WEL-Informed Issue 406 Nov10.Pub
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Women’s Electoral Lobby NSW informed Issue 406 November 2010 BIG CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR OUR NEW MINISTER We have a new Minister for the Status announcement of who had responsibil- Inside this issue: of Women, Kate Ellis, who also has ity for women was omitted from the responsibilities for workforce participa- original media release on Ministerial Report from 2010 2 tion and some of the more practical appointments. Annual General aspects of child care. This makes an Meeting Secondly, the portfolio stayed with the interesting mix as there are clear Minister for Families. While there was Convenor’s Report 5 connections between some of the a logic of sorts to keeping it there major issues for the women’s portfolio while Tanya Plibersek held it with Meet the WELNSW 6 and her other responsibilities. Good, Executive Housing, none of Kate Ellis’ other accessible, and affordable children’s responsibilities relate to Macklin’s It’s Not Just About 8 services are often the key to workforce Women other portfolios. Why not give respon- participation and so are some changes sibility for the portfolio back to the Politicians are block- 1 0 to the tax/transfer systems of pay- Prime Minister? This would put the ing legislation to ments that affect parents’ choices decriminalise Office for Women in the Department abortion around seeking paid work. of Prime Minister and Cabinet, move it I was therefore very pleased to be back from a distant suburb to the asked to a meeting with the Minister Parliamentary triangle, and affirm a few weeks ago. It was very informal, its importance. not related to any of my official roles, This raises broader questions of how rather because of my long term in- much power Kate Ellis will have as a volvement with all the related areas. very junior minister, reporting via We had a very productive discussion, another minister who has shown little leaving me with a positive view of interest in the area herself, apart from both the Minister and how she saw the issue of paid parental leave. She her role. She listened to what I said, did, however, make a very good asked good questions, offered useful speech on the anniversary of the SA Next WEL Meeting ideas and generally gave me the im- Sex Discrimination Act that showed a pression that here was someone who Wednesday serious understanding that change was would do her best to improve the no longer easy. To quote: 8 December at 6pm status of women in very practical ways. Now, what a difference 35 years 66 Albion Street makes. In some ways, the issues that Surry Hills That will not be an easy task. Firstly, confront us now are even more chal- there were, and still are, some con- lenging because they’re not as obvi- All Welcome cerns that both her appointment and ous… the placement of the portfolio were a downgrade for the area. This was compounded by the fact that the initial (Continued on page 9) Page 2 WEL NSW Inc is a member of ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE 2010 AGM WEL Australia and is dedicated to creating a society where It has been a politically dramatic year and a national historical milestone has women’s participation and been set with the installation and then election of Australia’s first female Prime potential are unrestricted, Minister, Julia Gillard. But, it is a milestone scarred by the removal of a first acknowledged and respected, term Prime Minister by his party and a national parliament teetering in the bal- where women and men share equally in society’s ance with cross bench representatives holding a disproportionate amount of in- responsibilities and rewards. fluence and power. Phone/fax: (02) 9212 4374 We left 2009 with Australia recovering comfortably from the Global Financial Cri- Email: [email protected] sis, but, without the implementation of any systemic policy to address climate Visit: www.welnsw.org.au. ABN 50 242 525 012 change. Paid parental “leave” was on the horizon for implementation, but pay equity was continuing to elude us. A national Pay Equity day was declared to WEL-Informed, the newsletter of Women’s Electoral Lobby NSW, emphasise this continuing disparity in wages for women. is published bi-monthly and may be received in hardcopy or by In NSW, the Labor State Government closed the year with a new Premier. We email. Subscription is by met with the new Minister for Women, Linda Burney on 12 November, 2009. She membership of WEL NSW for had no sooner warmed the seat than she was replaced with Jodi McKay following individuals (fees vary) or by the removal of Nathan Rees and the installation of Kristina Keneally on 3 rd De- institution at $50 for email or th $80 for hardcopy. cember. We met with Minister McKay on 15 April, 2010. All members are invited and Operating in this broader political context of upheaval and uncertainty, but with encouraged to contribute or women in top positions for some of that time, WEL NSW made a decision: to comment. Ideas, comments, articles or clippings from other employ a Coordinator to work on the Federal and State elections and to enhance media all gratefully accepted. WEL’s effectiveness as a lobby group. Our hoped for outcomes were achieving Content may be edited. stronger visibility and influence with decision-makers and the wider community The editor(s) happily read emails and to build WEL’s capacity through: increasing membership numbers, identify- sent to [email protected] ing and introducing tools for effective lobbying and passing on knowledge and and hard copy articles or letters contacts gained to WEL NSW. can be posted to the WEL office. Deadline for contributions to the Kathleen Swinbourne was appointed to the position from a strong field of appli- next edition is 14 January 2011. cants. She is under contract to WEL NSW from May, 2010 to February, 2011. There is no newsletter in Kathleen was a former active member of WEL NSW and is founder and President December. of the Sole Parents’ Union. WEL-Informed is copyright. Material may be reproduced, Her first task was an organisational review conducted in consultation with the acknowledgement required. Executive. This review identified the strengths and weaknesses of WEL NSW and Editor for this edition: Lorraine what we could improve. Slade, Advice/Mailout Team: Anne Barber, Josefa Green. There were two other administrative areas where the WEL NSW Executive em- Join the national WEL email list, barked on a review prompted by change. One area was financial management email your name, email address and the second was the organisation of the Edna Awards evening. and your WEL group (eg NSW) to owner-wel- In relation to finances, WEL NSW received a generous bequest from the estate [email protected] of Pamela Casey which meant we had to review the way we managed our funds. DISCLAIMER Accordingly, a discussion paper was prepared by Anne Barber, assisting the Views expressed in WEL- Treasurer, Tabitha Ponnambalam, about the management of the bequest. It out- Informed are those of the writers and do not necessarily lined suggested approaches to maximising earning capacity; discussed some reflect WEL policy. Unsigned guidelines for expenditure of funds and made some recommendations on signa- material, apart from inserts, is tures and internet banking. Certain recommendations were endorsed and the by the WEL-Informed editorial Treasurer will report on these separately. team. (Continued on page 3) Page 3 (Continued from page 2) After many years of outstanding work, Anne Barber stepped down from the organisation of the Edna Awards evening. The transfer of responsibility to Ardyce Harris led to a review of processes. On 5 July, the Executive resolved to establish an Edna Awards Committee to be chaired by a nominee of the Executive. The Commit- tee will have responsibility for initiating the process each year and the organisation and administration of the Awards. The Committee will work closely with the Independent review panel whose membership for 2010-2011 was endorsed and will include Bobbie Burke, Jenny Forster, Rhianna Keen and Annie Bickford. The Executive expresses its deep appreciation to panel members and to Ardyce Harris and Anne Barber, assist- ing Ardyce, for their efforts in organising the 2010 evening. There is a need, however, for more members to step forward to assist with the organisation. There is a manual of procedures. The event has a high profile among activist women and merits more support. It is also a highlight of the WEL calendar and great fun! Members of the executive, as in previous years, worked on national and state issues. Anne Barber continued her representation at Peak Women’s Meetings convened by the NSW Office for Women’s Policy and attended by the Minister for Women. She played a pivotal role in the organisation of International Women’s Day. WEL members were present at the march and rally distributing membership forms and Edna Awards flyers. The Newsletter was produced monthly by Lorraine Slade from material submitted by a range of members. With the employment of a Coordinator and the introduction of an e-Update , the Executive determined to issue the Newsletter bi-monthly from June, 2010. This decision is being kept under review. WEL contributed its views on various issues including: state Abortion Law Reform, a Charter of Human Rights, the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Women, the implementation of the Paid Parental Leave scheme, the changes to federal legislation with respect to Income Management among others. Various members of the Executive supported other activities including the production of Skirting Sydney: a walking tour map traversing Sydney women’s history and the Helen Leonard Remembered function.