Knocking on the Door: The Women's Portfolio from Labor to Coalition

23 Pages Posted: 17 Jun 2014 Last revised: 5 Oct 2014

See all articles by Susan Gail Harris Rimmer

Susan Gail Harris Rimmer

Griffith University; Griffith Law School

Marian Sawer

Australian National University (ANU)

Date Written: June 15, 2014

Abstract

The lead item in the Coalition women's policy for the 2013 federal election was the return of the Office for Women to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Since 2004 it had been located 20 kilometres from the heart of government, relegated to a line department dealing with family and community services. Did its return from exile indicate a renewed commitment to whole-of-government gender assessment of policy? This paper assesses the directions taken by women's policy under the Rudd and Gillard Governments as compared with the new Coalition Government. It examines machinery of government arrangements for gender main-streaming at national and intergovernmental levels. The paper concludes with analysis of why Australia's major parties now more readily articulate gender equality objectives in areas such as international peacekeeping and development assistance than in domestic economic and social policy outside the gender-based violence area.

Keywords: Australian politics, women's policy, gender equality

Suggested Citation

Harris Rimmer, Susan Gail and Harris Rimmer, Susan Gail and Sawer, Marian, Knocking on the Door: The Women's Portfolio from Labor to Coalition (June 15, 2014). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2450656 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2450656

Susan Gail Harris Rimmer

Griffith University ( email )

170 Kessels Road
Nathan, Queensland QLD 4111
Australia

Griffith Law School ( email )

Nathan Campus, GU
Nathan 4111, 4111
Australia

Marian Sawer (Contact Author)

Australian National University (ANU) ( email )

Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601
Australia

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