Page 2412 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 2 August 2017
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The diversity register will promote the participation of women and people with diverse experiences on boards and committees through connecting people with opportunities. This includes people with a disability, people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer. The diversity register will support all boards and committees to increase their female representation. This will be particularly useful for boards and committees in traditionally male-dominated areas. There are many, as we know.
In addition to improving this functionality, the government will pursue options to better promote the use of the register and engage women from a broad range of backgrounds, reaching organisations across different industries, including historically male-dominated fields. To complement this work, the government is also investing in options to promote forms of support, including training, mentoring and networking opportunities, to assist women to gain the skills and confidence to apply and be successful in securing board positions.
Ms Orr’s motion calls on the government to continue to progress action through the ACT women’s plan to promote gender equity across the ACT. The ACT government will continue to promote the participation of women in sport through the ACT women’s plan 2016-26. The first action plan focuses on health and wellbeing and includes a number of actions specifically related to women and girls in sports and active lifestyles, including to: establish a baseline of data relating to participation in sport and active recreation by young women and identify barriers and possible solutions to increase rates of active participation; hold an education forum to identify practices within schools which promote or discourage girls’ participation in sport and active recreation; develop a communications strategy to raise awareness of the impact low activity has on women’s and girls’ health and wellbeing; and engagement of high profile sportswomen to promote the benefits of being active and strong in schools. A cross-directorate working group has been established to oversee the implementation of the first action plan and an annual progress report will be released at the end of this year.
These are just a few of the key initiatives in a far-reaching program of work towards gender equity in the Canberra community. I thank Ms Orr for bringing this motion to the Assembly. For the information of members, the WNBL has signed a contract agreement with Fox Sports, and one game each week will be played on Fox Sports. That is a great chance for women’s sport to be viewed not just at the basketball court but also on our TVs. This is a fantastic step forward for women’s sport in the ACT and across the country. I again thank Ms Orr and support the motion in the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
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