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UN report card on racial equality in Australia
Mon, 30/08/2010

The UN Committee on the International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (the CERD Committee) has released a set of recommendations to improve racial equality in Australia following its review of Australia’s implementation of the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in August.  The CERD Committee looked at issues including the Northern Territory Intervention and the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees. YWCA Australia supports projects that take the issues of women in Australia to the United Nations and endorsed the parallel NGO Report to the CERD Committee written by the Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the National Association of Community Legal Centres.

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Drop in number of women MPs
Mon, 30/08/2010

As we wait to see who will form the Australian Government, one thing is certain – the number of women in the Australian Parliament has dropped, with women now making up less than 25 per cent of the new House of Representatives. Although the Australian Electoral Commission has not officially callled the final results, it appears that there will be 36 female MPs in the House, which equals only 24% of all MPs.

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Corporate boards– some good news?
Mon, 30/08/2010

There may be some good news about the number of women on corporate boards in Australia, with a recent rise in the number of women appointed to Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Top 200 boards.  According to the Women on Boards Boardroom Diversity Index, 22 per cent of all ASX 200 board appointees in 2010 were female, compared to five per cent in 2009 and eight per cent in 2008. The rise may have been influenced by new gender diversity measures introduced by the ASX Corporate Governance Council, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and others.

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UN report card on women's human rights
Mon, 30/08/2010

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (the CEDAW Committee) has released a set of recommendations to improve women’s rights in Australia following its review of Australia’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in July. While the Commitee welcomed important progress in protecting women's human rights, it also called for further change in number of areas.  Find out about YWCA Australia's involvement in the CEDAW Review process.

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Women in leadership: the numbers aren’t adding up
Thu, 19/08/2010

In the last days of the campaign, YWCA Australia is calling on parties to make stronger commitments to increasing the number of women in leadership roles. Gender remains a significant issue in this election campaign. Depending on the results in a number of marginal seats, there is a real prospect that Julia Gillard may be the first woman to lead a party to victory in a federal election, but that the number of female MPs in the House of Representatives may actually fall, resulting in a less representative Australian Parliament.

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