The newly formed Safety Respect Equity Alliance — led by 12 women, including Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins, Julia Banks, Christine Holgate, Chanel Contos, Larissa Behrendt, Yasmin Poole and Michele O’Neil — is calling for the government to take action to end violence and discrimination against women.
The group released an open letter on Sunday with nine key demands ahead of International Women’s Day.
But what are the demands — and how could they be implemented?
Preventing sexual harassment and bullying
The alliance called for the implementation of all 55 recommendations of sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins’ Respect@Work report. The report was ignored by the government for over a year and only responded to following extensive outrage and coverage of Australia’s culture of sexual violence.
While the government first said it would accept the report’s 55 recommendations at least in part or in principle, it soon backtracked on a few key recommendations, including introducing a positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment.
While the government said provisions already existed under workplace health and safety law, evidently these have failed — with a heavy onus on individuals to raise complaints and issues around the law’s focus on tangible safety measures, such as hard hats.
Introducing a positive duty would mean the equality sector — instead of the safety sector — would oversee workplace conditions and push employers to be proactive instead of reactive in introducing anti-discrimination measures.
10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave
Nationally, all employees are entitled to five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave each year. Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has previously said allowing paid leave would lead to fewer jobs for women, and across the pandemic women fleeing violence were initially told to use their superannuation funds to get to safety.
In 2017, one in 10 women took time off work due to violence from a current partner, and one in five took time off due to violence from a previous partner, costing employers an estimated $2 billion a year.
The federal laws are poor and have led to companies introducing their own initiatives — one-third of organisations currently have paid family and domestic violence (FDV) leave for employees in their enterprise agreements.
Acting on the National Plan for First Nations women and girls
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience violence at 3.1 times the rate of non-Indigenous women. The Safety Respect Equity Alliance called for the seven recommendations of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani Report, released in December 2020, to be implemented. It’s one of many reports on how to improve equity among First Nations peoples, but once again the recommendations have been implemented slowly or not at all.
Ensuring effective employment programs for women with disability
Exactly how this demand will be met is a little unclear: as Crikey previously revealed, less than 1% of the jobseekers recruited into disability employment service (DES) providers in 2017 had landed a job for six months or more by 2019. The scheme costs over $713 million annually. Just 49.4% of women with disabilities are in the workforce compared with 57.8% of men.
Stronger, more consistent child sexual assault laws
Strengthening child sexual assault laws has been a cornerstone issue on Grace Tame’s platform — her foundation has called for child abuse to stop being “romanticised”, and has led to the ACT rewording the name of the crime “sexual relationship with a child” to “persistent sexual abuse of a child”.
Eliminating the gender pay gap including necessary legal reform
Australia’s gender pay gap currently sits at 22.8%, resulting in women earning on average $25,800 less a year than men. Men are twice as likely to earn more than $120,000 as women. One of the key drivers is the undervaluation of industries dominated by women, such as healthcare and social services.
Free, accessible and quality early childhood education and care
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary measures were introduced to allow access to free childcare. The current subsidy sees many families face barriers, with many care centres charging above the cap for government subsidies. Others don’t meet the government’s National Quality Standard, while those in disadvantaged areas have less choice in what they can access — and afford.
Australian Unions are calling for $2.5 billion over three years to build new publicly funded not-for-profit childcare facilities, to keep childcare permanently free and to fund universal access of 15 hours of preschool education per week for children aged three to four.
The Greens currently support this initiative.
Expanding paid parental leave
Primary carers of newborns — usually mothers — can receive 18 weeks of paid leave. But this payment is only the weekly rate of the national minimum wage, and there are few incentives to encourage men to also take their entitlements.
Embedding respectful relationships and consent education
In her February National Press Club address, Tame called for more funding for “prevention education” programs in schools, pointing to the mere 11 cents spent per student per year on consent and sexual assault education.
Chanel Contos has also been pushing for improved education, with ministers of education from across the country unanimously agreeing to mandate holistic and age-appropriate consent education in every school, across every school year from foundation until Year 10.
It’s not just schools that need this training either — in response to Jenkins’ report into parliamentary workplace culture Set the Standard, parliamentarians and their staff also have to undergo respectful workplace training, but this consists of just one hour of face-to-face lessons.
Again, the independently affluent Julia Banks – when she had the chance, treated all men and women, having to scrape by on welfare, to the same dismissive disdain equally – with the b-u-l-l-y-i-n-g implication that they should ‘shut up and stop whining about how she/her government’ were treating them in her declaration that she could “live on 40 bucks a day knowing that the government is supporting me with Newstart looking for employment”…. And what about “Robodebt”?
…. Is she running again?
Your earlier comment which is Awaitening for Approval is also visible and it defies stupidity to understand what part of its almost identical content could have tripped the madBot.
It has gone now, just your unBowderlized version visible.
The original was like a Cheshire cat – would appear then disappear…..
Leaving just a Lear…oops, a Dodgson.
See? It’s back again (2310 hrs Q-time) …..
I mean, “Respect. Equity” – as served up by Banks?
I Lead a deputation to Canberra some years ago our sponsor made us extremely welcome and gave us full use of his rooms to use as our base, facilities and the fridge provided. We were then issued an all areas pass that we used for three days .
After settling in we were then given an explanation of how the “gang” worked .Step one your mentor greets you and explains “the system” Step 2 You are shown how to open the mail .Mail is rated by the potential number of votes individuals with complaints are low priority and sent a “mirror” reply ie we will look into the matter. the letter is then thrown in the bin . All letters are rated by potential votes as stated and the high priority replies go to the groups with the high potential for votes .
Cut out the rest of the steps and you get the system . The next advice is from now on you do and say nothing without discussing it with others in the gang . Forget all previous promises. Basically, you are being told you are a member of a gang and the gang has rules and hierarchy. Peer group pressure in a male-dominated gang leads to the Parliament we have today .
Julia Banks was a very successful women in business , when she joined the Liberal gang she lost the right to speak her mind . . After leaving the gang she has shown us how this PM works and has shown a bit of whistleblower courage. Please cut her some slack and forgive her for being a member of the Liberal party .
She didn’t have to come out, on that occasion, on her own, off her own bat, fly solo, to peddle that party policy line and condemn those having to get by on her government’s pittance, all but telling them to ‘shut up they never had it so good as under her government” : never having to have lived like those on that welfare.
And just because she’s joined this group doesn’t wipe that slate and change (her) history, no more than ‘forgetting’ history does others.
…. And what draws people to the “Liberal Party”, if not their “values”, way of seeing, thinking and doing things : “To make a difference” – not necessarily for the equity/benefit of the most vulnerable in our society, more often having to go without – while her/The Party in government tends to and feeds it’s donor sponsors from the tax-payer pocket (which includes the less well-off) – with a budgetary bottom line to feed?
[“Liberal Party values” – Robodebt aside :- Campbell Newman’s mum – Howard’s “welfare minister” – what “service”? What a difference she made? Slashed and burned her/their way through welfare and set enough hoops for “customers” to to jump through that would set a hula-hoop swivel record. Then got out of politics with three pensions – her and her husband’s parliamentary, and his ADF.]
“Welfare” isn’t stigmatised enough – by the party she decided represented her values enough that she wanted to be a candidate to represent it in parliament – she had to add her dabs to it?
Hi klewso
We all make mistakes and Julia obviously made a stupid statement, who hasn’t?
It is disappointing that many commentators are prepared to judge her by one mistake
Some years ago I committed a serious and shameful
offense, I joined the Liberal Party .My reasons were as follows. My business was on the brink of bankruptcy as a result of a Liberal policy change and in trying to mitigate my loss I received a great amount of help from my local member Julian Beale, a Liberal. Sometime later when John Elliot was at the peak of his house of cards he decided to become PM. I was not happy as I had an unprintable opinion of him.
As a favor in return for his helping me , I asked Julian what I could do to stop Elliot’s bid for pre-selection and was advised to join the party and become active in stopping Elliot.
To add to my shame of joining the Liberal party I became as most liberals seem to be these days a dreadful liar. I became an active talkback radio person and under various alias, I stuck the boot into the would-be PM at every opportunity. We won the pre-selection battle and dear John pursued his dream no more. I resigned from the party shortly after
Questions Can I ever be forgiven for joining the Liberal Party ? Will I forever be judged by one stupid action? Was my lying an unforgivable sin? Will I always be known as Eric the goat fxxker?
PS This is a true story and I never touched the goat
Additional correction Mr Elliot wanted Julian Beales seat
Anyone can make a mistake – and I’ve got the scars to prove it.
“Joining the Liberal Party” is one thing : running for it, to join their putsch, to wend one’s way into a position of legislative influence to stamp one’s politics on society, by being part of the process/system to legislate how others get to live, too often to their detriment, for a living (much better than, and so far removed from that “hoi polloi”) is another.
It’s that articulation of Banks’.
Putting into words what is most probably her view of the world, the way it should be run and ‘the natural order’.
When she had the chance to show what she’s made of – rather than use her position to help society, and particularly those most needing help – she showed her true colours and chose to spell that out in words.
She used her position – after joining the party of born-to-rule privilege, then gaining a seat in the house of legislation, to patronise, vilify and damn the most vulnerable and worst-off in our society out of hand – and portfolio she doesn’t occupy.
…. When will she repeat that reflection in history?
If we can’t go by a politician’s words and deeds – if we can’t take them at their word – what can you go by?
Which politician do you believe has never lied?
It’s London to a brick-on “They all do” (though I do have my doubts about Andrew Wilkie) it’s the flow-on effects of their actions on the more vulnerable (those unable to stand up for themselves in our affluent society) and their abuse of position, that get up my nose.
Excusing – even indulging – them only encourages them to go further next time. If they’re not brought to book to answer for their actions – to apologise and make amends – we (that elect them to represent us) miss out and suffer the consequences of their actions. We pay their price.
…. If Pauline Hanson, Bronwyn Bishop, Sophie Mirrabella and Michaelia Cash joined this movement – would that wipe their slates?
“Dairy Maid” Linda Reynolds?
…. The Credlin?
Eric, I forgive you for joining the Liberal Party because you came to your senses and then resigned. Don’t do it again.
One of the few things or people I had had less respect for than the Liberal party at the time was the late John Elliot hence my joining that disgusting organisation against all my instincts and principles.
Today its time for women to take an equal place in Australia ., Could you imagine a women CEO of the Carlton football club with a John Elliot involved ?
We now have 4 women CEOs in the AFL and the last six flags have been won by clubs that have abandoned the chauvinistic back-slapping club politics in the past to let women get on with the job.
All we need now is for some of my fellow males including crikey commentators to finally recognise change is in the air and the Suffragettes are again on the march whether you like it or not. A good woman can be the equal or better of a good man even if you do not like the fact.
P.S.I am extremely unlikely to ever join again
Welfare for who Harvey Norman? Or Welfare for the boys mainly as long as you have a hard hard and hi-vis.. visablility and yet a single mother is a termed a “job seeker” and a single man “out of work” got double on “job keeper”… Are you all blind and dumb??? You ate up Morribund’s spin ..
Clearly Morrison and his ilk just don’t, and likely never will “get it”. He is using as his theme in a foreign policy speech today, to warn against ‘a transactional world, devoid of principle, accountability and transparency’, referring to Putin, rather than looking into a mirror. This is EXACTLY how he and his Government operate, using those 4 methods to avoid responsibility for anything. To hope he is receptive to the wishes of those awesome women is a fantasy, sadly. The only “fix” is to see him gone.
To clarify….should read not “using these 4 methods”, but “clearly avoiding these 4 methods.” The hypocrisy is astounding, as we have come to expect.
It’s absolutely gobsmacking that Morrison’s media team would allow him to utter those words which so incredibly accurately describe him and his government. Self awareness ???
Narcissists often accuse others of what they themselves are guilty. This was clearly seen when he labelled Putin a “bully” – just as he, Morrison, has been accused of many times.
“The hypocrisy is astounding, as we have come to expect.”
May I add a few more synonyms to your well-chosen ‘astounding’? Such as: eye-popping, mind-boggling, overwhelming, shocking, stupefying and staggering (hopefully towards the coming election).
We all now know the PM is a lying failed advertising hack.The only surprises are how low he stoops.
AGREE with every single word you have written, Ozstralian!
“The only ‘fix’ is to see him gone.” Repeat, repeat, repeat…
Once again I’m surprised that demand for social housing in every town in the country isn’t the very first item on the list.
Utterly inexplicable.
Think of the employment for locals in tiny villages to build a couple of new houses – or revivify a neglected old house – and the revitalisation of the local school by new families.
Did I mention ‘local’?
It looks like Morrison has absolutely no intention of addressing the gender pay gap (or any of the other issues tabled for that matter). With JobKeeper, he had the opportunity to move forward by including both male and female-dominated industries in the scheme. Instead, most of the help went to blokes, with tertiary education and aged care pretty much ignored. He still lives in the 1950s with the way he considers employment demographics.
Again, the independently affluent Julia Banks – when she had the chance, treated all men and women, having to scrape by on welfare, to the same disdain, dismissively equally – with the bullying implication that they should shut up and stop whinging about how she/her government was reference that she could “live on 40 bucks a day knowing that the government is supporting me with Newstart looking for employment”…. And what about “Robodebt”?
…. Is she running again?