Gender Analysis
Toolkit
Part One:
About this Toolkit
Copyright
This publication is copyright. Other than for the purposes of and subject to the
conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of the publication
may in any form or by any means be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted without prior written permission. Any person or organisation wanting
to reproduce material from this publication should obtain written permission
from the copyright holders at the following address:
Office for Women
GPO Box 806
BRISBANE QLD 4001
Disclaimer
This publication is designed to provide general unbiased information. Every care
has been taken to ensure the correctness of the information in the publication as
at 1 July 2009. No responsibility is accepted for any loss, damage or injury,
financial or otherwise, suffered by any person acting or relying on information
contained in the program or omitted from it.
Gender Analysis Toolkit was prepared by the Office for Women.
Enquiries
Telephone:
Email:
Web:
Women’s Infolink 1800 177 577
[email protected]
www.women.qld.gov.au
2
CONTENTS
PART ONE – ABOUT THIS TOOLKIT
1.
Introduction
5
2.
Overview of the Toolkit
8
3.
What is gender analysis?
9
4.
Why is gender analysis necessary?
10
5.
What are the benefits of gender analysis?
12
Exercise 1: Policy development process in your organisation
15
Exercise 2: Gender awareness/ sensitivity in policy development
16
PART TWO – THE TOOLKIT
6.
How to conduct a gender analysis
21
7.
Case study
24
Results of not using gender analysis
26
Exercise 3: Practising the gender analysis framework
30
Advocacy and overcoming resistance
39
Exercise 4: Dealing with gender values, attitudes and practices
41
Gender analysis checklist
46
8.
9.
PART THREE – FURTHER INFORMATION
10.
Links and resources
47
11.
Office for Women
50
12.
Glossary
52
Appendix 1: Legislated basis for gender analysis
53
Appendix 2: International obligations
57
Appendix 3: Policy Development
59
Appendix 4: Gender Analysis Toolkit evaluation and comments
60
3
4
PART ONE
1.
INTRODUCTION
Gender mainstreaming is an international strategy to achieve gender equality in all
aspects of society that has been gradually adopted since 1995 by many governments in
developing and developed countries, including Australia. Gender analysis is widely
recognised as an essential part of high quality policy advice.
Gender mainstreaming was defined by the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC) in 1997 as follows: 1
Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications
for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or
programs in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well
as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs in all
political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally
and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.
Gender awareness/analysis programs provide a practical, systematic method for
ensuring that gender considerations form part of the development of policy, program and
service design. This is especially important in areas that women are still disadvantaged
such as health, economic security, work-life balance, safety and leadership.
One area where gender differences are apparent is in the labour market. Women’s
workforce participation has increased in the last few decades however women remain
over-represented in the traditionally female-dominated and lower-paid industries such
as care work or retail work. Additionally they comprise the majority of part time and
casual workers. As a result, the gap between male and female pay is persistently wide. In
2007 Queensland women’s total earnings were 65.8% of Queensland men’s total
earnings. Full time women’s weekly ordinary time earnings were 84.9% of those of
men’s. 2
Women still make up the vast majority of carers, and many take on an unpaid caring role
at the expense of paid work, to their financial detriment. However, use of flexible work
arrangements has increased and underemployment has decreased. Employed mothers
who used flexible work arrangements to meet family responsibilities rose to 73% in 2005
from 67.9% in 2002. Employed fathers who used flexible work arrangements to meet
family responsibilities also increased to 33.0% in 2005 from 28.8% in 2002. Being aware
of the diverse and different experiences of women and men will assist government
agencies to develop more effective procedures and precise targeting for developing,
implementing and evaluating workforce participation and work-life balance policies,
programs and legislation.
1
2
ECOSOC, 2004, Issues Paper: Gender mainstreaming in the work of United Nations system intergovernmental bodies,
www.un.org/docs/ecosoc/meetings/docs/22%20June%20issues%20paper.pdf
Data used are from Queensland Government Office for Women, 2008, Profile: Queensland Women 2008 – a statistical
snapshot published, Office for Women, Brisbane.
5
About the Gender Analysis Toolkit
Queensland Government departments work to provide policies, programs and services
relevant to all members of the community, reflecting their diverse needs and
experiences. Government has a responsibility to ensure that these policies, programs
and services are inclusive and support its commitment to gender equality already
expressed by mechanisms such as the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 and the United
Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women.
In order to support the Queensland Government to fulfil these responsibilities the Office
for Women developed this Gender Analysis Toolkit as a practical guide to build the public
sector’s skills around gender mainstreaming. The Toolkit is targeted to all staff
regardless of their seniority level and managerial responsibilities. The content is
designed to provide staff with the necessary knowledge to integrate gender issues into
their work. The Toolkit contains generic tools that can be adapted by different agencies
and draws from experience of specialists in the field.
The Office for Women initially conducted an environmental scan to identify priorities and
trends in women’s policy development and program delivery both in Australia and
overseas. Gender awareness/analysis programs were a key activity for many agencies
and viewed as a strategic method for enhancing women’s economic and social position.
The material contained in the Toolkit draws on the excellent gender analysis work
already developed by Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand and by our colleagues in
New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. See the Resources section in
the Toolkit for references to work being undertaken in these jurisdictions.
The objectives of this Gender Analysis Toolkit are to:

ensure that staff, both in policy development and in policy implementation and
program and service delivery, learn the benefits of gender analysis and how to
apply it in their daily activities;

help staff to integrate consideration of gender factors into each stage of policy
and program development, making gender an integral component of all policy
development and service delivery; and

help staff to better interpret policy and outcomes of policy development and
program and service delivery in regards to gender awareness in Queensland.
The expected outcomes of the Toolkit for Queensland women and men and Queensland
Government departments and their staff include:

implementation of a structured approach (framework and methodology) to assist
in analysing policies, programs and legislation ensuring that gender differences
and inequalities are among the factors considered;

development of a useful tool for policy development in general by integrating
gender awareness into every aspect of public policy formulation;

assistance to agencies to develop more effective procedures for developing,
implementing and evaluating policies, programs and legislation;

increase of competence of Queensland Government agencies and individual staff
in understanding how gender perspectives are relevant to their responsibilities;

enabling the implementation of sustainable outcomes for women in the delivery
of policies and programs;

reducing the risk of unintended outcomes;
6

improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of government business by ensuring
that policies and programs are designed to meet the desired/anticipated
outcomes;

integration of awareness of gender issues into all aspects of public policy
formulation and delivery;

strengthening partnerships across government; and

clear definition of issues and target groups so that the diverse and different
experiences of women and men are taken into account.
7
2.
OVERVIEW OF THE TOOLKIT
This Gender Analysis Toolkit will assist you in the planning, delivery and review of
policies, programs and services by explaining how to conduct a gender analysis. It also
provides examples and links to other relevant tools. The Toolkit is complementary to
other policy guides, and therefore does not address all issues to be considered in the
formulation of policy advice or program and service delivery.
Getting started: understanding and adapting the Toolkit process and method

Part One presents the background to gender analysis — the context and benefits.
This is an essential introduction to gender analysis.

Part Two gives step-by-step guidance of gender analysis. Tasks set out in the
exercises help you to reflect on policy, program and service development in your
own context while applying your understanding of gender analysis.

Part Two outlines the eight-stage gender analysis step-by-step and revisits the
stages as required. Questions are suggested in each stage to check the quality
and completeness of your work in the exercises.

The gender analysis checklist in Part Two is for future use when undertaking
gender analysis. Once you are familiar with this Toolkit’s gender analysis process
and methods the Checklist can be used as a quick guide for developing gender
sensitive policies, programs or services.

Part Three and the appendices provide further information such as links and
resources, glossary and an overview of Australia’s national and international
obligations.

You may wish to work with your colleagues when using this Toolkit so that your
workplace has a consistent approach to gender analysis.

Any questions or concerns about how to use the Gender Analysis Toolkit can be
made to the Queensland Government’s Office for Women who can assist
agencies with specific information or provide further direction.

Please take the time to complete and return the Evaluation and Comments form
at Appendix 3. It will be of great help to the ongoing monitoring and review of the
Toolkit.
8

3.
WHAT IS GENDER ANALYSIS?
Gender analysis is a set of processes for assessing and deepening understanding about
the differences in the lives of women and men, their participation in social and economic
life, and the differential impacts on their lives of policies, programs and services. The
aim of gender analysis is to redress inequalities and inequities.
In general, women and girls have different experiences in many areas of life and are
often treated differently to men and boys. This can be a source of inequality. Gender
analysis involves acknowledging the historical and social disadvantages that women
face, and designing policies and programs to meet the differences in women’s and men’s
lives. This includes considering women’s particular experiences and responsibilities, and
taking into account their generally lower level of access to resources and decisionmaking processes.
Gender analysis aims to address inequalities for women by:

acknowledging that issues can affect women differently to men;

acknowledging that the differences in women’s and men’s lives mean that
women’s needs are often different to men’s;

investigating the specific needs of women and the likely impact on women of
policies, programs and services;

seeking and articulating the viewpoints of women and making their input a
critical part of developing policies, programs and services ensuring that they will
have intended and effective processes and outcomes;

recognising that policies, programs and services can have a differential impact
on women and men and promoting gender sensitive practices in policies,
program and service delivery;

ensuring that the needs and issues of women are clearly identified and
addressed through each step of the process of planning, implementing and
evaluating policies, programs and services;

promoting women and girls’ equitable engagement in community and economic
life, which will benefit the community at large – women and men, girls and boys;

promoting understanding that while treating everyone in the same way may help
make some things more equal, this is not sufficient to meet the specific needs of
women across race, ethnicity, age, disability, income level, marital status, sexual
orientation, region and employment status; and

promoting more informed, equitable and effective responses.
9
4.
WHY IS GENDER ANALYSIS NECESSARY?
The Queensland Government is committed to equality
The Queensland Government is strongly committed to removing barriers to women’s full
participation in society. It has a vision where all Queenslanders are able to balance work,
family and lifestyle, and women and men share caring roles in their families and
communities. It is a place where the diversity of our society is celebrated. We will see
women’s rights, interests and wellbeing promoted and protected and women and men
enjoying equal opportunity and participation. The vision of a fairer Queensland is also
articulated under the Bligh Government’s Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland strategy.
Australia has domestic laws relating to gender discrimination
These laws cover reporting against achievement targets for women and providing
avenues of redress for affected women and girls. See Appendix 1 for details.

Federal Anti-discrimination legislation
This legislation:
―
―
―

applies to all states;
is enacted on the basis of gender, disability, and race; and
is actioned via the Australian Human Rights Commission (formerly the Human
Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission).
Federal employment provisions
This legislation requires certain organisations to:
―
―

make an action plan for addressing equal employment opportunity for
women; and
report against it annually to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the
Workplace Agency located within the portfolio of the Australian
Commonwealth Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA).
State Anti-discrimination legislation
This legislation makes it illegal to discriminate against, ask unnecessary
questions of, sexually harass, publicly vilify and victimise people in certain
circumstances. Complaints are processed by the Anti-Discrimination Commission
Queensland.
Key international conventions and agreements on equality for women
Australia has endorsed key international conventions and agreements on equality for
women. See Appendix 2 for full details.

Australia ratified the United Nations Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1983. The Convention commits
Australia to taking specific steps to eliminate discrimination against women and
work towards equality for women in all areas of social, economic and political
life. Australia became a party to the Optional Protocol to CEDAW in November
2008. Where domestic remedies have been exhausted, the Optional Protocol will
enable Australian women to make a complaint to the international committee
responsible for monitoring Australia's compliance with its obligations under
CEDAW.

The Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), developed at the Fourth World Conference
on Women in 1995, provides strategic objectives to promote better achievement
of the CEDAW.
10
Gender analysis integrates gender issues into mainstream activities 3
Gender analysis, as part of mainstream government activity, can change the way
organisations operate, so they become more gender sensitive and generate the mix of
gender specific and gender inclusive approaches women and men need. While equality
policies and activities address specific problems for women they often remain a discrete
part of government activity and tend to be small-scale relative to mainstream programs.
Gender analysis underlines the need to consider all policies and programs according to
their gender impact.
Gender analysis is good practice
Programs and policies for people work best when the characteristics and needs of those
who will be affected by them are most fully taken into account. While it is not practical
(or desirable) for many policies and programs to be designed on the basis of all of the
characteristics of each person, some social attributes are associated with characteristic
experiences and needs – for example sex, race, ethnicity, disability, geographic location,
age, among others.
By placing a spotlight on the situations and needs of women, gender analysis gives a
clear idea of the consequences and impact of initiatives. It uncovers important and
policy-relevant considerations that have been there, but have not been seen. It helps
uncover hidden assumptions and values which may sustain inequality and leads to
better targeted service delivery.
Gender analysis takes into account the diversity of women
In looking at the likely impact on women of a particular policy or program, gender
analysis acknowledges that women are diverse, with different social and cultural
experiences. It directs attention to the needs of specific groups such as Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse
backgrounds and women with disabilities.
3
This section draws on information from the Department for Women, New South Wales, 2003, Applying a Gender Lens: A
practical guide to gender analysis for NSW government agencies,
www.women.nsw.gov.au/PDF/Archived/Applying_a_gender_lens.pdf
11
5.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF GENDER ANALYSIS?
Economic and social benefits
Women make significant economic and social contributions to Queensland, in paid and
unpaid work, in the family, community and workforce. For example 4 , 60.6% of
Queensland women were in the workforce in 2007. In terms of leadership positions,
Queensland women made up 34.8% of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in 2007
and 33.97% of Queensland Government boards. Effective public policy, programs and
services need to acknowledge this contribution. The Queensland Government has
recognised the contribution the women can make to Queensland Government boards
and in 2006 actively began to implement a Women on Boards strategy to promote gender
equality in new appointments to government boards.
Gender analysis:
4
5

assists in ensuring maximum participation by women and this increases benefits
to society from women's skills. These benefits include increased tax revenue,
reduced demand for welfare assistance and improved health status for women
and children, which lowers demand on the health system;

ensures better targeting of policies programs and services. For example, to
enable women to take full advantage of employment training programs,
assistance with childcare and transport may be necessary. Such programs
increase women's potential and in the long term help them to move off welfare
benefits;

supports gender diversity. A strong positive association between women leaders
and economic and social performance has been shown in several recent national
and international studies. Business outcomes include improved marketing
strategies, new product development and a broader clientele; 5

broadens the focus of economic analysis to inspire different questions to be
asked and issues raised. For example, the issue of more women than men being
in lower paid or unpaid work can be examined in terms of structural barriers that
may limit women’s opportunities for participation in the labour market, rather
than women’s choices; and

enables agencies to analyse systematically whether the outcomes of policies,
programs and services are equitable.
Queensland Government Office for Women, 2008, Profile: Queensland Women 2008 – a statistical snapshot, Office for
Women, Brisbane.
A 2009 study by University of Queensland Business School’s researchers, Adams and Ferreira, has found women
significantly enhance the monitoring capacity of the boards they join
(www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=17298). A 2008 study by Curtin University of Technology Business School’s
Research Fellow, Jeremy Galbreath, demonstrated that having women directors not only benefits financial performance,
but women possess critical skills and attributes that are beneficial in developing a balance across financial, social and
environmental business outcomes (www.cbs.curtin.edu.au/index.cfm?objectID=8A1BEA2A-9BED-7B9B8A3DA3B103AC224F). A 2008 McKinsey & Company study, Women Matter, found that companies with the most gender
diverse board members have an average EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) 48% higher than their industry norms
(www.mckinsey.com/careers/women/making_a_difference/social_sector_impact/~/media/Reports/Women/Mckinsey
_women_matter.ashx).
12
Quality of advice
The incorporation of gender analysis assists in ensuring quality advice by:

generating data disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, and other factors relevant to
the particular policy issue;

identifying where more detailed data is needed in order to have quality
information on which to base policy decisions and program and service delivery;

examining the underlying issues. For example, it is simplistic to view domestic
violence as a problem solved solely by the provision of women's refuges. Refuges
assist women and children directly and raise community awareness of the issue.
However, they cannot stop the violence. The cause of the problem needs to be
recognised and addressed. Until policy responses address the causes, women's
needs will not be met;

revealing and examining the differences in women's and men's lives. If this does
not happen, 'unexpected' consequences of policy, programs and services can
arise, which may contribute to policy or program and service delivery failure, or
unintended discrimination;

ensuring that opportunities are not missed. For example, if career guidance
information presented only a limited range of jobs or careers for young women, it
would contribute to decisions which have long-term and significant
consequences for a woman's earning capacity and future choices in life, and this
impacts negatively on the economy; and

ensuring that sound and credible advice is provided. Policy, programs and
services developed on the basis of gender analysis will have greater credibility
and validity among those affected by them.
13
BENEFITS OF GENDER ANALYSIS
Gender analysis brings the following benefits to enhance policy and program
development and delivery:
Identification
Gender analysis identifies and fosters understanding of women and girls as
clients/customers of government departments and agencies.
Evidence
Gender analysis gathers evidence on the relevance to and the impacts on
women and girls of issues and policies, programs and services.
Efficiency
Gender analysis tools enable the improvement of predictability and minimise
unintended consequences.
Action
Gender analysis provides tools to understand clients and make effective
and equitable decisions.
Engagement
Gender analysis engages women and girls in setting relevant and realistic
directions.
Systems
Gender analysis enhances planning, implementing monitoring, evaluating and
reporting.
Innovation
Gender analysis challenges old ways of thinking and prompts new responses.
Quality of life
Gender analysis ultimately improves the quality of life of women and girls and
advances their engagement in Queensland life.
14
EXERCISE 1: POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES IN YOUR ORGANISATION
Exercise 1 provides you with an opportunity to reflect on policy processes in your own
work context.
Individuals involved in policy development and program and service delivery processes
have expressed that attempts to introduce gender analysis ‘down the track’ will not be
able to reshape policies, programs or services that inherently already have a gendered
character. 6
Individuals can add a balanced and comprehensive quality to their analysis or delivery
and propose options that will result in equitable outcomes. This is achieved through
awareness of their own values and those of the environment as well as understanding
how these influence their decision-making and sensitivity to gender issues in general. 7
This Toolkit aims to help individual members of public sector agencies to find spaces to
intervene and reshape, to an extent, the interpretation and implementation of policies,
programs and services.
Task 1: Gender-responsive policy, programs or services
Explain how gender is currently addressed in policy development and program and
service delivery in your organisation.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Task 2: List examples of policies, programs or services where gender has been
successfully addressed in your organisation

________________________________________________________ ______________

_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________ ______________

________________________________________________________ ______________

_______________ ________________________________________________________
6
7
Bacchi, C., Eveline, J., Binns, J., Mackenzie, C. & Harwood, S., 2005, Policy and Society, 24, 4, 42-68.
Status of Women Canada, Gender-based analysis: A guide for policy-making, www.swccfc.gc.ca/pubs/gbaguide/gbaguide_e.html#2_1
15
EXERCISE 2: GENDER AWARENESS/SENSITIVITY IN POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Exercise 2 helps you to think about the gendered nature of the policy, program or
service initiatives that government departments engage with and/or are expected to
implement.
In some cases gender issues are central to the policy, program or service in question and
play a major, determining role in its evolution. Other policies, programs or services at
first glance may appear to be devoid of gender implications. It may be tempting to simply
state that a policy, program or service is not likely to have different gender effects. While
its gender implications may not be immediately obvious, they may emerge later. 8
Task 1: Choose two of the following example initiatives and list any gendersensitive issues that you think need to be incorporated into the policy, program
or service development

Income support (age pension and carers’ payments)

Good diet in Indigenous communities

Freedom of information

Planning schemes

Homelessness

Public housing

Transport




Initiative:

__________________________





Initiative:
__________________________
8
Status of Women Canada, Gender-based analysis: A guide for policy-making,
www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/pubs/gbaguide/gbaguide_e.html#2_1
16
Possible responses to Task 1:
Following are possible responses which identify gender sensitive issues in each of the
policy areas. The responses are not exhaustive but illustrate some facts that would be
vital to consider when drafting policy, program or service delivery responses in these
areas.
Income support (Age Pension and Carers’ Payments)
Women make up the majority of Age Pension recipients due to their greater
longevity and comparatively low superannuation levels. Women also make up the
majority of carers of disabled children and ageing parents. As they age, they
frequently become the primary carers for frail or ill partners.
There are several factors that can make female income support recipients or age
pension or carers’ payments more vulnerable to poverty and social isolation:
• low superannuation levels due to lower average incomes, interrupted and lower
rates of workforce participation;
• surviving without a partner for many years due to greater longevity and possible
implications such as lack of financial literacy after partner dies;
• safety fears within their own homes or when leaving the home;
• lack of own transport and safety fear when using public transport;
• vulnerability to chronic illnesses for prolonged periods of time due to greater
longevity; and
• additional physical and mental health issues of carers due to caring
responsibilities.
These issues need to be considered in any income support policies, programs or
services and calculations.
Transport
Policy, program or service initiatives on transport planning, infrastructure and
services should be exploring the gender impact and safety elements associated
with any proposed initiatives.
When proposing initiatives that encourage people to replace some of their car
journeys with walking, cycling or public transport, the relative ‘safety’ of these
alternative forms of transport should be considered.
Policy makers and program and service implementers need to consider strategies
to ensure that public transport options are safe for women and girls, especially at
night. This extends to frequency and accessibility, safety features, design and
lighting, monitoring and availability of assistance.
Sufficient taxi services may reduce the risk of harm to women by quickly dispersing
male patrons from licensed premises. There is evidence of serious and pervasive
threats to women’s safety due to male intoxication, including the prevalence of
alcohol-related sexual assault and violence.
17
The need for alternative and flexible public transport options for people who are
less mobile, such as older women. Women may survive without partner for many
years due to greater longevity and this may have implications for transport
availability such as lack of driving skills in the household after the partner dies.
Freedom of information
Women may be affected differently to men by changes to laws and practice
concerning access to information and privacy.
Women constitute the majority of victims of sexual offences and domestic violence.
Privacy laws and provisions that protect information about victims may have a
direct bearing on their personal safety.
Homelessness
In considering strategies to address homelessness, it is important to recognise that
women may become homeless for different reasons from men and may seek
different remedies to their situation than men. There are fewer homeless women
than men, but more women than men seek emergency accommodation.
Domestic and family violence are predominately the reasons many women become
homeless. In most domestic and family violence situations, the male partner is the
perpetrator of the violence. Women may face the choice of remaining in a violent
situation or becoming homeless. They may make several attempts at leaving a
violent situation. Among the Indigenous population, domestic and family violence
and resultant homelessness for women is more prevalent.
Homeless women are also much more likely to be accompanied by children.
Women with children are likely to seek crisis accommodation when homeless,
rather than sleep on the streets.
Because domestic and family violence is often a reason for homelessness among
women and their children – and has therefore become the focus for service delivery
in the sector – there may be gaps in the service system for assisting women who do
not fall into these groups, including older women and single women.
Housing affordability, including the current under-supply of affordable housing for
purchase or private rental, may be another cause of homelessness for women. The
limited housing options for low income earners are likely to affect women more
than men due to lower average incomes, longer average life spans,
overrepresentation in the part time and casual workforce and women carrying the
major part of caring responsibilities.
18
Good diet in Indigenous communities
Indigenous Australians suffer lower rates of health and well-being, shorter life
expectancy and higher rates of preventable disease than non-Indigenous
Australians. In 2005-06 Indigenous people were hospitalised at 14 times the rate of
non-Indigenous people for care involving dialysis, and three times the rate for
endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (including diabetes). A good diet is
an essential element to preventing many of these long-term illnesses.
Indigenous women play a central role in domestic responsibilities including food
preparation and the feeding of children and extended family members.
Additionally, Indigenous women have higher fertility rates than non-Indigenous
women (estimated in 2006 to be 2.1 babies compared with 1.8 babies for all
Australian females). Indigenous mothers tend to be younger than non-Indigenous
mothers, with teenage birth rates more than five times higher than for nonIndigenous females. Because of the prevalence of diabetes, there will be particular
needs related to managing diabetes during pregnancy (including gestational
diabetes) to ensure healthy babies and to reduce the risk of these children
developing diabetes later in life.
Accessibility to fresh fruit and vegetables both in terms of cost and availability
needs to be considered, particularly for remote Indigenous communities.
Public housing
Women are often overrepresented in public housing for a range of economic and
social factors. This includes women living alone and women as heads of single
parent families. The proportion of older single women seeking public housing is
likely to increase due to the ageing of the large ‘baby-boom’ generation and
women’s longer life expectancy, an increase in family breakdown, and women’s
general greater financial disadvantage.
Specific characteristics of female public housing clients that policy, program or
service initiatives need to consider are:
• greater vulnerability to poverty and social exclusion;
• lack of own transport;
• single parents with children needing to be close to schools and child care;
• easy access to medical and other services for older single women;
• small, easy to maintain dwellings for older single women; and
• safe dwellings in well-lit and well-patrolled neighbourhoods.
19
Planning schemes
Local government planning schemes need to consider the particular needs of
women. Planning for housing and residential developments need to take account
of issues such as the needs of sole parent mothers, an ageing demographic and
declining housing affordability within a casualised workforce structure.
Single parent families – of which single mother families are the vast majority –
have particular needs, including accessible local child-friendly spaces, housing
and childcare options. These should factor into assessments of current and future
planning.
Women represent the largest cohort of the ageing population. Older women are
more likely to have lower superannuation balances and buying power due to lower
average incomes, interrupted and lower rates of workforce participation. As a result
they will have greater need for affordable housing and accessible transport
options.
Declining housing affordability in the face of an increasingly casualised workforce
is particularly pronounced for women. Female workforce participation continues to
be concentrated in casual and less secure areas.
Planning schemes should have regard to transport infrastructure to ensure
accessibility to local services which women and their children frequent such as
shopping centres, parks, libraries and medical services.
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