BPW Australia

BPW Australia is one of the founding NGOs of economicSecurity4Women (eS4W) – one of four National Women’s Alliances funded by the Office for Women, Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA).

The role of the National Alliances 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 a lead agent for economicSecurity4Women Secretariat and our Director of Policy, Sandra Cook, is the current Chair. Two BPW Australia members also serve on the eS4W Board.

eS4W focuses on the economic wellbeing of Australian women in order to build knowledge that will influence policy and legislation. BPW Australia believes that long-term economic wellbeing must be 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.

eS4W 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 directly related to economic wellbeing for women. In consultation with other stakeholders eS4W is working to enhance and improve results for women where need is indicated.

eS4W partners

eS4W comprises a fantastic group of partner organisations:

• Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA)
• Association of Women Educators (AWE)
• Australian Federation of University Women (AFUW)
• BPW Australia (BPWA)
• Koori Women Mean Business (KWMB)
• National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)
• National Foundation of Australian Women (NFAW)
• VIEW Clubs of Australia (Voice, Interests and Education of Women)
• Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women’s Council (VIRWC)
• Victorian Women’s Trust (VWT)
• Women in Adult and Vocational Education (WAVE) Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Association (WALTJA)
• Working Women’s Centres (WWC)

The eS4W Alliance 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.

eS4W Projects

eS4W 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, eS4W 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:

• work arrangements that help balance family and other responsibilities
• affordable education and training for all ages
• equality of male and female wages and salaries

eS4W 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 eS4W include:

Report	Date	Download	Type/size
S4W Key Issues Report	June 2006	S4W Keyissues Report June 06	PDF/716Kb
Policy Direction – Lifelong Learning: Work related education and training for women.	May 2005	S4W Policy Paper	PDF/176Kb
Getting Real report	April 2005	Getting Real Report	PDF/1.3Mb
Lifelong Economic Wellbeing for Women	2002	What women want Final Report 2002What women want Final Report 2002	PDF/2.5MbWord Doc/1.4Mb

For more information

eS4W 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 eS4W, email projects@bpw.com.au