Women in NSW 2012 - The Workplace Gender Equality Agency

Current levelsand trendsThis section outlines women’scurrent status in the topic areaslisted above and the directionof change over time, where thisinformation is available. The latestavailable data is used in each case.Topic 1: ElectoralrepresentationIn 1902, women in NSW first gainedthe right to vote in both state andAustralian elections, and to standfor election for the AustralianParliament. Since then, womenhave been in a minority at all electedlevels of government.Women in NSW gained the rightto stand for election to the NSWLegislative Assembly in 1918. It tooka further eight years for women to beable to stand for election to the NSWLegislative Council (1926). In 1925,Millicent Preston Stanley became thefirst woman elected to the LegislativeAssembly and in 1931 CatherineGreen and Ellen Webster were thefirst women elected to the NSWLegislative Council. NSW has hadone female Premier, Kristina Keneally,who served in the the position fromDecember 2009 to March 2011.It was not until 1983 that a womanfrom NSW was elected to theHouse of Representatives (JeanetteMcHugh), and not until 1987 that awoman from NSW was elected tothe Senate (Bronwyn Bishop).In 1929, Lillian Fowler was the firstwoman elected to office in localgovernment in NSW, as Aldermanof Newtown. She also became thefirst female mayor in NSW (and inAustralia) in 1938.Indicator 1.1 examines the gendersplit among candidates for election,while 1.2 reports on the percentagesof women and men who havesucceeded in being elected.1.1 Candidates for electionCurrent positionThe direction of changeover timeLocal governmentThe most recent NSW local government elections were conducted in 2008.At those elections, 33 percent of candidates were women (Figure 5.1).State governmentIn March 2011, women made up 30 percent of candidates for the LegislativeAssembly and 34 percent of candidates for the NSW Legislative Council.Australian governmentAt the 2010 national election, 35 percent of candidates for NSW Senateseats were women, while 27 percent of candidates for NSW seats in theHouse of Representatives were women.Gender gap:• In NSW, there are gender gaps ranging from 30 to 46 percentage pointsin the proportion of women and men standing for election at all levels ofgovernment. This means that men in NSW are two to three times morelikely than women to stand for election to political office.The proportion of female candidates in NSW local government electionsincreased from 23 percent in 1991 to 33 percent in 2008.In NSW government elections, the proportion of female candidates for theLegislative Assembly rose by 2 percentage points between 2007 (28 percent)and 2011 (30 percent), while there was no change in the proportion standingfor the Legislative Council (35 percent in 2007 and 2011).The percentage of female candidates in NSW for the Senate increased fromapproximately 35 percent at the 1993 Federal elections to 39 percent at the2007 elections, and dropped again to 35 percent at the 2010 election.The percentage of women in NSW standing for election to the Houseof Representatives has increased, with some slight fluctuations, fromapproximately 19 percent in 1993 to 26 percent at the 2007 elections,and 27 percent in 2010.WOMEN IN NSW 2012 | LEADERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION91