Failure to launch: Young women and political leadership in Australia
Source: Monash University
Last week, former prime minister Tony Abbott called for more women to be represented in the Australian parliament. While his comments were focused on the Liberal Party, they did remind us of the consistent gap that remains between the number of men and women in the nation’s parliament.
This is highly problematic, as a lack of women in the national legislature suggests our political system is misfiring.
The inequality of gender representation also undermines the democratic notion of government being for the people, by the people.
This problem isn’t unique to Australia, as many other countries continue to have fewer women than men representing the community in the national parliament.
Australia became a world leader when, in 1902, women gained the power to vote, and also stand for election to the parliament of Australia. But it took more than 40 years until, in 1943, Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney became the first women elected to the national parliament.
The situation has changed since the 1940s, but we’re still a long way from enjoying gender parity in parliament. For example, at the start of 2024, Australia was ranked 37th in the world for the percentage of women in its national parliament, with just 38% of seats in the House of Representatives (where governments are formed) being held by women. The story is somewhat better in the upper house, as 57% of seats are occupied by women.
Read here the full article published by the Monash University on 15 April 2024.
Image source: Monash University
Last week, former prime minister Tony Abbott called for more women to be represented in the Australian parliament. While his comments were focused on the Liberal Party, they did remind us of the consistent gap that remains between the number of men and women in the nation’s parliament.
This is highly problematic, as a lack of women in the national legislature suggests our political system is misfiring.
The inequality of gender representation also undermines the democratic notion of government being for the people, by the people.
This problem isn’t unique to Australia, as many other countries continue to have fewer women than men representing the community in the national parliament.
Australia became a world leader when, in 1902, women gained the power to vote, and also stand for election to the parliament of Australia. But it took more than 40 years until, in 1943, Enid Lyons and Dorothy Tangney became the first women elected to the national parliament.
The situation has changed since the 1940s, but we’re still a long way from enjoying gender parity in parliament. For example, at the start of 2024, Australia was ranked 37th in the world for the percentage of women in its national parliament, with just 38% of seats in the House of Representatives (where governments are formed) being held by women. The story is somewhat better in the upper house, as 57% of seats are occupied by women.
Read here the full article published by the Monash University on 15 April 2024.
Image source: Monash University