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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 3 Hansard (7 March) . . Page.. 811 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Let us have a look at the action plan. I must say that I was glad when we did see an action plan produced by this government. I think it is an improvement on the situation that has applied over the last few years under, interestingly enough, a female Chief Minister. Over the first few years that I was in this place the response from Mrs Carnell on women was certainly very disappointing. But while this action plan has some good basic commitments, I am afraid that is all they are. There was no time frame or implementation plan.

There is a commitment to give reports to government and possibly to the Assembly-I do not recall whether they were going to come to us-on how the initiatives were going to be progressed. I am assuming that tomorrow Mr Humphries is going to make announcements which will give us some indication of which of the various commitments that are listed in the action plan the government is progressing. I look forward to hearing the detail of that because it is obviously critical information for members of this Assembly.

Other members have already covered the need for the crisis support. I would like to make my remarks a little bit broader-I think I am in order doing this because I can argue clearly that I am linking my remarks to the issue of women in crisis. I want to look at the structural causes of women being in crisis and what we can do to address those issues. Documentation shows that any conference that looks at women's issues comes up with the same basic requirements if you are to have an impact on the situation of women around the world.

We have to acknowledge that women in Australia and all other countries are in a socially weak position compared to men. If we want to address those issues, we have to look at the structural causes of that weak social position. The only way you can look at the structural causes and the barriers to equality for women is to have information. The Women's Electoral Lobby has summarised this well in pointing out that the integration of gender accountability into government requires commitment, the central location of women's policy units, possession of relevant technical expertise, and an adequate consultation framework with women in the community. This includes a linking of women's information services to the policy coordination function to provide feedback on women's concerns.

For the government to be proactive in women's policy, a whole-of-government women's policy framework is required within which responsibilities can be allocated and performance indicators established. Where that gender accountability is in place, key issues come up-and this is definitely related to why women are so disadvantaged and vulnerable that they end up going to a place like Toora.

Employment is a fundamental issue in gender equality. It has a profound impact on the position of women in the society. Women are overrepresented in work areas where conditions are poor and wages are low, and are underrepresented in management and decision-making positions.

Of course, I could refer to the global position but I think if I did I might be pushing the tolerance of the chair a bit much. But you can still argue that the way in which the Australian government and this local government have responded to liberalisation of

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