|
Young Women Talk
Download and view 16 diverse stories from young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women from across Australia. Listen to their unique and personal stories.
This DVD is part of a broader project, "Young Women Talk", designed to provide opportunities for young women aged 18-29 years to share their personal stories of learning and working and their vision for women in Australia. “Young Women Talk” was initiated by S4W a national network of non-profit organisations primarily concerned with improving the lifelong economic wellbeing of Australian women.
Security4Women hope this will create greater awareness among Australian government decision makers of the life experiences of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
View the videos
Young women talk – Women’s stories about learning and working. 50 interviews from across Australia
S4W is working with young women across Australia aged 18-29 years to capture their experiences of learning and working and their vision for women in Australia. The first stage of this project involves 50 young women across Australia telling their stories that will be audio recorded, transcribed, edited and published as a report. In conjunction there is a video project component Young women talk. Aboriginal women’s stories about learning and working. 12 selected stories from across Australia directed by Kim Lawler.
S4W is working with young women to provide an opportunity for them to share their experiences of learning and working and their aspirations. The aim is to bring together 50 diverse stories from across Australia to create greater awareness among Australian government decision makers of the life experiences of young women.
Download project outline here
Email us if you are interested in participating.
Commission on the Status of women (CSW)
S4W initiated a workshop prior to a meeting with the OfW in November 2008 to enable members of Alliances, OfW and other representatives to better understand the key themes, and prepare recommendations to OfW for input to the country statement.
Co-ordinator attended the pre-departure briefing session in Canberra with the OfW.
Next Steps:
As this is the 5th year review of the Beijing Platform (B15) S4W are collaborating with Carole Shaw in the rollout of the caravan for the B15 process and support of the “E” questionnaire. As an extension to this S4W website will link with the Jera International weblink.
More Info – Country Statement
More Info – CSW Report 2009
KEY ISSUES FOR AUSTRALIAN WOMEN …… 1000+ women have their say
Over 1,000 women have nominated what they consider to be the 4 key areas of concern for Australian women in 2006;
• Work and Employment
• Health and Violence
• Financial security DOWNLOAD SURVEY REPORT HERE
• Work, Career and Family
Monthly Updates
Mid Year report to Of WS4WMay2009
March April News Update 2009
Mid Year Report - June 2008
July/August 2008
September 2008
October/November 2008
Email us if you would like to be added to our database.
Contact Us
Security 4 Women
Coordinator: Elinor Buckley
Phone: 0410 683 284
Email: projects@bpw.com.au
Website: www.security4women.com
Our Focus
Our focus is lifelong economic well being for Australian women. The research and consultation conducted so far has highlighted many factors that are important for women and their families. These include pay equity, access to financial planning and superannuation, childcare, carer needs, retirement income equity and access to education. Our work has also incorporated other issues that affect women’s capacity to achieve economic certainty such as the consequences of violence and access to services for Indigenous and Non-Indigenous women.
|
CURRENT PROJECTS
GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS – from a Gender perspective. Blog Site coming watch this page.
Our primary area of concern "lifelong economic wellbeing" has led S4W to commission a scoping study to assess the impacts the Global Financial Crisis is having on Australian women (including young women), and the outcomes for such women, of Governmental responses, i.e the economic stimulus packages, programs with a stimulatory impact, and training and re-skilling projects.
The study would initially assess efficacy and equity in measures announced and commenced and develop options for improvement in efficiency and equity outcomes.
Similar aspects of Governmental responses to the GFC would also be studied in comparable economies.
This will form the basis of representations to Government(s) over time to make adjustments to their programs and policies.
Vocational Education and Training (VET) Policy update 2009-2010
An up-to-date policy paper building on and extending previous WAVE & S4W work and priorities (including new trends) for information and advocacy.
The national policy "Women: Shaping our Future" (albeit never properly implemented) is due to expire 2010.
Without national policy guidelines for women and girls, especially those most at risk, there is no platform from which to advocate for and argue that any consideration should be directed towards girls and women in this major portfolio area, at national or state/territory levels.
Vocational training is a key central tool in federal and state government’s economic policies, strategies and economic stimulus packages to address the global economic downturn, and specifically to stimulate the economy; to link training with paid employment; to decrease unemployment of youth and other welfare recipients, as well as to ‘deepen’ Australia’s skills base.
Out of School Hours care (OSHCARE)
S4W believe female workforce attachment is important, both for national productivity, and women’s life-long economic security. The provision of good quality, affordable care and education including OSHC is essential for the economy and for all parents.
We are concerned about current financing arrangements for child care and are focussing our strengths and collaborating with our networks to refer the issue to the Productivity Commission for thorough review and recommendations on new arrangements.
In collaboration with NFAW we have submitted on reform of child care ( including OSHC) funding to both the Henry Review of Australia's Future Tax System, and the Senate Committee- which will start hearings in early July. We presented at the HoR standing Committee looking at Pay Equity and argued about inadequate access to child care/OSHC and other factors affecting female workforce participation. In collaboration with NFAW and AHRC we commissioned Newspoll and have that as a supporting set of data- dealing with work-life balance, and OHSC.
Letters have been sent to the Prime Minister, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Minister EEWR, Parliamentary Secretary Early Childhood, Minister FAHSCIA, Minister for Women highlighting our concerns and suggestions for future policy.
We welcome the following:
- The recent Government work through COAG to enhance minimum standards for under five’s.
- Family friendly working environments on parents’ return to work,
- Policy to develop links between early childhood care and other social institutions such as schools, TAFE, health centres.
Australian Federation of University Women (AFUW) have written a submission to the Senate Inquiry into Provision of Childcare supported by Security4women.
More Info – Jenny Strauss Senate Inquiry
More info – Senate supplementary Child care
Please follow the link below to keep yourself up to date.
http://www.aph.gov.au:80/Senate/committee/eet_ctte/child_care/index.htm
PAID MATERNITY LEAVE
The issue of an adequate national system of paid maternity leave is one of the major issues for working families. S4W felt it was critical that women and their organizations make an informed comment to the Productivity Commission on the options in the draft Report. S4W and NFAW provided the opportunity for national consultation throughout all the states, for women to comment and express their views on the options and respond to the Commission. Marie Coleman (NFAW) carried out a “road show” nationally. A summary of the Commission draft report and a pro forma was drafted to assist in sending comments to the Commission.
Housing
Our major consultation for 2008.
Focus: why Governments, industry and the broader community need to specifically focus on housing issues for women; to put “gender and housing” back on the political agenda and to conclusively reinforce why it should be considered now.
S4W thought it was time to reassess, plan for and accommodate the diverse housing needs of women. The stark reality for many women (and their families) is that they will be less economically secure across their lives and into old age, if they do not have access to appropriate housing.
Final discussion paper has been completed and presented to the OfW and the Minister.
Next steps:
Support and participation at National Women's Housing Conference in Melbourne in August 2009. Designed by Women's Housing Ltd (Vic) to discuss both; broad issues of women and housing and:. specific issues of women in the community housing workforce. We feel this is very topical right across the country as the Federal and State governments look to develop their social housing provision through the community housing sectors.
More Info – Women and Housing
Submissions and latest reports:
Health survey (file attached above 2010-11 National Health Survey Submission)
Not For Profit Sector (file att. above PC study of the Not for Profit Sector)
Tax & Pensioner Inquiry (file att. above Pensions Review finalNFAW)
Womens Retirement Incomes (file att. above 2009 Feb NFAWretirement submission)
Human Rights Consultation (file att. above WSHR submissionfinal5June09)
NFAW senate supplementary into Childcare (file att. above named Senate supplementary sub Childcare)
New Reports
Launch of Financial Literacy Information facts sheets.
"Women Understanding Money"
This new resource for women developed by the Financial Literacy Foundation in Association with OFW and SFW was launched by Mr Paul Clitheroe, Chairman of the FLF Advisory Board. Women understanding money is a series of 14 information sheets for women, developed by the Foundation in association with the Office for Women and Security4Women. The following link has articles on a whole range of topics related to women and money.
http://www.understandingmoney.gov.au/content/media/releases/
Research report
Survival Guide
Paid Maternity Leave
The buoyant Australian economy needs increased workforce productivity to continue to grow.
Australian families need family friendly working environments to allow increased productivity. Healthy families come from healthy parenting. Australian children and their parents need to have
- Opportunities for new parents to bond with their newborns
- Family friendly working environments on parents’ return to work,
- Access to good quality and affordable child care, and
- The children need love and hugs to grow into healthy adults.
Australian businesses need Government policies to help achieve this. Access to paid maternal and paternal leave cannot be left to market forces. Currently, Although 77% of women in the finance and insurance industries have access to paid maternity leave, only 1% of women in the retail sector are covered, and 2% in hotels and restaurants: most women work part time, most are in the industries with no cover. Many small businesses cannot afford to pay for maternity or paternity leave, and many have difficulties managing where staff have extended leave from work. Rural women whose work is essential to the family farm have no coverage at all.
This coalition of small business organisations, women’s organisations, and child development groups calls upon each major political Party Leader commit to the following:
- To establish on forming Government an expert committee to examine and advise on the options to achieve a cost-effective universal system of paid maternity and paternity leave for Australian families;
- To publish the report of the expert committee, and
- To undertake to implement the recommendations of the expert committee within two years.
Link for more resources http://www.nfaw.org/social/maternity/resource.html
Final Report - Too Big To Ignore
"Future of Australian Women's Housing 2006 -2025"
Final report
CEDAW, Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
CEDAW RESOURCE KIT AND MATERIALS ON CEDAW and the Human Rights Treaty system
Women's rights action network Australia
UN Security Council Resolution 1325
Security Council Resolution 1325 was passed unanimously on 31 October 2000. It invited Secretary-General Kofi Annan to "carry out a study on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls, the role of women in peace-building and the gender dimensions of peace processes and conflict resolution."
Download the PDF version of UN Security Council Resolution 1325
Lifelong Learning for Women - Policy Paper
"Lifelong Learning: work related education and training; meeting the needs of Australian women" S4W in collaboration with WAVE, invested in a major research project with the focus on lifelong learning, particularly work-related education and training, for women and girls. This project consisted of five small-scale (vignette) research projects to investigate identified priority areas. The research was funded through the Australian Government’s Office for Women (OfW) and enabled S4W to propose policy direction and strategic suggestions to better facilitate economic security for women. The research agenda was set within the broad global/local context of lifelong learning and OECD global policy priorities.
Work related education and training - Meeting the needs of Australian women
What Women Want - A strong alliance of national women’s organizations seeks to examine the potential impact on women of working age (in particular on low income women, sole parents and women with disabilities) of the legislative changes to income security or 'welfare to work', and the changes to the Industrial Relations framework, and the likely interaction of the two sets of policy changes.
Now the legislation has been enacted the What Women Want project has turned its attention to establishing some robust benchmarking of women's wages and conditions through a new research project; Women's pay and conditions in an era of changing workplace regulations.
The first stage has been funded by NFAW, WEL and HREOC and it involves a comprehensive "stock-take" analysis of available data to identify key indicators of women's pay and employment conditions and develop current benchmarks. The second stage, which is not fully funded (please go to NFAW website for details about how you can contribute, www.nfaw.org.au) involves a case study of 100 women across Australia as a way of understanding how, if at all, the legislative framework is impacting on their employment conditions. This part of the project has been designed with the potential to become a longitudinal study that tracks women's experiences of workplace change over time. We envisage the research arising from this two-part project will play a critical role in informing the Australian Fair Pay Commission's deliberations and the monitoring undertaken through various institutions.
Download Workshop Proceedings, NATSEM modeling on the impacts of proposed changes on sole parents and people with a disability and Press releases here:
Focus on women Information Paper
HREOC Workplace Relations Submission
Release 211105
Senate Submission -Welfare to Work 211105
Release 181105
Legislative Review Workshop 111105
Key Issues 180905
NATSEM modeling - People with Disability
Media 260805 - Sole Parents
NATSEM modeling - Sole Parents
Media 30805
Workshop Proceedings 120705
Working Women’s Centres
There are Working Women's Centres in Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania. The Centres provide information, support, advocacy and advice to women on work-related issues. They also recommend other services in Victoria (JobWatch) and Western Australia (Women's Law Centre and Employment Law Centre) where there is not a WWC.
You can find out more about the Working Women's Centres at www.wwc.org.au
On this site you will find information on Your rights at work, Awards and agreements, Workers compensation and health and safety, Work and family, Discrimination and harassment, Workplace bullying and Dismissal.
Our Projects
Talking about Work - Security4Women (S4W) has designed this project to identify the key issues for different women surrounding work and uncover what women need to assist them to effectively address these issues. Download the project outline here.
Two projects from 2005 are Lifelong Learning and Women, Saving and Superannuation
Lifelong Learning – Work related Education and Training
Lifelong learning is a global policy priority, adopted and promoted by OECD and European Union. This Policy is linked closely to the need for both initial and on-going vocationally oriented education and training, given the rapid shifts in the nature of work, technology and changes associated with globalisation. Our S4W research project will offer strategic direction for outcomes in this area. It is an integrated project that identifies priority areas for focus within the project and accommodates the diversity of perspectives and needs of ‘women’, rather than generalising across the broad category 'woman'.
This project focusses on 5 key groups of women.
Young Women - the segmentation of women and girls’ fields of study and workplace participation remains a concern due to the resulting pay differential that is well documented. While girls’ participation in VET in Schools is high they are concentrated in course areas such as child studies, beauty and hairdressing, hospitality and business administration areas.
Download the Getting Real: Young Women and Girls, Working Futures, VET and VET in Schools Executive Summary here or contact the Project Office for a copy of the full report.
Women returning to work, women requiring re-entry training and women in the workforce needing to up skill to enable career change, Older women – This is being undertaken in partnership with Job Tactics
Download here
Women in poverty/low ses – This is being undertaken in partnership with families in the Smith Family Learning for Life programme
Download copy of final report here
Women in micro and small business – This is being undertaken in partnership with Job Tactics
Download here
Indigenous women accessing employment and training, recognising that women’s issues are different to men’s, analysing what counts as work - This is being undertaken in partnership with Waltja.
Download copy of final report here
Women, Saving and Superannuation
The issues in this project range from retirement income, financial literacy, education about saving and investing, and superannuation itself. Following a successful roundtable in April 2004 S4W continues to progress work in this area through a number of avenues. S4W contributed to a survey developed by AFSA, Australian Superannuation Funds Association. The survey focused on gathering data about women’s participation and choices and has been published. We also prepared a literature review of current research into superannuation and retirement incomes to help develop some key themes, issues and questions. Through this relationship S4W presented a paper at the ASFA National Conference, Nov 10-12 - Saving 4 the Nation, "Saving Women".
We have now compiled the results of our survey. Download the results here.
Download related documents here;
Women Saving and Superannuation outline
Superannuation Roundtable Summary
ASFA research – gender differences in retirement savings
Our major work in 2003/2004 was a major research project, which involved the What Women Want Survey completed by over 3,000 Australian women.
The top three issues identified as important for themselves and for women generally were:
• Balancing work and family and other responsibilities
• Affordable education and training for all ages
• Equal pay for women and men doing the same job
The research report identifies the varying factors that enhance or hinder women’s ability to seek or choose pathways to acquire economic sustainability, including those that may not be plainly apparent. Download the Summary paper, July 2004 or contact the Project Office for a copy of the full research report.
From our work identifying what women want we produced a policy paper that provides an excellent overview of the issues affecting women and their wellbeing particularly in education and training. Download Policy paper, May 2004.
|
