NSW PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY RESEARCH SERVICE Women in Parliament: The Current Situation by Talina Drabsch Briefing Paper No 9/03 RELATED PUBLICATIONS Women in Parliament, by Marie Swain, NSW Parliamentary Library Briefing Paper No 19/95 Women in Parliament: An Update, by Marie Swain, NSW Parliamentary Library Briefing Paper No 1/97 ISSN 1325-5142 ISBN 0 7313 1735 1 May 2003 © 2003 Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written consent from the Librarian, New South Wales Parliamentary Library, other than by Members of the New South Wales Parliament in the course of their official duties. NSW PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY RESEARCH SERVICE David Clune (MA, PhD, Dip Lib), Manager.............................................. (02) 9230 2484 Gareth Griffith (BSc (Econ) (Hons), LLB (Hons), PhD), Senior Research Officer, Politics and Government / Law ......................... (02) 9230 2356 Talina Drabsch (BA, LLB (Hons)), Research Officer, Law....................... (02) 9230 2768 Rowena Johns (BA (Hons), LLB), Research Officer, Law........................ (02) 9230 2003 Roza Lozusic (BA, LLB), Research Officer, Law ..................................... (02) 9230 3085 Stewart Smith (BSc (Hons), MELGL), Research Officer, Environment ... (02) 9230 2798 John Wilkinson (BA (Hons), MA), Research Officer, Economics ............ (02) 9230 2006 Should Members or their staff require further information about this publication please contact the author. 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CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................1 2 FACTS AND FIGURES ...................................................................................1 2.1 Female Premiers and Chief Ministers ...............................................................5 2.2 Federal Parliament.............................................................................................6 2.2.1 House of Representatives ..................................................................................6 2.2.2 Senate ................................................................................................................6 2.3.1 Government.......................................................................................................8 2.3.2 Opposition .........................................................................................................8 2.4 NSW Parliament................................................................................................9 2.4.1 Members of Parliament .....................................................................................9 2.4.2 Ministers..........................................................................................................11 3 WHY IS THERE A COMPARATIVELY SMALL NUMBER OF WOMEN IN AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENTS?.................................................................14 3.1 Threshold barriers...........................................................................................14 3.2 Financial barriers.............................................................................................15 3.3 Structural barriers............................................................................................15 3.3.1 Role of the major political parties...................................................................15 3.3.2 Preselection .....................................................................................................15 3.3.3 Voting systems ................................................................................................16 3.4 Elevation to the Front Bench...........................................................................16 3.5 Summary .........................................................................................................16 4 WHY SHOULD THERE BE A GREATER REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN? .........................................................................................................................17 4.1 The Justice Argument......................................................................................17 4.2 The Utility Argument ......................................................................................18 4.3 The Symbolic Argument .................................................................................19 5 HOW CAN A GREATER REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN BE ACHIEVED? .........................................................................................................................21 5.1 Affirmative/Positive Action............................................................................22 5.1.1 Zipping ............................................................................................................24 5.1.2 Twinning .........................................................................................................24 5.2 Encouraging women to participate..................................................................24 5.2.1 Changes to the parliamentary environment.....................................................24 5.2.2 Special funding for female candidates ............................................................25 5.2.3 Women Support Groups..................................................................................25 5.3 Changes to the electoral system ......................................................................26 5.4 Joint promotion of good government and women in parliament ....................26 5.5 International support........................................................................................27 5.6 Summary .........................................................................................................27 6 WHAT ARE THE POSITIONS OF THE VARIOUS POLITICAL PARTIES? .........................................................................................................................27 6.1 Australian Labor Party ....................................................................................28 6.1.1 National Labor Women’s Network .................................................................29 6.1.2 Emily’s List .....................................................................................................29 6.1.3 National Labor Women’s Conference 2002....................................................30 6.1.4 Percentage of ALP Women in the Lower House of Parliament in each jurisdiction .........................................................................................................................31 6.2 Liberal/National Parties...................................................................................31 6.2.1 Federal Women’s Committee..........................................................................31 6.2.2 Liberal Women’s Forum .................................................................................31 6.2.3 Women’s Council............................................................................................32 6.2.4 National Party..................................................................................................32 6.2.5 NSW Election 2003.........................................................................................32 6.2.6 Percentage of Liberal/National Women in the Lower House of Parliament in each jurisdiction ......................................................................................................33 6.3 Greens..............................................................................................................33 6.4 Australian Democrats......................................................................................34 7 HOW DOES THE AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE COMPARE TO THAT OF OTHER COUNTRIES? ..................................................................................34 7.1 Beijing Platform for Action and Beijing Plus Five Outcome .........................36 7.2 United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women .............................36 7.3 European Union...............................................................................................37 7.4 Belgium ...........................................................................................................38 7.5 Canada.............................................................................................................38 7.6 New Zealand....................................................................................................38 7.7 South Africa....................................................................................................38 7.8 United Kingdom..............................................................................................39 7.9 Scotland...........................................................................................................40 8 CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................41 Women in Parliament: The Current Situation EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This