Security4Women (S4W) is one of four National Women's Secretariats funded by the Office for Women, Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA).

The role of the National Secretariats is to:

•	work collaboratively to provide informed and representative advice to government on policy issues, development and implementation relevant to the diverse views and circumstances of women;
•	represent the diverse views of women through consultation with the women's sector, their own constituencies and other groups and organisations relevant to women's concerns;
•	act as a conduit for the exchange information between government and the women's sector;
•	undertake specific policy analysis on individual areas of organisational expertise and concern; and
•	undertake and maintain effective governance structures to fulfil the roles and responsibilities of national secretariats.

BPW Australia is the lead agent for the Security4Women Secretariat and signs the Contract which currently runs through to 2009. We have two BPW members on the S4W Board, and provide administrative support through our Administration Office.

The Security4Women secretariat investigates the economic well being of Australian women in order to build knowledge with which we can influence policy and legislation. This aim comes from our belief that long-term economic well being is a high priority for Australian women - it empowers women to make choices and live independently. It enriches all aspects of their lives including education, health, work opportunities, personal safety and security.

S4W engages with Australian women to identify and evaluate the issues they face and establish those of primary importance. The outcomes from our research and surveys contribute to national policy reform relevant to the economic well being for women. In consultation with other stakeholders S4W is working to enhance and improve results for women where need is indicated.

S4W partners
S4W has a fantastic group of partner organisations namely;

The S4W partners represent the interests of more than 55,000 Australian women with a network stretching well beyond this. They bring extensive networks in regional and urban Australia to support consultation and research tasks.

S4W Projects

S4W has completed many projects over the time it has existed as a consortium of women’s organisations.

Following the completion of a major research project early in 2004 S4W issued a Summary Paper, "What Women Want" which outlines the results of the national survey and research findings. It identifies the varying factors that enhance or hinder women’s ability to seek or choose pathways to acquire economic sustainability. The "What Women Want" survey results demonstrated that women, irrespective of age, education and socio-economic status, were remarkably consistent in their choices for policy direction. In order, the three most highly preferred economic measures to improve women’s wellbeing were:

S4W built on this research in 2004 with the launch of two concurrent projects; "Lifelong Learning – Work related education and training" and "Women, Saving and Superannuation".

In 2006, a further survey was completed and a Key Issues Reports prepared.

Some of the Reports prepared by S4W include;

For more information

S4W also produces a monthly chatpage and maintains a website, www.security4women.com that provides an overview of the work that is underway, links to partners and downloadable versions of all S4W research, policy papers and the chatpage.

For further information, or a full listing of all reports produced by S4W, email projects@bpw.com.au