More women in decision-making roles needed

LAST week we celebrated International Women’s Day. A theme for 2022 was Break the Bias, referring to the conscious and unconscious biases that create gender inequity. The consequences of these biases are reflected right across our society.

Globally, Australia ranks 50th overall in the Global Gender Gap Index for 2021. While we share equal 1st with 26 other countries for Educational Attainment, we rank 70th in Economic Participation and Opportunity, 99th for Health and Survival (largely contributed to by high rates of gender-based violence) and 54th for Political Empowerment. This is appalling for a country as prosperous as ours.

These statistics can and must be changed.

Having more women and gender diverse people as elected representatives in all levels of government is one important mechanism to address gender inequity.

While it’s been well demonstrated that COVID-19 had many negative impacts on women and gender diverse people, we did see a slight shift in a positive direction during the 2020 Victorian council elections, which were held right in the midst of lockdowns.

Across Victoria, 272 women in total took their place on councils in 2020 – representing 43.8 per cent of councillors – a new high for both the state and Australia. Here in Geelong, we went from three to four women out of 11 councillors.

But these figures still aren’t good enough.

Why? While some people argue that we need more women because of their inherent gender-based leadership qualities, I’m not sure that’s true, or even particularly helpful for the argument.

It’s somewhat jarring when I sometimes hear people suggest women are better leaders – this is just another gender-based stereotype.

Any observed differences may be more reflective of the well demonstrated fact that women – either through their own or society’s biased expectations – often have more experience and qualifications before they are prepared to even put their hands up for leadership roles.

The reason we need gender equity in governments is quite simple: governments make better decisions when they actually understand their communities.

We need representatives that reflect diverse lived experiences so that we can prioritise appropriately, and avoid blind spots.

There are numerous barriers that exist for women to firstly run as candidates for councils, then to get elected.

Evidence shows that women are less likely to put themselves forward due to perceived lack of experience, and often need someone to tap them on the shoulder before they even consider doing it.

Unequal representation can mean there aren’t enough role models representing diverse women that potential candidates can identify with.

Building a profile, support networks, and campaign strategies takes time, and many women are juggling multiple responsibilities which can mean doing this work, without a guaranteed outcome at the end, never gets to the top of their priorities list.

The roles themselves can often be unappealing: meeting times that are usually before or after hours; poor remuneration which may be unfeasible given the workload especially in lower income or single income households; and the combative culture of councils.

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Women In Local Democracy (WILD) launch of its campaign, Empowering Women 50/50 x 25 Network, supported by the City of Greater Geelong.

WILD has for many years been a strong advocate for achieving gender equality in local government representation, providing support, education, and mentorship to potential candidates (something I benefited from when I first ran).

The network is supported by a detailed strategy identifying what needs to be done to get more women running as candidates over the next three years, in order to reach 50:50 representation by 2025.

As we have seen with the city’s recent Women in Community Life Awards (you can still catch the ceremony on YouTube or the city’s Facebook page), there’s no shortage of brilliant women who would make outstanding councillors in Geelong.

I am hopeful that through the work of WILD’s Network, we will see many of them run – successfully – in 2024.

Perhaps you know someone who would make a great councillor.

Tap them on the shoulder, get them to check out WILD (on Facebook, or email [email protected]). Or maybe you’re interested yourself – go for it.

Until we have more women in decision-making roles, it’s likely that issues such as gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, poor access to childcare support, housing unaffordability, and many others where gender inequality is a driver, will persist.

It’s up to all of us to change that.

Cr Sarah Mansfield
Brownbill Ward
Chair Diversity, Inclusion and LGBTQIA+ Portfolio
Chair Community Health and Aged Care Portfolio