• 16 Jun 2024 3:23 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality outlines the Australian Government's vision for gender equality – an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices, and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender.

    Launched in March, the Strategy sets out 6 guiding principles and a path to make progress towards this vision over the next 10 years, with a focus on 5 priority areas.

    1.     gender-based violence

    2.     unpaid and paid care

    3.     economic equality and security

    4.     health

    5.     leadership, representation and decision-making.

    It outlines the need for everyone to work together to shift the attitudes and stereotypes that drive gender inequality.  A good place to start is the chart at a glance.  The easiest way to review the strategy is here.

    The Strategy is the centrepiece of the Government’s gender equality policy. It clearly sets out Government’s priorities and current actions for gender equality, and articulates future areas for effort.


  • 06 Jun 2024 3:06 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    BPW Australia is encouraging members to join our delegation to the BPWI triennial Congress in November.  Members who plan to attend need to register before 15 July to benefit from early-bird rates.  Note the Gala Dinner and Farewell Dinner are not included in the registration.

    The program is available and links to accommodation and optional tours are provided.

    Please advise President Gillian if you are planning to attend, and if you would like to run a workshop or panel session which fits the theme of the Congress "New Action through Cooperation". There will also be a Market Place where you can rent a table for your products for sale.


  • 21 May 2024 4:11 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    BPW was very active throughout 68th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March in New York.

    BPWI delivered 12 Parallel Sessions and members presented in many more non-BPW parallel sessions and side events.   At least 4 BPW members served with their government delegations as an integral part of the negotiations and discussions during the Commission on the Status of Women meetings. 

    CSW sets a priority theme each year, and reviews progress on the theme from a previous year.  The Agreed Conclusions are drafted after much discussion and debate, and published online..

    • 2024 Priority theme: Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective
    • Review theme: Social protection systems, access to public services and sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.

    During CSW, BPW International holds a Leaders’ Summit for BPW members who travel to New York from all around the world. BPW Leaders' Summits are held in New York, every year during the weekend before the CSW and also at the beginning of every Regional Conference. This year it was a packed program with a strong representation from all BPW International Regions.  


  • 13 Apr 2024 3:19 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    BPW clubs discuss work-related challenges such as why men ae more likely to be promoted than women.  One reason is that high-potential women are over-mentored and under-sponsored relative to their male peers.

    The Cultivate Sponsorship program was built on Australian research into what drives the differential outcomes in women’s and men’s career progression, and one of the key elements is informal networks of sponsorship. Cultivate is about providing the tools to change behaviour and workplace culture and putting knowledge into action.


  • 06 Apr 2024 12:42 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    BPW International is working with UN Women to establish the first network of business incubators and start-up centres with a gender-specific dimension. We will be the first international women's organisation with a global network of start-up centres for female entrepreneurs, each managed by our clubs.  BPW Australia clubs will be able to be involved.

    BPW International has signed a GLOBAL partnership agreement, the Memorandum of Understanding MoU  with UN Women for the coming years. Global means that wherever we have clubs, we will be a partner and key player in working with UN Women on the ground. The content of the partnership agreement relates to WITH Women’s Entrepreneurship and Trade.

    This partnership agreement focuses on the promotion of women's economic empowerment and is in line with Sustainable Development Goal SDG #5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

    In the first 6 months, a train-the-trainer program will be implemented to train women entrepreneurs, members of BPW, to become professional coaches (with certification). They will then work with the women on site and support them with the topics they need, be it accounting, marketing, language, or  dealing with banks and other investors.


  • 24 Mar 2024 10:13 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Despite women’s increased participation in the labour market significantly contributing to past economic growth, persistent gender gaps across OECD labour markets hinder full realisation of the potential gains of women’s economic participation. A recent OECD paper analyses the economic implications of these gaps and evaluates the potential for future growth through greater gender equality in labour market outcomes

    New World Bank data shows a massive, wider-than-expected global gender gap, with 98 economies enacting legislation mandating equal pay for women for work of equal value, but only 35 economies – fewer than one out of every five – adopting pay-transparency measures or enforcement mechanisms to address the pay gap.  

    For the first time in the report’s 10-year history, the study examined the impact of childcare and safety policies on women’s participation in the labour market across 190 countries, revealing that less than a third of countries had quality standards for childcare that would guarantee children’s safety. The report found that tackling the childcare gap would immediately lead to a 1% increase in women’s participation in the labour force.

    The report found that globally, women currently earn just 77 cents of each dollar earned by a man, and that closing this gap could raise global gross domestic product by more than 20 per cent. According to a report by the World Economic Forum’s  Gender Gap Index released last June, it will take another 131 years for the world to reach gender parity.  


  • 17 Mar 2024 11:27 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    The 2024 theme of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women examines the pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls everywhere. The 2024 priority is accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with gender perspective

    The 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women runs from 11 – 22 March 2024. We have several BPW Australia members attending CSW and also the BPW International Leadership Summit which runs in parallel to CSW each year in New York – refer BPW Australia LinkedIn.

    It has never been more urgent to advance women’s economic empowerment. Investing in women benefits women and society as a whole. At the current rate of investments however, more than 340 million women and girls will still live in extreme poverty by 2030. The world needs an additional USD 360 billion per year for developing countries to address gender equality under the Sustainable Development Goals. And while increasing women’s share of assets and finance is vital for their economic empowerment, equally important is building institutions that promote public investment in social goods and sustainable development.

    Five things guaranteed to accelerate women’s economic empowerment are:

    1 Connecting women with financial resources can help them meet their basic needs and start or grow businesses.

    2 Work that is productive and in conditions of freedom, equity, security, and dignity.

    3 Respect for the undervalued and underpaid care work that women do that takes time away from opportunities for education, decent paid work, public life, rest and leisure.

    4 Security and gender-responsive social protection systems that shield women from gender-based violence, conflict, food insecurity, and poverty.

    5 Promotion of human rights and women's rights expressed in laws that underpin women’s economic empowerment.


  • 11 Mar 2024 4:52 PM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    The federal government has released 3 new policies to address women's inequality for International Women's Day.  These provide a wealth of data and evidence so they are great resources for BPW Australia and clubs when advocating for change. 

    Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality 2024-2034 outlines where the Government will focus its efforts over the next decade to achieve its vision – an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender.

    A 10-year-plan to unleash the full capacity and contribution of women to the Australian economy 2023 – 2033 was released by the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce.  The Taskforce describes the current state of women's economic inequality, and makes 7 primary recommendations to the Government that will drive women’s economic equality and contribute to a strong and globally competitive Australian economy.

    The Minister for Women has released the 2024 Status of Women Report Card which summarises the most recent available data on the social and economic equality issues facing women and girls in Australia.  

    The Conversation provides good summary and critique of the Working for Women Strategy and Women's Agenda provides an analysis of the Taskforce’s 10-year Plan.

    BPW clubs are encouraged to review and discuss each of these policy documents; it is important that clubs keep their members up to date on new developments.

  • 03 Mar 2024 9:05 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    Gender inequality is a socially constructed problem. For Australia to be a global leader in gender equality, Australia must address the systemic causes of gender inequality, while also acknowledging and addressing the severe impacts of its symptoms.

    This is the essence of the Australian Gender Equality Council’s pre-budget submission to the federal government. This comprehensive analysis gender inequality in Australia is a solid foundation for BPW advocacy and a useful resource for clubs. 

    AGEC’s research reveals that the root cause of gender inequality in Australia is gender role assignment and stereotypes which are formed in early and primary childhood. This problem can only be addressed at the household level and in early and primary school education. It is also impacted by the media our children are absorbing.

    As a country, we need to understand at what age these stereotypes and gender role assignments are occurring in Australian children. Gender role stereotypes are ultimately the cause of our gender-segregated economy, division of domestic labour, domestic and family violence and workforce participation rates and must be addressed in any Intergenerational National Strategy as a priority. Without addressing the causes of gender inequality, as a country, we will need to assign funding to addressing its symptoms ad infinitum which is both short-sighted and an unfair burden on future generations of Australians. 

  • 27 Feb 2024 9:09 AM | Jean Murray (Administrator)

    The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has issued advice about new pay transparency laws that will reveal private sector company gender pay gaps. BPW Adelaide submitted a resolution to the 2018 BPWA National Conference on pay transparency, which was passed.  A policy statement was developed and our then President and Director of Policy took it to all political parties prior to the 2022 federal election.  The new government outlawed pay secrecy contracts and has gone on to make pay gaps transparent too.

     WGEA has published the gender pay gaps for Australian private sector employers with 100 or more employees, as a result of amendments made to the Workplace Gender Equality Actin March 2023. Making gender pay gaps public provides a deeper understanding of workplace gender equality in Australia and is an important step towards accelerating employer action on workplace gender equality. 

    What has been published? 

    WGEA has published median base salary and total remuneration employer gender pay gaps as well as the gender composition per pay quartile. To view employer gender pay gaps visit WGEA’s Data Explorer and search by organisation. This is also where you’ll be able to access a link to Employer Statements, if the employer has chosen to publish one. You can also learn more on our interactive webpage and in our Employer Gender Pay Gap Snapshot

    Why is this important?

    Publishing gender pay gaps and the other legislative reforms have been designed to encourage employers to deploy and drive workplace policies, practices and environments that support gender equality, creating meaningful shifts in Australian workplaces. 

    What happened in the United Kingdom after employer gender pay gaps were published? 

    In the UK employers with 250 or more employees have been required to calculate and publish their gender pay gaps since 2017. Research indicates that this initiative has brought attention and action to gender inequality both within organisations and at board level and motivated some employers to narrow their gender pay gaps. Read more

BPW Australia Newsletter Archive

Past editions of BPW Australia's electronic newsletters can be viewed as a PDF - see below.

Current editions of the quarterly e-magazine Madesin can be accessed here.


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2013

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