)
Brand (WA)

5 Mar 1983
1 Dec 1984

until elected for
2 Mar 1996

Ret

8.          McHugh, Jeannette

48

ALP

Phillip (NSW)
Grayndler (NSW)

5 Mar 1983
13 Mar 1993

until elected for
2 Mar 1996

Ret

9.          Mayer, Helen

50

ALP

Chisholm (Vic.)

5 Mar 1983

11 Jul 1987

Def

10.       Jakobsen, Carolyn Anne

37

ALP

Cowan (WA)

1 Dec 1984

13 Mar 1993

Def

11.       Sullivan, Kathryn Jean (formerly Martin)**

42

LIB

Moncrieff (Qld)

1 Dec 1984

10 Nov 2001

Ret

12.       Crawford, Mary Catherine

40

ALP

Forde (Qld)

11 Jul 1987

2 Mar 1996

Def

13.       Harvey, Elizabeth Robyn

40

ALP

Hawker (SA)

11 Jul 1987

24 Mar 1990

Def

14.       Bailey, Frances Esther

43

LIB

McEwen (Vic.)
McEwen (Vic.)

24 Mar 1990
2 Mar 1996

13 Mar 1993
21 Aug 2010

Def
Ret

15.       Crosio, Janice Ann†

51

ALP

Prospect (NSW)

24 Mar 1990

9 Oct 2004

Ret

16.       Gallus, Christine Ann

46

LIB

Hawker (SA)
Hindmarsh (SA)

24 Mar 1990
13 Mar 1993

until elected for
9 Oct 2004

Ret

17.       Deahm, Margaret Joan

54

ALP

Macquarie (NSW)

13 Mar 1993

2 Mar 1996

Def

18.       Easson, Mary Louise

37

ALP

Lowe (NSW)

13 Mar 1993

2 Mar 1996

Def

19.       Henzell, Marjorie Madeline

44

ALP

Capricornia (Qld)

13 Mar 1993

2 Mar 1996

Def

20.       Moylan, Judith Eleanor

49

LIB

Pearce (WA)

13 Mar 1993

7 Sep 2013

Ret

21.       Smith, Silvia Joy†

53

ALP

Bass (Tas.)

13 Mar 1993

2 Mar 1996

Def

22.       Worth, Patricia Mary

46

LIB

Adelaide (SA)

13 Mar 1993

9 Oct 2004

Def

23.       Lawrence, Carmen Mary†

46

ALP

Fremantle (WA)

12 Mar 1994*

24 Nov 2007

Ret

24.       Bishop, Bronwyn Kathleen**

51

LIB

Mackellar (NSW)

26 Mar 1994*

25.       Draper, Patricia

36

LIB

Makin (SA)

2 Mar 1996

24 Nov 2007

Ret

26.       Ellis, Annette Louise†

49

ALP

Namadgi (ACT)
Canberra (ACT)

2 Mar 1996
3 Oct 1998

until elected for
21 Aug 2010

Ret

27.       Elson, Kay Selma

49

LIB

Forde (Qld)

2 Mar 1996

24 Nov 2007

Ret

28.       Gambaro, Teresa

37

LIB

Petrie (Qld)
Brisbane (Qld)

2 Mar 1996
21 Aug 2010

24 Nov 2007

Def

29.       Gash, Joanna

51

LIB

Gilmore (NSW)

2 Mar 1996

7 Sep 2013

Ret

30.       Grace, Elizabeth Jane

55

LIB

Lilley (Qld)

2 Mar 1996

3 Oct 1998

Def

31.       Hanson, Pauline Lee

41

Ind

Oxley (Qld)

2 Mar 1996

3 Oct 1998

Def

32.       Jeanes, Susan Barbara

38

LIB

Kingston (SA)

2 Mar 1996

3 Oct 1998

Def

33.       Johnston, Henrike (Ricky)

52

LIB

Canning (WA)

2 Mar 1996

3 Oct 1998

Def

34.       Kelly, De-Anne Margaret

41

NP

Dawson (Qld)

2 Mar 1996

24 Nov 2007

Def

35.       Kelly, Jacqueline (Jackie) Marie‡

32

LIB

Lindsay (NSW)
Lindsay (NSW)

2 Mar 1996
19 Oct 1996*

11 Sep 1996
24 Nov 2007

Dis
Ret

36.       Macklin, Jennifer Louise

42

ALP

Jagajaga (Vic.)

2 Mar 1996

37.       Stone, Sharman Nancy

44

LIB

Murray (Vic.)

2 Mar 1996

38.       Vale, Danna Sue

51

LIB

Hughes (NSW)

2 Mar 1996

21 Aug 2010

Ret

39.       West, Andrea Gail

43

LIB

Bowman (Qld)

2 Mar 1996

3 Oct 1998

Def

40.       Bishop, Julie Isabel

47

LIB

Curtin (WA)

3 Oct 1998

41.       Burke, Anna Elizabeth

32

ALP

Chisholm (Vic.)

3 Oct 1998

42.       Gerick, Jane Frances

32

ALP

Canning (WA)

3 Oct 1998

10 Nov 2001

Def

43.       Gillard, Julia Eileen

37

ALP

Lalor (Vic.)

3 Oct 1998

7 Sep 2013

Ret

44.       Hall, Jill Griffiths†

48

ALP

Shortland (NSW)

3 Oct 1998

45.       Hoare, Kelly Joy

35

ALP

Charlton (NSW)

3 Oct 1998

24 Nov 2007

Ret

46.       Hull, Kay Elizabeth

44

NP

Riverina (NSW)

3 Oct 1998

21 Aug 2010

Ret

47.       Irwin, Julia Claire

47

ALP

Fowler (NSW)

3 Oct 1998

21 Aug 2010

Ret

48.       Kernot, Cheryl**

49

ALP

Dickson (Qld)

3 Oct 1998

10 Nov 2001

Def

49.       Livermore, Kirsten Fiona

28

ALP

Capricornia

3 Oct 1998

7 Sep 2013

Ret

50.       May, Margaret Ann

48

LIB

McPherson (Qld)

3 Oct 1998

21 Aug 2010

Ret

51.       McFarlane, Jann Sonya

54

ALP

Stirling (WA)

3 Oct 1998

9 Oct 2004

Def

52.       O'Byrne, Michelle Anne†

30

ALP

Bass (Tas.)

3 Oct 1998

9 Oct 2004

Def

53.       Plibersek, Tanya Joan

28

ALP

Sydney (NSW)

3 Oct 1998

54.       Roxon, Nicola Louise

31

ALP

Gellibrand (Vic.)

3 Oct 1998

7 Sep 2013

Ret

55.       Corcoran, Ann Kathleen

48

ALP

Isaacs (Vic.)

12 Aug 2000*

24 Nov 2007

Ret

56.       Short, Leonie Margaret

45

ALP

Ryan (Qld)

17 Mar 2001*

10 Nov 2001

Def

57.       George, Jennie

54

ALP

Throsby (NSW)

10 Nov 2001

21 Aug 2010

Ret

58.       Grierson, Sharon Joy

50

ALP

Newcastle (NSW)

10 Nov 2001

7 Sep 2013

Ret

59.       Jackson, Sharryn Maree

39

ALP

Hasluck (WA)
Hasluck (WA)

10 Nov 2001
24 Nov 2007

9 Oct 2004
21 Aug 2010

Def
Def

60.       King, Catherine Fiona

35

ALP

Ballarat (Vic.)

10 Nov 2001

61.       Ley, Sussan Penelope

39

LIB

Farrer (NSW)

10 Nov 2001

62.       Mirabella, Sophie (formerly Panopoulos)

33

LIB

Indi (Vic.)

10 Nov 2001

7 Sep 2013

Def

63.       Vamvakinou, Maria

42

ALP

Calwell (Vic.)

10 Nov 2001

64.       Bird, Sharon Leah

41

ALP

Cunningham (NSW)

9 Oct 2004

65.       Elliot, Justine Maria

37

ALP

Richmond (NSW)

9 Oct 2004

66.       Ellis, Katherine (Kate) Margaret

27

ALP

Adelaide (SA)

9 Oct 2004

67.       Markus, Louise Elizabeth

46

LIB

Greenway (NSW)

9 Oct 2004

68.       Owens, Julie Ann

45

ALP

Parramatta (NSW)

9 Oct 2004

69.       Campbell, Jodie Louise

35

ALP

Bass (Tas.)

24 Nov 2007

21 Aug 2010

Ret

70.       Collins, Julie Maree

36

ALP

Franklin (Tas.)

24 Nov 2007

71.       D'Ath, Yvette Maree

37

ALP

Petrie (Qld)

24 Nov 2007

7 Sep 2013

Def

72.       McKew, Maxine Margaret

54

ALP

Bennelong (NSW)

24 Nov 2007

21 Aug 2010

Def

73.       Marino, Nola Bethwyn

53

LIB

Forrest (WA)

24 Nov 2007

74.       Neal, Belinda Jane**

44

ALP

Robertson (NSW)

24 Nov 2007

21 Aug 2010

Ret

75.       Parke, Melissa

41

ALP

Fremantle (WA)

24 Nov 2007

76.       Rea, Kerry Marie

44

ALP

Bonner (Qld)

24 Nov 2007

21 Aug 2010

Def

77.       Rishworth, Amanda Louise

29

ALP

Kingston (SA)

24 Nov 2007

78.       Saffin, Janelle Anne†

53

ALP

Page (NSW)

24 Nov 2007

7 Sep 2013

Def

79.       O'Dwyer, Kelly Megan

32

LIB

Higgins (Vic.)

5 Dec 2009*

80.       Andrews, Karen Lesley

49

LIB

McPherson (Qld)

21 Aug 2010

81.       Brodtmann, Gai Maree

46

ALP

Canberra (ACT)

21 Aug 2010

82.       Griggs, Natasha Louise

41

CLP

Solomon (NT)

21 Aug 2010

83.       O'Neill, Deborah†

49

ALP

Robertson (NSW)

21 Aug 2010

7 Sep 2013

Def

84.       Prentice, Jane

57

LIB

Ryan (Qld)

21 Aug 2010

85.       Rowland, Michelle Anne

38

ALP

Greenway (NSW)

21 Aug 2010

86.       Smyth, Laura Mary

33

ALP

La Trobe (Vic.)

21 Aug 2010

7 Sep 2013

Def

87.       Chesters, Lisa

ALP

Bendigo (Vic.)

7 Sep 2013

88.       Claydon, Sharon

49

ALP

Newcastle (NSW)

7 Sep 2013

89.       Henderson, Sarah

LIB

Corangamite (Vic.)

7 Sep 2013

90.       Landry, Michelle

50

NP

Capricornia (Qld)

7 Sep 2013

91.       McGowan, Cathy

59

Ind

Indi (Vic.)

7 Sep 2013

92.       McNamara, Karen

49

LIB

Dobell (NSW)

7 Sep 2013

93.       MacTiernan, Alannah JGC†

60

ALP

Perth (WA)

7 Sep 2013

94.       O’Neil, Clare

32

ALP

Hotham (Vic.)

7 Sep 2013

95.       Price, Melissa

49

LIB

Durack (WA)

7 Sep 2013

96.       Ryan, Joanne

52

ALP

Lalor (Vic.)

7 Sep 2013

97.       Scott, Fiona

36

LIB

Lindsay (NSW)

7 Sep 2013

98.       Sudmalis, Ann

57

LIB

Gilmore (NSW)

7 Sep 2013

99.       Wicks, Lucy

40

LIB

Robertson (NSW)

7 Sep 2013

100.    Butler, Terri*

36

ALP

Griffith (Qld)

8 Feb 2014

Source: J Wilson and D Black, Women parliamentarians in Australia 1921–2013, Research paper 2013–14, Parliamentary Library, 14 February 2014; updated 10 June 2014, accessed 19 June 2014

*casual vacancy

** served in both Houses

† served in more than one Australian House of Parliament
‡ Jackie Kelly: disqualified on 11 Sep 1996; re-elected at by-election on 19 Oct 1996

Explanatory note: In September 2010, the then Chief Opposition Whip, Mr Warren Entsch advised that LNP Members would nominate to sit with the Liberal Party or The Nationals in the federal Parliament, largely to facilitate their association with their Liberal and Nationals colleagues in other states. The party listings on the APH website are in accordance with this practice. Currently, the three female Queensland LNP MPs (KL Andrews, T Gambaro and J Prentice) sit with the Liberals, while one MP (M Landry) sits with the Nationals. 

Appendix 3: Women in Commonwealth ministries, 1901–2014, as at 1 January 2014

In order of appointment

Name

House

Party

State

Portfolio

Dates

Lyons, Enid

R

UAP

Tas.

Vice-President of the Executive Council

19.12.49–7.3.51

Rankin, Annabelle

S

LIB

Qld

Minister for Housing

26.1.66–22.3.71

Guilfoyle, Margaret

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Education

12.11.75–22.12.75

Guilfoyle, Margaret

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Social Security

(in Cabinet from 8.7.76)

22.12.75–3.11.80

Guilfoyle, Margaret

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister Assisting the PM in Childcare Matters

22.12.75–3.6.76

Guilfoyle, Margaret

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Finance

3.11.80–11.3.83

Ryan, Susan

S

ALP

ACT

Minister for Education and Youth Affairs

11.3.83–13.12.84

Ryan, Susan

S

ALP

ACT

Minister for Education

13.12.84–24.7.87

Ryan, Susan

S

ALP

ACT

Special Minister of State

24.7.87–19.1.88

Ryan, Susan

S

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

24.7.87–19.1.88

Ryan, Susan

S

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting the PM for the Bicentennial

24.7.87–19.1.88

Ryan, Susan

S

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting the PM for Community Services and Health

24.7.87–19.1.88

Reynolds, Margaret

S

ALP

Qld

PS for Local Government*

24.7.87–18.9.87

Reynolds, Margaret

S

ALP

Qld

Minister for Local Government

18.9.87–4.4.90

Reynolds, Margaret

S

ALP

Qld

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women

19.1.88–4.4.90

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

PS for Defence Science and Personnel*

24.7.87–18.9.87

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

Minister for Defence Science and Personnel

18.9.87–6.4.89

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

Minister for Telecommunications and Aviation Support

6.4.89–4.4.90

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories

4.4.90–27.12.91

Fatin, Wendy

R

ALP

WA

Minister for Local Government

4.4.90–27.12.91

Fatin, Wendy

R

ALP

WA

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

4.4.90–24.3.93

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment and Territories

27.12.91–24.3.93

Fatin, Wendy

R

ALP

WA

Minister for  the Arts and Territories

27.12.91–24.3.93

McHugh, Jeanette

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Consumer Affairs

27.5.92–11.3.96

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories

24.3.93–1.3.94

Crowley, Rosemary

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Family Services

24.3.93–11.3.96

Crowley, Rosemary

S

ALP

SA

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

24.3.93–23.12.93

Crosio, Janice

R

ALP

NSW

PS to the Minister for the Arts and Administrative Services

24.3.93–23.12.93

Kelly, Ros

R

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

23.12.93–1.3.94

Crosio, Janice

R

ALP

NSW

PS to the Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories

23.12.93–25.3.94

Lawrence, Carmen

R

ALP

WA

Minister for Human Services and Health

25.3.94–11.3.96

Lawrence, Carmen

R

ALP

WA

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

25.3.94–11.3.96

Crawford, Mary

R

ALP

Qld

PS to the Minister for Housing and Regional Development

25.3.94–11.3.96

Crosio, Janice

R

ALP

NSW

PS to the Minister for Social Security

25.3.94–11.3.96

Newman, Jocelyn

S

LIB

Tas.

Minister for Social Security

11.3.96–21.10.98

Newman, Jocelyn

S

LIB

Tas.

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

11.3.96–9.10.97

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs

11.3.96–9.10.97

Moylan, Judi

R

LIB

WA

Minister for Family Services

11.3.96–9.10.97

Bishop, Bronwyn

R

LIB

NSW

Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel

11.3.96–21.10.98

Worth, Trish

R

LIB

SA

PS to the Minister for Health and Family Services

18.7.97–21.10.98

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister for Justice

9.10.97–21.10.98

Moylan, Judi

R

WA

WA

Minister for the Status of Women

9.10.97–21.10.98

Sullivan, Kathy

R

LIB

Qld

PS to the Minister for Foreign Affairs

9.10.97–16.2.00

Troeth, Judith

S

LIB

Vic.

PS to the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy

9.10.97–21.10.98

Kelly, Jackie

R

LIB

NSW

Minister for Sport and Tourism

21.10.98–6.11.01

Kelly, Jackie

R

LIB

NSW

Minister Assisting the PM for the Sydney 2000 Games

21.10.98–30.1.01

Newman, Jocelyn

S

LIB

Tas.

Minister for Family and Community Services

21.10.98–30.1.01

Newman, Jocelyn

S

LIB

Tas.

Minister Assisting the PM for the Status of Women

21.10.98–30.1.01

Bishop, Bronwyn

R

LIB

NSW

Minister for Aged Care

21.10.98–6.11.01

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister for Justice and Customs

21.10.98–30.1.01

Patterson, Kay

S

LIB

Vic.

PS to the Minister of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

21.10.98–6.11.01

Stone, Sharman

R

LIB

Vic.

PS to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage

21.10.98 –26.10.04

Troeth, Judith

S

LIB

Vic.

PS to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

21.10.98–26.10.04

Worth, Trish

R

LIB

SA

PS to the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs

21.10.98–6.11.01

Patterson, Kay

S

LIB

Vic.

PS to the Minister for Foreign Affairs

16.2.00–26.11.01

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister for Family and Community Services

30.1.01–7.10.03

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women

30.1.01–7.10.03

Gallus, Chris

R

LIB

SA

PS to the Minister for Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs

30.1.0–26.11.01

Patterson, Kay

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Health and Ageing

26.11.01–7.10.03

Coonan, Helen

S

LIB

NSW

Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer

26.11.01–8.7.04

Vale, Danna

R

LIB

NSW

Minister for Veterans' Affairs

26.11.01–6.10.04

Vale, Danna

R

LIB

NSW

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

26.11.01–7.10.03

Bailey, Fran

R

LIB

Vic.

PS (Defence)

26.11.01–8.7.04

Gallus, Chris

R

LIB

SA

PS (Foreign Affairs)

26.11.01–8.7.04

Kelly, Jackie

R

LIB

NSW

PS to the Prime Minister

26.11.01–26.10.04

Worth, Trish

R

LIB

SA

PS to the Minister for Health and Ageing

26.11.01–26.10.04

Bishop, Julie

R

LIB

WA

Minister for Ageing

7.10.03–27.1.06

Patterson, Kay

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Family and Community Services

7.10.03–27.1.06

Patterson, Kay

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women

7.10.03–6.10.04

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

7.10.03–27.1.06

Kelly, De-Anne

R

NP

Qld

PS to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services

7.10.03–6.10.04

Kelly, De-Anne

R

NP

Qld

PS to the Minister for Trade

7.10.03–6.10.04

Coonan, Helen

S

LIB

NSW

Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts

18.7.04–3.12.07

Bailey, Fran

R

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Employment Services

18.7.04–6.10.04

Bailey, Fran

R

LIB

Vic.

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

18.7.04–6.10.04

Gambaro, Teresa

R

LIB

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence

18.7.04–27.1.06

Patterson, Kay

S

LIB

Vic.

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women’s Issues

26.10.04–7.1.06

Kelly, De-Anne

R

Nat

Qld

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

26.10.04–7.1.06

Bailey, Fran

R

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Small Business and Tourism

26.10.04–3.12.07

Stone, Sharman

R

LIB

Vic.

PS to the Minister for Finance and Administration

26.10.04–7.1.06

Kelly, De-Anne

R

NAT

Qld

Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence

16.11.04–7.1.06

Bishop, Julie

R

LIB

WA

Minister for Education, Science and Training

27.1.06–3.12.07

Vanstone, Amanda

S

LIB

SA

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

27.1.06–30.1.07

Stone, Sharman

R

LIB

Vic.

Minister for Workforce Participation

27.1.06–3.12.07

Gambaro, Teresa

R

LIB

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs

27.1.06–30.1.07

Kelly, De-Anne

R

Nat

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade

27.1.06–29.9.06

Kelly, De-Anne

R

Nat

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services

29.9.06–3.12.07

Gambaro, Teresa

R

LIB

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

30.1.07–3.12.07

Gillard, Julia

R

ALP

Vic.

Deputy Prime Minister

3.12.07–24.6.10

Gillard, Julia

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Education

3.12.07–28.6.10

Gillard, Julia

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations

3.12.07–28.6.10

Gillard, Julia

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Social Inclusion

3.12.07–28.6.10

Macklin, Jenny

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

3.12.07–14.12.11

Roxon, Nicola

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Health and Ageing

3.12.07–14.12.11

Wong, Penny

S

ALP

SA

Minister for Climate Change and Water

3.12.07–8.3.10

Elliot, Justine

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Ageing

3.12.07–14.9.10

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Youth

3.12.07–9.6.09

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Sport

3.12.07–14.9.10

Plibersek, Tanya

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Housing

3.12.07–14.9.10

Plibersek, Tanya

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for the Status of Women

3.12.07–14.9.10

McKew, Maxine

R

ALP

NSW

Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education and Child Care

3.12.07–9.6.09

McLucas, Jan

S

ALP

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing

3.12.07–9.6.09

Stephens, Ursula

S

ALP

NSW

Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector

3.12.07–14.9.10

Stephens, Ursula

S

ALP

NSW

Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Prime Minister for Social Inclusion

3.12.07–25.2.09

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth

9.6.09–14.9.10

McKew, Maxine

R

ALP

NSW

Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

9.6.09–14.9.10

Wong, Penny

S

ALP

SA

Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water

8.3.10–14.9.10

Gillard, Julia

R

ALP

Vic.

Prime Minister

24.6.10–27.6.2013

Wong, Penny

S

ALP

SA

Minister for Finance and Deregulation

14.9.10–18.9.2013

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for the Status of Women

14.9.10–4.12.11

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare

14.9.10–4.12.11

Plibersek, Tanya

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Human Services

14.9.10–4.12.11

Collins, Jacinta

S

ALP

Vic.

Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations

14.9.10–1.7.2013

Collins, Julie

R

ALP

Tas.

Parliamentary Secretary for Community Services

14.9.10–14.12.11

Elliot, Justine

R

ALP

NSW

Parliamentary Secretary for Trade

14.9.10–4.2.13

King, Catherine

R

ALP

Vic.

Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing

14.9.10–25.3.13

King, Catherine

R

ALP

Vic.

Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport

14.9.10–25.3.13

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship

14.9.10–21.2.11

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

14.9.10–5.3.12

McLucas, Jan

S

ALP

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers

14.9.10–25.3.13

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

21.2.11–5.3.12

Macklin, Jenny

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

14.12.11–18.9.13

Macklin, Jenny

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Disability Reform

14.12.11–18.9.13

Roxon, Nicola

R

ALP

Vic.

Attorney-General

14.12.11–4.2.13

Plibersek, Tanya

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Health

14.12.11–1.7.2013

Collins, Julie

R

ALP

Tas.

Minister for Community Services

14.12.11–1.7.2013

Collins, Julie

R

ALP

Tas.

Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development

14.12.11–1.7.2013

Collins, Julie

R

ALP

Tas.

Minister for the Status of Women

14.12.11–1.7.2013

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Employment Participation

14.12.11–18.9.2013

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Early Childhood and Childcare

14.12.11–1.7.2013

Roxon, Nicola

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Emergency Management

5.3.12–4.2.13

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Minister for Sport

5.3.12–1.7.2013

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Minister for Multicultural Affairs

5.3.12–18.9.2013

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting for Industry and Innovation

5.3.12–1.7.2013

McLucas, Jan

S

ALP

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister

5.3.12–25.3.13

Bird, Sharon

R

ALP

NSW

Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education and Skills

5.3.12–25.3.13

D’Ath, Yvette

R

ALP

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency

4.2.13–25.3.13

Parke, Melissa

R

ALP

WA

Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health

4.2.13–1.7.2013

Parke, Melissa

R

ALP

WA

Parliamentary Secretary for Homelessness and Social Housing

4.2.13–1.7.2013

McLucas, Jan

S

ALP

Qld

Minister for Human Services

25.3.13–18.9.2013

King, Catherine

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Regional Services, Local Communities and Territories

25.3.13–1.7.2013

King, Catherine

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Road Safety

25.3.13–1.7.2013

Bird, Sharon

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Higher Education and Skills

25.3.13–1.7.2013

D’Ath, Yvette

R

ALP

Qld

Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation

25.3.13–1.7.2013

Rishworth, Amanda

R

ALP

SA

Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water

25.3.13–18.9.2013

Rishworth, Amanda

R

ALP

SA

Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers

25.3.13–18.9.2013

Plibersek, Tanya

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Health and Medical Research

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Collins, Julie

R

ALP

Tas.

Minister for Housing and Homelessness; Minister for Community Services; Minister for the Status of Women

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

King, Catherine

R

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Regional Australia, Local Government and Territories

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Collins, Jacinta

S

ALP

Vic.

Minister for Mental Health and Ageing

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Ellis, Kate

R

ALP

SA

Minister for Early Childhood, Childcare and Youth

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Parke, Melissa

R

ALP

WA

Minister for International Development

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting for Innovation and Industry

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Lundy, Kate

S

ALP

ACT

Minister Assisting for the Digital Economy

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Bird, Sharon

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Regional Development

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Bird, Sharon

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Regional Communications

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Bird, Sharon

R

ALP

NSW

Minister for Road Safety

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

D’Ath, Yvette

R

ALP

Qld

PS for Climate Change, Innovation and Industry

1.7.2013–18.9.2013

Bishop, Julie

R

LIB

WA

Minister for Foreign Affairs

18.9.2013–

Nash, Fiona

S

Nat

NSW

Assistant Minister for Health

18.9.2013–

Ley, Sussan

R

LIB

NSW

Assistant Minister for Education

18.9.2013–

Payne, Marise

S

LIB

NSW

Minister for Human Services

18.9.2013–

Cash, Michaelia

S

LIB

WA

Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

18.9.2013–

Cash, Michaelia

S

LIB

WA

Minister Assisting the PM for Women

18.9.2013–

Fierravanti-Wells, C.

S

LIB

NSW

PS to the Minister for Social Services

18.9.2013–

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from Parliamentary Handbook

* Temporary title prior to the amendment of the Ministers of State Act 1952

Explanatory notes:

Includes Cabinet and non-Cabinet Ministers, and Parliamentary Secretaries

Bold—in Cabinet; Italics—PS (Parliamentary Secretary)

Until 11.1.1956 Cabinet comprised all members of the ministry

Appendix 4: Presiding Officers in Australian parliaments by party and gender, as at 6 June 2014

Jurisdiction

House

Title

Name

Party

Term

M

F

C/wealth

Senate
House of Representatives

President
Speaker

John Hogg

Bronwyn Bishop

ALP
LIB

1

1

26/8/2008–current (term ends 30/6/2014)
12/11/2013–current

NSW

Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly

President
Speaker

Don Harwin
Shelley Hancock

LIB
LIB

1

1

3/5/2011–current
3/5/2011–current

Vic.

Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly

President
Speaker

Bruce Atkinson
Christine Fyffe

LIB
LIB

1

1

21/12/2010–current
4/2/2014–current

Qld*

Legislative Assembly

Speaker

Fiona Simpson

LNP

1

15/05/2012–current

WA

Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly

President
Speaker

Barry House
Michael Sutherland

LIB
LIB

1
1

22/5/2009–current
11/4/2013–current

SA

Legislative Council
House of Assembly

President
Speaker

John Gazzola
Michael Atkinson

ALP
ALP

1
1

17/10/2012–current
5/2/2013–current

Tas.

Legislative Council
House of Assembly

President
Speaker

Jim Wilkinson
Elise Archer

ALP
LIB

1

1

21/5/2013–current
6/5/2014–current

ACT*

Legislative Assembly

Speaker

Vicki Dunne

LIB

1

6/11/2012–current

NT*

Legislative Assembly

Speaker

Kezia Purick

CLP

1

23/10/2012–current

Total

8

7

Source: Commonwealth, state and territory parliament websites

*unicameral parliament (one legislative chamber)

Appendix 5: Organisations maintaining gender data on executive and board positions

A range of organisations maintain data on the gender balance of executive and board positions in Australia and overseas including the following:

Women on Boards publishes a boardroom diversity index. It also has guidelines for gender balance performance and reporting, including setting measurable targets for increased participation by women. Its website includes case studies of individual women, although these do not indicate whether targets or quotas were involved in their selection.

•       Women’s Leadership Institute Australia–lists women members

•       Executive Women Australia–lists women members

•       Australian Government Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Targets and quotas,19 November 2013

•       Australian Institute of Company Directors 2014 report shows that 17.6 per cent of ASX 200 board directors are women

•       KPMG report 2013 (showed that the majority of Australia’s listed companies now have policies to get more women into top corporate roles, but had only managed one woman for every six men on the boards of Australia’s top 200 companies)

•       Australian Bureau of Statistics ‘Women in leadership’ statistics and analysis

•       Deloitte’s Women in the boardroom: a global perspective

•       Australian Financial Review’s list of women on ASX-listed company boards in 2011 (quotas/targets not mentioned in analysis, but networks and qualifications highlighted).

•       Chief Executive Women, CEW has compiled a list of recent articles relating to gender diversity on corporate boards.

Appendix 6: Selected milestones for women in Australian parliaments

Year

Milestone

1894

Women in the colony of South Australia win both the right to vote and stand for the colonial parliament

1899

Women in the colony of Western Australia win the right to vote; they win the right to stand for state parliament in 1920 and the first woman is elected in 1921 (Edith Cowan)

1902

The Commonwealth Franchise Act is passed, enabling all women (with the exception of Aboriginal women in some states) to vote for the Commonwealth Parliament. From this time, women are also able to sit in the Commonwealth Parliament; the first women are elected in 1943 (Dorothy Tangney and Enid Lyons)

1902

Women in New South Wales win the right to vote; they win the right to stand for the state Legislative Assembly in 1918

1903

Four women are candidates for the Commonwealth election—Nellie Martel, Mary Ann Moore Bentley and Vida Goldstein for the Senate, and Selina Anderson for the House of Representatives

1903

Women in Tasmania win the right to vote

1905

Women in Queensland win the right to vote

1908

Women in Victoria win the right to vote

1918

Queensland women win the right to stand for state parliament

1921

Edith Cowan (Nationalist) becomes Australia’s first female parliamentarian when she is elected to the WA Legislative Assembly

1922

Women in Tasmania win the right to stand for state parliament

1923

Victorian women win the right to stand for state parliament

1925

Millicent Preston-Stanley (Nationalist) is the first woman appointed to the NSW Legislative Assembly

1926

Women in NSW win the right to stand for the Legislative Council

1929

Irene Longman (Progressive Nationalist) is the first women to be elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly

1931

Ellen Webster (ALP) and Catherine Green (ALP) become the first women appointed to the NSW Legislative Council

1933

Lady Millie Peacock (UAP) is the first woman to be elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly

1943

Enid Lyons (UAP, later LIB) and Senator Dorothy Tangney (ALP) are the first female parliamentarians to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament

1944

Lillian Fowler is elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly seat of Newtown after serving as the first female Mayor in Australia (1938–9)

1947

Senator Annabelle Rankin (LIB), becomes Opposition Whip in the Senate becoming the first woman in the Commonwealth Parliament to hold that office

1947

Florence Cardell-Oliver (Nationalist; elected to the Western Australian Parliament in 1936) becomes Australia’s first female Cabinet minister

1948

Margaret McIntyre (IND) is the first woman elected to the Tasmanian Legislative Council

1949

Enid Lyons (LIB) becomes Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Liberal-Country Party coalition ministry of Prime Minister Robert Menzies

1951

Senator Annabelle Rankin (LIB) becomes Government Whip

1954

Ruby Hutchinson (ALP) is the first woman to be elected to the WA Legislative Council

1955

Millie Best (LIB) and Mabel Miller (LIB), are the first women to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly

1959

Joyce Steele (LCL) and Jessie Cooper (LCL) are the first women elected to the South Australian Parliament: Joyce Steele to the SA Legislative Assembly and Jessie Cooper to the SA Legislative Council

1966

Senator Annabelle Rankin (LIB) is appointed as Minister for Housing, becoming the first woman minister in the Commonwealth Parliament with portfolio responsibility

1970

Dame Senator Ivy Wedgwood (LIB) chairs one of the first of the Senate’s new legislative and general purpose standing committees, the Health and Welfare Committee

1976

Senator Margaret Guilfoyle (LIB), who was appointed Minister for Education and Minister for Social Security in 1975, becomes the first woman to be appointed to Commonwealth Cabinet and administer a government department; she is made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979

1976

Joy Mein (LIB) becomes the first woman state president of a major political party when she becomes the state president of the Liberal Party of Australia

1978

The NSW Legislative Council is popularly elected for the first time, and four women win places: Virginia Chadwick (LIB), Marie Fisher (ALP), Deirdre Grusovin (ALP), and Dorothy Isaksen (ALP)

1979

Gracia Baylor (LIB) and Joan Coxsedge (ALP) are the first women to be elected to the Victorian Legislative Council

1980

Senator Margaret Guilfoyle (LIB) becomes the first woman to hold an economic portfolio as Minister for Finance

1981

Shirley McKerrow becomes the first female national president of an Australian political party (The Nationals)

1983

Senator Susan Ryan (ALP) is the first female Labor minister in the Commonwealth Parliament. As the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women, Senator Ryan introduces the Sex Discrimination Act 1984

1986

Mrs Joan Child (ALP) becomes the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives

1986

Senator Janine Haines becomes the first woman to lead an Australian political party (Australian Democrats)

1989

Rosemary Follett (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female head of government and first female Chief Minister of the ACT

1990

Carmen Lawrence (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of an Australian state (Western Australia)

1990

Joan Kirner (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of Victoria

1990

Senator Janet Powell (IND) becomes the first woman member of either house to have a private bill passed by both houses, the Smoking and Tobacco Products Advertisements (Prohibition) Act 1989

1990

Carolyn Jakobsen (ALP) is elected chair of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, the first woman to hold this position

1995

Senator Margaret Reid (LIB) is elected Deputy-President of the Senate

1996

Senator Margaret Reid (LIB) becomes the first woman elected as President of the Senate (1996–2002)

1996

De-Anne Kelly (NAT) becomes the first National Party woman to be elected to the House of Representatives

2001

Jenny Macklin (ALP) becomes Deputy Leader of the Commonwealth Opposition; in 2002 she is elected as Deputy Leader of the ALP, the first woman to hold the position in the major parties at federal level

2001

Clare Martin (ALP) is the first female Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

2003

Linda Burney (ALP) is the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the Parliament of NSW; she holds several ministerial positions in the NSW Cabinet between 2007 and 2011, and becomes Deputy Leader of the Opposition in NSW in 2011

2005

Senator Judith Troeth (LIB) is a co-sponsor with Senator Fiona Nash (NAT), Senator Claire Moore (ALP), and Senator Lynette Allison (DEM) of the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Repeal of Ministerial Responsibility for Approval of RU486) Bill 2005 (known as the ‘abortion pill’); this Bill removes responsibility for approval of RU486 from the Minister for Health and Ageing and places it with the Therapeutic Goods Administration

2006

Senator Kay Patterson (LIB) introduces the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006. It is passed, becoming one of only 10 private senators’ bills to become law since 1901

2007

Julia Gillard (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female Deputy Prime Minister

2007

Anna Bligh (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of Queensland

2007

Julie Bishop (LIB) is the first female Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia

2010

Julia Gillard (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female Prime Minister

2011

Nicola Roxon (ALP) becomes Australia’s first female Attorney-General

2011

Lara Giddings (ALP) becomes the first female Premier of Tasmania

2012

Christine Milne (AG) becomes the first woman to lead the Australian Greens at the national level

2013

Julie Bishop becomes first female Minister for Foreign Affairs

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from published sources

Appendix 7: Twenty longest-serving women in the Commonwealth Parliament as at 30 June 2014

Name

Party

House

Start

End

Days

Total period of service

Martin/Sullivan, Kathryn

LIB

Senate HR

18.05.1974
12.01.1984

11.05.1984
10.08.2001

3,824
6,155
= 9,979

10 yrs 5 mths 18 days
16 yrs 10 mths 7 days=
27 yrs 3 mths 25 days

Bishop, Bronwyn

LIB

Senate HR

11.07.1987
26.03.1994

24.02.1994
Current

2,420
7,402
= 9,822

6 yrs 7 mths 16 days
20  yrs 3 mths 5 days
= TOTAL
26 yrs 10 mths 21 days

Tangney, Dorothy

ALP

Senate

21.08.1943

30.06.1968

9,080

24 yrs 10 mths 9 days

Rankin, Annabelle

LIB

Senate

01.07.1947

24.05.1971

8,728

23 yrs 10 mths 23 days

Vanstone, Amanda

LIB

Senate

01.07.1985

26.04.2007

7,969

21 yrs 9 mths 25 days

Reid, Margaret

LIB

Senate

05.05.1981

14.02.2003

7,955

21 yrs 9 mths 11 days

Wedgwood, Ivy DBE

LIB

Senate

22.02.1950

30.06.1971

7,798

21 yrs 4 mths 7 days

Moylan, Judi

LIB

HR

13.03.1993

Current

7,780

21 yrs 3 mths 18 days

Patterson, Kay

LIB

Senate

11.07.1987

30.06.2008

7,660

20 yrs 11 mths 20 days

Knowles, Susan

LIB

Senate

01.07.1985

30.06.2005

7,304

19 yrs 11 mths 30 days

Crowley, Rosemary

ALP

Senate

19.02.1983

30.06.2002

7,071

19 yrs 4 mths 11 days

Lundy, Kate

ALP

Senate

02.03.1996

Current

6,695

18 yrs 3 mths 29 days

Macklin, Jennifer

ALP

HR

02.03.1996

Current

6,695

18 yrs 3 mths 29 days

Stone, Sharman

LIB

HR

02.03.1996

Current

6,695

18 yrs 3 mths 29 days

Troeth, Judith

LIB

Senate

01.07.1993

30.06.2011

6,573

17 yrs 11 mths 29 days

Walters, Shirley

LIB

Senate

13.12.1975

30.06.1993

6,409

17 yrs 6 mths 18 days

Gash, Joanna

LIB

HR

02.03.1996

05.08.2013

6,366

17 yrs 5 mths 4 days

Payne, Marise

LIB

Senate

06.04.1997

Current

6,295

17 yrs 2 mths 25 days

Reynolds, Margaret

ALP

Senate

19.02.1983

30.06.1999

5,975

16 yrs 4 mths 10 days

Guilfoyle, Margaret

LIB

Senate

01.07.1971

05.06.1987

5,818

15 yrs 11 mths 5 days

Source: Compiled by the Parliamentary Library from the Commonwealth of Australia, The 43rd Parliament, Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2011, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, accessed 10 June 2014

Appendix 8: Commonwealth ministry and shadow ministry by gender, as at 30 April 2014

Government

Government

Government

Government

Opposition

Opposition

Opposition

Opposition

Male

Female

Total

% female

Male

Female

Total

% female

Cabinet (Inner Ministry)

18

1

19

5.3

14

5

19

26.3

Outer Ministry

7

4

11

36.4

5

6

11

54.5

All ministers

25

5

30

16.7

18

11

29

37.9

Appendix 9: Proportion of female senators and members, 1943–2013

Senate

House of Representatives

Election

% female

Election

% female

21/08/1943

2.8

21/08/1943

1.3

1/07/1947

5.6

28/09/1946

2.7

22/02/1950

6.7

10/12/1949

0.8

28/04/1951

6.7

28/04/1951

0.0

1/07/1953

6.7

29/05/1954

0.0

10/12/1955

8.3

10/12/1955

0.0

1/07/1956

8.3

22/11/1958

0.0

1/07/1959

8.3

9/12/1961

0.0

1/07/1962

8.3

30/11/1963

0.0

1/07/1965

6.7

26/11/1966

0.8

1/07/1968

5.0

25/10/1969

0.0

1/07/1971

3.3

2/12/1972

0.0

18/05/1974

6.7

18/05/1974

0.8

13/12/1975

9.4

13/12/1975

0.0

1/07/1978

9.4

10/12/1977

0.0

1/07/1981

15.6

18/10/1980

2.4

5/03/1983

20.3

5/03/1983

4.8

1/12/1984

18.4

1/12/1984

5.4

1/07/1985

18.4

11/07/1987

6.1

11/07/1987

22.4

24/03/1990

6.8

1/07/1990

23.7

13/03/1993

8.8

1/07/1993

21.1

2/03/1996

15.5

1/07/1996

30.3

30/10/1998

22.3

1/07/1999

28.9

10/11/2001

25.3

1/07/2002

30.3

9/10/2004

24.7

1/07/2005

35.5

24/11/2007

26.5

1/07/2008

35.5

21/08/2010

24.7

1/07/2011

39.5

7/09/2013

26.0

7/09/2013

36.8

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from Parliamentary Handbook

Appendix 10: Total number of senators and members since 1901 by gender, as at 1 July 2014

Senate

House of Representatives

Both Houses

Male

Female

Total

% Female

Male

Female

Total

% Female

Male

Female

Total

% Female

484

87

571

15.2

1,034

100

1,134

8.8

1,474*

182*

1,656*

11.0

Source: Compiled by Parliamentary Library from Parliamentary Handbook

*The 44 men who have served in both Houses are counted once. The five women who have served in both Houses (Bronwyn Bishop, Cheryl Kernot, Belinda Neal, Kathy Sullivan and Deborah O’Neill) are counted once.

Appendix 11: Percentage of women in all Australian parliaments, annual snapshot 1994–2013

Year

Total female %

1997

20.7

1998

21.4

1999

22.5

2000

23.1

2001

26.8

2002

27.9

2003

29

2004

28.6

2005

30

2006

30.2

2007

30.5

2008

30.7

2009

30.8

2010

30

2011

30.1

2012

28.3

2013

29

Appendix 12: Percentage of female candidates and elected MPs in House of Representatives by major party, 1998–2013

Election Date

ALP

LIB

Candidates

Elected

Candidates

Elected

30/10/1998

34.5

23.9

23.0

23.4

10/11/2001

38.7

30.8

17.9

23.5

9/10/2004

30.7

33.3

23.7

20.0

24/11/2007

30.0

32.5

23.1

21.8

21/08/2010

31.3

31.9

20.7

21.7

7/09/2013

32.7

36.4

23.1

21.6

Source: Data compiled by Parliamentary Library from AEC and Parliamentary Handbook

Appendix 13: Selected references

Australian Electoral Commission, Senate nominations by gender and House of Representatives nominations by gender, Election 2013, 1 November 2013

Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), Women in leadership: understand the gender gap, June 2013

Crawford, M, ‘Where are the women MPs?’, Australasian Parliamentary Review, 28(2), Spring 2013

Crawford, M and Pini, Barbara, ‘Gender equality in national politics: The views of Australian male politicians’, Australian Journal of Political Science, 45(4), December 2010, pp. 608–10

Curtin, J and K Sexton, ‘Selecting and electing women to the House of Representatives: Progress at last?’, Australasian Political Studies Association Conference, University of Adelaide, 29 September-1 October 2004

Curtin, J, Women in Australian federal Cabinet, Research Note no. 40, 1996–7, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, March 1997

Dahlerup, D and M Leyenaar, eds, Breaking male dominance in old democracies, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013

Drabsch, T, Women in politics and public leadership, Briefing paper no. 6/2011, NSW Parliamentary Library, Sydney, September 2011

Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency, Australian census of women in leadership, 2012

Fitzherbert, Margaret, Liberal women: Federation–1949, Federation Press, Annandale, NSW, 2004

            , So many firsts: Liberal women from Enid Lyons to the Turnbull era, Federation Press, Annandale, NSW 2009

Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in national parliaments website

McAllister, I and DT Studlar, ‘Electoral systems and women’s representation: A long-term perspective’, Representation, 39(1), 2002, p. 3–14

Palmieri, SA, Gender-sensitive parliaments: a global review of good practice, Inter- Parliamentary Union, Reports and Documents no. 65, 2011

            , Gender mainstreaming in the Australian Parliament: achievement with room for improvement, Research paper, Parliamentary Studies Centre, Australian National University, n.d.

Parliamentary Library, ‘Historical information on the Australian Parliament’, Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia 2011, 43rd Parliament, Parliamentary Library, Department of Parliamentary Services, Commonwealth of Australia 2011, pp. 480–3

Reynolds, M, The last bastion: Labor women working towards equality in the parliaments of Australia, Business and Professional Publishing, Sydney, 1995

            , Women, preselection and merit: who decides?, Papers on Parliament no. 27, March 1996

Sawer, M, ‘Moving backwards? Women in Australian parliaments’, Australian Policy Online, 7 May 2012

Sawer, M and M Simms, A woman’s place: women and politics in Australia, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1993

Sawer, M, M Tremblay and L Trimble, eds, Representing women in parliament: a comparative study, Routledge, Abingdon, 2006

Smith, T, Candidate gender in the 2010 Australian federal election, Democratic Audit discussion paper 1(10), August 2010

Tremblay, M, ‘Democracy, representation, and women: a comparative analysis’, Democratization, 14(4), 2007

Wilson, J, First women in Australian parliaments—historical note, Research Note no. 55, June 1997

Wilson, J and D Black, Women parliamentarians in Australia 1921–2013, Research paper series, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 14 February 2014

Women in the Senate, Senate Brief no. 3, April 2014

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[3].               S Palmieri, Global survey on gender-sensitive parliaments: A global review of good practice, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Reports and documents 65, 2011, accessed 5 March 2014.

[4].               The New South Wales Parliament held a joint sitting in the first week of July 2014 to fill the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Bob Carr and filled by Deborah O’Neill until 30 June 2014.

[5].               The reasons for this are discussed below in The electoral system.

[6].               Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have unicameral parliaments. The proportional representation (PR) voting system was first used for the Victorian Legislative Council in the 2006 election. See ‘A new electoral system for Victoria’s Legislative Council’, Legislative Council, Parliament of Victoria, Information sheet 16, April 2009, accessed 10 June 2014.

[7].               See J McCann, Australia’s female political leaders: a quick guide, Research paper series, 2013 ̶ 14, Parliamentary Library, 24 June 2014.

[8].               The new Governor of NSW is the head of the Defence Force, General David Hurley, and the new Governor of Queensland is Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul de Jersey.

[9].               BC Wright, ed, House of Representatives Practice, sixth ed, Department of the House of Representatives, Canberra, 2012, pp. 74 ̶ 6. The two-tier cabinet system was introduced by Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1954 and has been adopted by all subsequent governments except the Whitlam Government.

[10].               See data in Appendix 8.

[11].               ‘Senate nominations by gender’, Election 2013, Australian Electoral Commission, 1 November 2013; ‘House of Representatives Nominations by gender’, Election 2013, Australian Electoral Commission, 4 November 2013, all accessed 21 February 2014.

[12].               The female candidates were Vida Goldstein (Victoria), Nellie Martel and Mary Ann Moore Bentley (NSW) for the Senate, and Selina Anderson (later Siggins) for the seat of Dalley (NSW) in the House of Representatives.

[13].               ‘Electoral milestones for women’, Australian Electoral Office, 26 January 2013, accessed 30 May 2014.

[14].               Ibid.

[15].               Data compiled by J Wilson, Parliamentary Library, from Parliamentary Handbook, op. cit.

[16].               See data in Appendix 10. The total includes 44 men and five women who have served in both Houses and are counted once. The five women who have served in both Houses are Bronwyn Bishop, Cheryl Kernot, Belinda Neal, Kathy Sullivan and Deborah O’Neill.

[17].               See data in Appendix 11.

[18].               ‘Determined to make a difference, Nova Peris makes emotional maiden speech’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 November 2013, p.14, accessed 31 May 2014.

[19].               Parliament of Western Australian website, ‘Mrs Carol Anne Martin MLA’, accessed 16 May 2014.

[20].               Arnhem Electorate, Malarndirri McCarthy, Northern Territory Votes, ABC News, 25 August 2012; N Adlam, ‘Anderson confirms she’ll switch sides’, Northern Territory News, 31 August 2011, all accessed 16 May 2014.

[21].               ‘The Hon. Linda Jean Burney Hon D Ed, DipEd MP’, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of New South Wales website, 12 December 2013, accessed 16 May 2014.

[22].               United Nations Expert Group Meeting, ‘Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on political participation and leadership’, Ethiopia, 24 ̶ 27 October 2005; IPU, Women in national parliaments, situation as of 1st April 2014, all accessed 22 May 2014.

[23].               The slow progress in increasing women’s representation in the United Kingdom Parliament was the subject of a 2011 workshop comprising politicians, experts, journalists and activists. See J Lovenduski, ‘Feminising British politics’, The Political Quarterly, 83(4), October-December 2012, pp. 697 ̶ 753, accessed 22 May 2014.

[24].               European OSCE stands for Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

[25].               IPU, Women in national parliaments, op. cit.

[26].               ‘Joint statement on advancing women’s political participation’, United Nations Women, New York, 19 September 2011, accessed 9 May 2014.

[27].              See J McCann, Electoral quotas for women: an international overview, Research paper , 2013–14, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 14 November 2013, accessed 9 May 2014.

[28].              ‘QuotaProject: Global database of quotas for women’, QuotaProject website, accessed 16 May 2014.

[29].               Gender equality fact sheet, State of world population 2005, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), accessed 16 May 2014.

[30].               See, for example, I McAllister, ‘Women’s electoral representation in Australia’ in M Sawer, M Tremblay and L Trimble, eds, Representing women in parliament: a comparative study, Routledge, 2006; M Sawer and M Simms, A woman’s place: women and politics in Australia, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1993; M Tremblay, ‘Democracy, representation, and women: a comparative analysis’, Democratization, vol. 14 (4),24 July 2007, accessed 31 May 2014.

[31].              ‘Women in power and decision-making’, Strategic objective G, recommendation 190, Platform for action, United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, China, September 1995, accessed 31 May 2014.

[32].               See data in Appendix  10.

[33].               S Bennett, ‘Inglis Clark’s other contribution: a critical analysis of the Hare-Clark voting system’, Samuel Griffith Society, 23, Hobart, 2011, p. 39, accessed 31 May 2014.

[34].               T Smith, ‘The boys hold their own: candidate gender in the 2007 federal elections’, Australian Policy Online, 23 November 2007, p. 2, accessed 1 June 2014.

[35].               ‘Candidate selection within political parties’, ACE: The electoral knowledge network, second edn, accessed 22 May 2014; McAllister, op. cit., pp. 36–7.

[36].               McAllister, ‘Women’s electoral representation’, op. cit., p. 37.

[37].               M Reynolds, Women, preselection and merit: who decides?, Papers on Parliament, 27, Senate, March 1996, p. 41, accessed 22 May 2014.

[38].               House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, Half way to equal: report of the inquiry into equal opportunity and equal status for women in Australia,  Recommendation 41, AGPS, 1992, p. xxxvi.

[39].               ‘Women in the Senate’, Senate Brief no. 3, Senate, April 2014, accessed 22 May 2014.

[40].               McAllister, ‘Women’s electoral representation in Australia’, op. cit., p. 144; Coopers and Lybrand, ‘Women and Parliaments in Australia and New Zealand: a discussion paper’, Office of the Status of Women, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 1994, p. 18.

[41].               M Mackerras, ‘Why women are getting elected’, Australian Quarterly, summer 1983, pp. 375–87.

[42].               T Smith, Candidate gender in the 2010 Australian federal election, Democratic Audit discussion paper 1/10, August 2010, accessed 22 May 2014.

[43].               A detailed breakdown of the numbers of women in the Commonwealth Parliament by party since 1943 can be found in ‘Number of women in Parliament’, The 43th Parliament, Parliamentary Handbook, op.cit. An updated summary will be contained in ‘The 44th Parliament, Parliamentary Handbook’, forthcoming.

[44].               See McCann, Electoral quotas for women: an international overview, op. cit. See Appendix 2 for a summary of arguments for and against the use of electoral quotas.

[45].               Australian Labor Party, ‘National Platform’, 46th National Conference, December 2011, Australian Labor Party Constitution, Chapter 12, Australian Labor Party website, pp. 231-269.

[46].               National Labor Women’s Network (1996 ̶ ), The Australian Women’s Register, 7 April 2004, accessed 2 June 2014.

[47].               EMILY stands for Early Money is Like Yeast, referring to the benefits of early campaign funding for women candidates. The original EMILY’s List was established to raise funds for pro-choice Democrat women candidates in the United States in 1985. EMILY’s List Australia; M Sawer, ‘”When women support women …”, EMILY’s List and the substantive representation of women in Australia’, in Sawer et al, Representing women in parliament, op. cit, pp. 103–19, all accessed 2 June 2014.

[48].               ‘Liberal Women’, Liberal Party website; Liberal Party of Australia Federal Women’s Committee (1945 ̶ ), The Australian Women’s Register, 7 April 2004, all accessed 28 May 2014.

[49].               ‘Liberal women’, Liberal Party of Australia, op. cit.

[50].               ‘National Party of Australia Federal Constitution’, as adopted by Federal Council on July 1988, amended in June 2010 and June 2013, The Nationals website, accessed 2 June 2014.

[51].               ‘The Nationals’ Women’, The Nationals website, accessed 30 May 2014.

[52].               ‘Policies: Women’, The Greens website, accessed 27 May 2014.

[53].               Constitution, adopted 16 October 1993, amended August 2009, clause 1.4, Greens NSW website, accessed 2 June 2014.

[54].               EMILY’s List Australia, ‘Our history’, accessed 29 May 2014.

[55].               H Hussein, ‘Why changing the rules matters—lessons from the ALP’s Affirmative Action quota’, ABC Drum Unleashed, 8 March 2011, accessed 30 May 2014.

[56].               J Curtin and K Sexton, ‘Selecting and electing women to the House of Representatives: progress at last?’, Australasian Political Studies Association Conference, University of Adelaide, 29 September–1 October 2004, p. 32.

[57].               J Troeth, ’Modernising the parliamentary Liberal Party by adopting the organisational wing’s quota system for preselections’, Policy paper, 23 June 2010, accessed 29 May 2014.

[58].               M Fitzherbert, Liberal women in parliament: what do the numbers tell us and where to from here?, Papers on Parliament, 58, Senate, 31 August 2012, accessed 30 May 2014.

[59].               Hannah Pitkin first distinguished between ‘descriptive’ representation describing the numbers of women parliamentarians, and ‘substantive’ representation describing how far women act on behalf of women in parliament. See Sawer, Tremblay and Trimble, Representing women in parliament, op. cit., p. 15.

[60].               B Burrell, cited in JL Lawless, Becoming a candidate: Political ambition and the decision to run for office, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2012, p. 8.

[61].               Ibid., pp. 58, 71–72

[62].               Senators Claire Moore (ALP), Lynette Allison (AD), Judith Troeth (LP) and Fiona Nash (NAT).

[63].              S Dowse, ‘A different kind of politics’, Inside Story, 19 December 2009, accessed 22 May 2014.

[64].               M Grey, ‘The nature of women’s political leadership: women MPs in the Parliament of Victoria’, in P Grimshaw, R Francis and A Standish, Seizing the initiative: Australian women leaders in politics, workplaces and communities, eScholarship Research Centre, The University of Melbourne, 2012; DE Campbell and C Wolbrecht, ‘See Jane run: women politicians as role models for adolescents’, The Journal of Politics, 68(2), 27 April 2006, pp. 233–47; C Wolbrecht and DE Campbell, ‘Leading by example: female Members of Parliament as political role models’, American Journal of Political Science, 51(4), October 2007, pp. 921–39, all accessed 5 March 2014.

[65].               M Sawer, ‘What makes the substantive representation of women possible in a Westminster parliament? The story of RU486 in Australia’, International Political Science Review, 23 April 2012, p. 2, accessed 22 May 2014.

[66].               L Freidenvall and M Sawer, ‘Framing women politicians in old democracies’, in D Dahlerup and M Leyenaar, eds, Breaking male dominance in old democracies, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 20133, pp. 269̶–70; ‘Bligh carried pressure of the sisterhood’, Courier-Mail, 30 May 2014, accessed 3 June 2014.

[67].               United Nations Expert Group Meeting, ‘Equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes, with particular emphasis on political participation and leadership’, Ethiopia, 24 ̶ 27 October 2005; IPU, Women in national parliaments, situation as of 1st April 2014, all accessed 22 May 2014.

[68].               The equal rights principle was enshrined in the UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952) and CEDAW Convention (1979). Australia signed CEDAW in 1980; L Freidenvall and M Sawer, ‘Framing women politicians in old democracies’, in D Dahlerup and M Leyenaar, eds, Breaking male dominance in old democracies, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013, p. 270.

[69].               ‘Women in parliament’, Democracy, governance & citizenship, 1370.0 – Measures of Australia’s progress 2010, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 15 September 2010, accessed 19 May 2014

[70].               R Nolan, ‘Men of a certain age: what is the cost of propping up Tony Abbott’s favourite minority?’, The Monthly, May 2014, p. 21, accessed 19 May 2014.

[71].               Women in leadership: understand the gender gap, Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), June 2013, accessed 9 May 2014.

[72].               M Sawer and M Simms, A woman’s place: women and politics in Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1993, pp. 71–72.

[73].               Sawer, ‘When women support women’, op. cit., p. 117.

[74].               L Farrow, ‘A glass ceiling, of torts’, Daily Telegraph, 2 December 2011, accessed 23 May 2014.

[75].               M Crawford and B Pini, ‘Gender Equality in National Politics: The Views of Australian Male Politicians’, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 45, no. 4, December 2010, pp. 608–10.

[76].               ‘Senate Committees’, Senate Brief no. 4, Senate, February 2014; ‘Committees’, Infosheet no. 4, House of Representatives, October 2010, all accessed 22 May 2014.

[77].               Wright, ed, House of Representatives Practice, op. cit., p. 642; Ibid., Chapter 18, updated information, April 2014, accessed 2 June 2014.

[78].               S Palmieri, ‘Gender mainstreaming in the Australian Parliament: achievement with room for improvement’, Research paper, Parliamentary Studies Centre, Australian National University, n.d., accessed 2 June 2014.

[79].               D Scobie, ‘Wedgwood, Dame Ivy Evelyn Annie (1896 ̶ 1975)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, (online edition), National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 20 June 2014.

[80].               Palmieri, ‘Gender mainstreaming in the Australian Parliament’, op.cit. As Palmieri notes, the designation of committee chair is determined by the rules of each chamber: chairs of House of Representatives and Joint committees are drawn from the governing party; in the Senate some committees are chaired by government whilst others are chaired by opposition or minor parties.

[81].               M Crawford, ‘Gender and the Australian Parliament’, Online Opinion, 8 May 2007, accessed 2 June 2014.

[82].               See Table 2: Children brought into the parliamentary chambers, in M Rodrigues, ‘Children in the parliamentary chambers’, Parliamentary Library, Research Paper no. 9, 2009–10, 19 November 2009, p. 13, accessed 2 June 2014.

[83].               Ibid, pp. 20–2. On 12 February 2008, the House of Representatives passed a resolution allowing nursing mothers to vote by proxy ‘for any division except that on the third reading of a bill which proposes an alteration of the Constitution’. In doing so it recognised that Members required to nurse infants may not always be able to attend in the Chamber to vote in divisions. The provision was first used on 20 October 2008 by Mrs Sophie Mirabella. See House of Representatives, Votes and Proceedings, 12 February 2008, item 27, pp. 27–28, accessed 22 May 2014.

[84].               Palmieri, Gender mainstreaming in the Australian Parliament, op. cit.

[85].               See IPU, PARLINE database: specialized parliamentary bodies, Inter-Parliamentary Union website, accessed 16 June 2014.

[86].               Office for Women, ‘Increasing leadership and representation opportunities’, op. cit.

[87].               Fox, ‘Gillard’s performance does not define women’, op. cit.

[88].               Local government service is listed in individual biographies for senators and members. See Parliamentary Handbook, op. cit.

[89].               Data compiled by Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government and supplied by the Australian Local Government Association, 27 October 2011.

[90].               Australian Local Government Association, Women in politics: showing the way in 2010, ALGA, 2010, p. 2, accessed 23 May 2014; 2010 was declared the Year of Women in Local Government and included a national awards and accreditation program ‘50:50 Vision – Councils for Gender Equity’.

[91].               Women’s Participation in Local Government Coalition, Participation of women in Victorian local governments fact sheet, December 2013, accessed 9 May 2014; NSW Office of Local Government, NSW Councillor and candidate report 2012: local government elections, 2013, accessed 9 May 2014.

[92].               Office for Women, Gender balance on Australian Government boards report 2012 ̶ 2013, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, accessed 9 May 2014; Office for Women, ‘Increasing leadership and representation opportunities’, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 21 November 2013, accessed 9 May 2014.

[93].               Office for Women, ‘Women on Australian Government Boards Report 2008–2009’, Australian Government, 2009, accessed 22 May 2014; Office for Women, ‘Women on Australian Government Boards Report 2009–2010’, Australian Government, 2010, accessed 22 May 2014; Australian Government, ‘Gender balance on Australian Government Boards Report 2010–2011’, 2011, accessed 22 May 2014, Office for Women, ‘Gender balance on Australian Government Boards Report 2011–2012’, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2012, accessed 22 May 2014; Office for Women, ‘Gender balance on Australian Government Boards Report 2012–2013’, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2013, accessed 22 May 2014.

[94].               M Shave, ‘Change gender mix or face quota’, Australian, 23 April 2011, accessed 4 April 2014.

[95].               L Lamont, ‘Unprecedented number of women joining boards’, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 August 2011; see ASX 200 list of companies directory, all accessed 2 June 2014.

[96].               M Shave, ‘Change gender mix or face quota’, Australian, 23 April 2011, accessed 4 April 2014; Deloitte Global Center for Corporate Governance, Women in the boardroom: a global perspective, November 2011, accessed 30 April 2014.

[97].              Thomson Reuters Corporation, ‘Average stock price of gender diverse corporate boards outperform those with no women’, media release, 10 July 2013, accessed 19 March 2014; A Chanavat and K Ramsden, Mining the metrics of board diversity, Thomson Reuters, June 2013, p. 2, accessed 19 March 2014.

[98].              F Smith, ‘BCA’s radical gender targets’, Financial Review, 5 November 2013, accessed 30 April 2014.

[99].               CEDA, Women in leadership: understand the gender gap, op. cit.

[100].               J Ballington,               Equality in politics: a survey of women and men in parliaments, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Geneva, 2008; Equality in politics: a survey of women and men in parliaments, an overview of key findings, IPU, 2009, all accessed 2 June 2014.

[101].               Palmieri, ‘Gender-sensitive parliaments: a global review of good practice’, op. cit., p. 6, accessed 2 June 2014. The United Nations defined gender mainstreaming in 1997 as ‘the process of ensuring that policies and practices meet the needs of men and women equitably’.

[102].               AB Johnsson (Secretary General), Foreword, ibid, p. v.