Professor Miranda Stewart and Mel Birks joined Robbie Campo to discuss one of Women in Super’s long-standing key policy asks: the necessity of a gender-responsive budget.
Australia has a long history of gender budgeting. Beginning in the 1980s-90s by the Hawke Government, the Women’s Budget Statement continued for the next couple of decades to varying degrees. It was recently dropped off, to be reinstated by the Morrison Government, and now the Albanese Government.
With two different versions provided, just this year in each of the budgets we’ve seen, there has been a lot to discuss, not just about women’s policy – but also about differential policy of cross-population. The Albanese Government has adopted the argument that this is essential for national wellbeing, a view that Women in Super endorse.
Gender responsive budgeting is essential to identify the differential impact for the budget to be effective for all Australians. The Early Release Scheme is a prime example of a policy that on the surface appeared to be equal, however had a significant gendered impact in reality, with more women decimating their accounts than men, and more than 70,000 women withdrawing superannuation through the early release scheme having done so as the result of coercion.
The intersectionality of policy decisions remained a constant thread through the discussion as the panel explored gender equality through topics such as housing, home ownership, childcare, gendered violence, both at the state level and the federal level.
If you missed the conversation, you can watch on demand.