Our Plan for

Women's Safety, Economic Security and Health

Key points

The Coalition Government wants every Australian girl and woman to realise her potential.

Under our Government, women continue to drive Australia’s economic recovery – with record workforce participation and the gender pay gap at record lows.

Our strong economy also enables us to make record investments in women’s safety, economic security and health.

The Coalition has a plan to strengthen these achievements, while improving respect for women in their workplaces, the community, at school and online.

More work is underway on gender equality, especially increasing choice and flexibility for women and families, and supporting all women and girls to access only the best health outcomes.

Across two Women’s Budget Statements, the Coalition has committed $5.5 billion to the priorities of women’s safety, economic security and health.

Nothing is more important than keeping Australians safe.

During 2021, the Women’s Safety Summit and other consultations shone a light on all forms of violence against women and the importance of lived experience. These consultations informed our $1.3 billion commitment to women’s safety in this year’s Women’s Budget Statement, which will form part of the next National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.

The Plan will prevent, intervene in, and respond to threats against women’s safety, and help women and children recover from the trauma of family, sexual and domestic violence.

The Women’s Budget Statement sets out a plan to support women’s economic security, to further remove barriers to workforce participation and to support women in leadership. This builds on the commitments in last year’s Women’s Budget Statement and the Economic Statements that came before it.

Our Enhanced Paid Parental Leave is a signature measure, empowering families with the choice and flexibility to make their own decisions on work and care responsibilities.

The Coalition is investing in women’s health at every stage, such as new IVF support for women with cancer or women at risk of passing on genetic diseases or conditions. We’re helping these women preserve their fertility by paying the costs of storage.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

  • invest $2.5 billion over the first five years of the next National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, focusing on prevention, early intervention, response and recovery.
  • enhance Paid Parental Leave to empower Australians with the choice and flexibility to make their own decisions on managing work and family.
  • continue to drive down the gender pay gap and drive up women’s workforce participation, focusing on meeting and beating previous records.
  • invest around $11 billion each year in the child care system, with child care subsidies targeted to families who need them most, including providing the highest subsidy to those who earn the least, the most hours of subsidy to those working the most, additional support to families with multiple children in child care and a strong safety net for vulnerable and disadvantaged families.
  • continue to identify and address the emerging and evolving scourge of online abuse.
  • support all women and girls to achieve the best health outcomes possible through initiatives covering maternal, sexual and reproductive health (including endometriosis), preventative health and mental health.

Only a stronger economy can make these record investments in women’s safety, economic security and health.

Labor has no economic plan, which puts all of this at risk.

Labor can’t manage money, which is why they have argued for higher taxes, including on families.

Labor can’t manage money, which is why they couldn’t list life-changing medications on the PBS last time they were in government. Vital medicines for endometriosis and IVF were among those that missed out.

Labor’s unfunded $63 billion child care plan would provide subsidies to millionaires and leave taxpayers worse off.

Labor’s approach to closing the gender pay gap is big on talk without offering any solutions.

Labor’s gender pay gap was 17.4 per cent, far higher than 13.8 per cent now. Had the gap remained at Labor levels, women would be almost $70 worse off a week.

Women’s workforce participation under Labor was 58.7 per cent, far lower than 62.2 per cent today.

Only a stronger economy can continue to narrow the gender pay gap and further boost women’s record workforce participation.


Our Plan

1. Boosting support for women’s safety

The best way to end violence against women is to prevent it.

The Coalition is investing $222.6 million in prevention initiatives, including additional resourcing for Our Watch, funding for phases five and six of the Stop it At the Start campaign and more support for Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS).

Early access to frontline services is crucial to supporting women at risk of or experiencing violence. The Coalition is investing $328.2 million to establish and expand early intervention programs, including $100 million for trauma-informed counselling services and more funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Support Services.

Another critical support is helping women in violent relationships to leave and rebuild their lives. The Coalition has committed $480.1 million for a range of response measures, including extending the Escaping Violence Payment, which provides up to $5,000 to help establish a life free from violence (including up to $1,500 in cash).

Demand for the Escaping Violence Payment has been significantly higher than anticipated because the payment is providing support to a number of victim-survivors who have never previously accessed frontline services. Feedback from the service provider, UnitingCare Network, has shown that this is providing vital support to women and children in incredibly challenging and frightening situations. For example, one victim-survivor was able to access this support after leaving her home following a particularly violent incident. UnitingCare Network worked with her to determine how the financial assistance could help her establish a home free from violence. The funds supported her in making a bond payment for a new apartment, as well as home appliances and new school uniforms for the children.

We are also supporting emergency accommodation for victim-survivors through the Safe Places and Keeping Women Safe in their Homes programs.

Our Budget provided $290.9 million to help victim-survivors recover and rebuild. This includes more timely family law resolution by continuing and expanding the Lighthouse Project, which triages Family Domestic Sexual Violence (FDSV) matters before the family court. There is additional support to protect victim-survivors against cross-examination by perpetrators and funding to pilot a new model of care delivered through Primary Health Networks. We are also investing in the first women’s trauma recovery centre at Illawarra Women’s Health Centre.

These responses follow 18 months of extensive consultation, including the National Summit on Women’s Safety, two National Advisory Committees, a House of Representatives Inquiry and ongoing public liaison. The Final Draft of the National Plan went to state and territory governments a few weeks ago, to be finalised after the federal election.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

  • invest $2.5 billion in the first five years of the next National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children. This includes measures to prevent, intervene in and respond to violence, while also supporting women and children as they recover from the trauma of family, sexual and domestic violence.
2. Tackling online abuse

Online abuse especially threatens the safety of women and girls. Around 3 in 10 women report suffering online abuse or harassment. Almost a quarter of young women aged 18-24 (and fifteen per cent of those aged 15-17) have had a nude or sexual photo or video posted online or sent on without their consent. Ninety-nine per cent of women who experience domestic violence are also abused by the use of technology.

Perpetrators are exploiting new technology and services that can be difficult for victim-survivors and law enforcement to identify. Technology-facilitated abuse can increase trauma, feelings of entrapment, and fear of, or disengagement from, technology.

The Coalition has a strong record of dealing with online and social media abuse. As part of this effort, we have expanded the role of the e-Safety Commissioner to online safety issues affecting adults, including image-based abuse and serious adult cyber abuse.

This year’s Women’s Budget Statement included extra support for eSafety, from a new phone support line to expanding online safety grants and extending the National Online Safety Awareness Campaign.

Additional training funding was also provided in the 2022-23 Budget to help law enforcement identify and support victim-survivors of all forms of family, domestic and sexual violence.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

  • provide $16.6 million for the eSafety Commissioner to establish a new telephone service to provide support for women and children experiencing technology-facilitated abuse, partnering with domestic and family violence support services.
  • deliver $10 million in community grants for online safety education and support projects for non-government organisations, with a $2 million component to support women and girls in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities.
  • deliver a $23 million eSafety schools package to raise awareness of eSafety support across every school in Australia, provide training programs for teachers and ensure schools have the resources and tools they need to keep kids safe online.
  • legislate the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) laws to ensure social media companies are held accountable as publishers and Australians are given more power to deal with harmful defamatory comments from anonymous trolls.
  • extend the eSafety Commissioner’s online safety communications campaign with $5-million to increase awareness of the protections available (particularly for women) under the Government’s new online safety laws.
  • provide $4.1 million to deliver national training for law enforcement to effectively identify and support victim-survivors of all forms of family, domestic and sexual violence, including technology-facilitated abuse.
3. The right to be safe at work

Tackling workplace sexual harassment is essential to women’s safety and economic security.

The Coalition has either fully implemented or fully funded 43 of the 55 recommendations of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s Respect@Work Report. Work is underway on all of the recommendations, with over $70 million committed to support implementation.

A key outcome of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s Respect@Work inquiry is the Respect@Work Council, responsible for developing practical employer resources to prevent and address workplace sexual harrassment. Last year’s Women’s Budget Statement provided $6 million to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to support its work with the Respect@Work Council.

Australia’s Parliament House and parliamentary workplaces should be exemplars of workplace practice and culture. Sadly, they’ve been shown to fall short and significant work is underway to change the culture and set new standards following the Foster and Jenkins reviews.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

4. Strengthening women’s economic security

As part of this year’s Women’s Budget Statement, the Coalition invested $482 million to support women’s economic security, further remove barriers to women’s workforce participation and support women in leadership.

Our Enhanced Paid Parental Leave was a signature measure: empowering women and families with more choice and flexibility to make their own decisions on how to manage their work and care responsibilities to suit the family.

The new household income eligibility test of $350,000 (in addition to the existing primary carer income test of $151,350) will ensure more families are eligible for Paid Parental Leave.

This will particularly support women who are the primary earner and do not currently have access to employer funded parental leave. This is important because the number of women with a taxable income of more than $150,000 more than doubled from 2010-11 to 2017-18. At least 2,200 previously ineligible families will now gain access to Paid Parental Leave.

For the first time, both parents will be able to access paid leave from their employer as well as the Government Paid Parental Leave scheme for the combined 20 weeks, providing further incentive for more dads and partners to take parental leave. This increased flexibility will benefit close to 120,000 families, while 9,000 single parent households will benefit from an additional two weeks.

The Coalition Government will also expand the support available to single parent families through the Home Guarantee Scheme. Single parents and their kids deserve the security of home ownership, but these families face even greater challenges saving a deposit. More than 2,200 single parent families have so far bought a home using the scheme, with 85 per cent of them single mums.

Narrowing the gender pay gap requires an effort right across society. In this year’s Budget, further Women’s Economic Security measures included wrap-around support for women starting in higher-paying trade occupations, and more support for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency to implement recommendations of the review into the WGE Act.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

  • invest $346.1 million to enhance the paid parental leave scheme, empowering families to make their own choices on how best to manage their work and family responsibilities and ensuring more mothers, fathers and particularly single mothers benefit from the full 20 weeks on offer.
  • boost the number of women in non-traditional trades through a $38.6 million initiative to provide wrap-around support, including mentoring, for women who start in higher-paying trade occupations on the Australian Apprenticeship Priority List.
  • continue to resource and bolster the Workplace Gender Equality Agency including $18.5 million to boost their work with governments and employers to reduce the gender pay gap, as well as implement recommendations from our Review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act.
  • expand home ownership opportunities for single parent families by increasing the number of low deposit guarantees for single parent families to buy a home (with as little as 2 per cent deposit) to 5,000 each financial year. This is part of our expansion of the Family Home Guarantee under the Home Guarantee Scheme.
  • continue to create an economy that drives down the gender pay gap and grows women’s workforce participation
5. Women’s Health

The health of Australian women and girls is important to overall wellbeing and the ability to realise their full potential. Our Women’s Budget Statement invested $330.6 million to support the maternal, sexual and reproductive health of Australian women and girls.

A range of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) services are already subsidised through Medicare to support couples with fertility issues. In 2020-21, around 50,000 women received Medicare-funded ART services, most commonly through IVF procedures. In the last financial year alone, Medicare paid a total of $324.4 million in benefits.

However, costs associated with the storage of eggs, sperm or embryos are not currently subsidised through the MBS.

Starting 1 November 2022, the Coalition will commit $14.4 million to help support Australians who have cancer or genetic diseases and conditions with the cost of storage for an average period of five years.

To support new parents, the Coalition is also providing $9.5 million to streamline access to information and services, from during the pregnancy planning stage to their child’s first birthday. We will expand the Birth of a Child Life Event Service, currently operating as a pilot in the ACT, which aims to simplify the newborn enrolment process for Medicare and Centrelink Family Assistance payments. This funding will also streamline the birth registration process in state or territory Births, Deaths and Marriages agencies.

A further $4.2 million will support improvements to the current clinical pregnancy care guidelines, develop and implement postnatal guidelines and improve advice to government on improving maternity services for rural families.

A re-elected Morrison Government will provide $25.7 million to the Gidget Foundation to establish 20 new perinatal mental health and wellbeing services over the next four years, with at least one new service to be established in every state and territory. New and expectant mums and dads experiencing perinatal depression and anxiety will have access to free mental health support, including psychological counselling. The service will complement the existing 23 Gidget Houses in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.

One in nine Australian women are affected by endometriosis. Too often, they do not know they have the condition until it is too late to prevent impacts on their fertility. In this year’s Women’s Budget Statement, we invested $58 million for early diagnosis, access to informative resources and guidance for doctors on best treatment plans.

We also provided funding for breast and cervical cancer screening. Women who missed or delayed breast screening because of COVID‑19 can catch up through a $9.7 million surge in capacity for BreastScreen Australia.

A re-elected Coalition Government will:

  • invest $14.4 million to subsidise the cost of storage of eggs, sperm or embryos for an average period of five years for women with cancer and people at risk of passing on genetic diseases or conditions who have already undergone Medicare-funded genetic testing.
  • invest $9.5 million to streamline access to information and services to support new parents from during the pregnancy planning stage until the baby is 12 months old.
  • invest $4.2 million to update and transform the existing clinical pregnancy care guidelines into “living guidelines”, develop and implement postnatal guidelines and for the new position of Senior Midwifery Adviser to advise the government on improving maternity services for rural families.
  • provide $25.7 million for the Gidget Foundation to establish 20 new perinatal mental health and wellbeing services over the next four years, with at least one new service to be established in every state and territory.
  • provide $58.3 million in additional support for early diagnosis and management of endometriosis.
  • invest $18.8 million towards our target of reducing the rate of stillbirths by 20 per cent by 2025. A scholarship program will encourage more pathologists to train in perinatal pathology.
  • establish a National Women’s Health Advisory Council to support the implementation of the National Women’s Health Strategy 2020–2030.


Our Record

The Coalition has listened to the concerns of women and girls across the country.

Since its formation in April 2021, our Cabinet Taskforce on Women’s Safety and Economic Security has focused on these concerns in two successive Women’s Budget Statements, with a $5.5 billion investment.

We are also proud to have exceeded our target of 50 per cent female representation on Australian Government boards. Women currently make up 50.2 per cent of these important positions, up from 41.7 per cent in 2013.

With eight women Ministers, our Government also has the record highest female representation in Cabinet.

Whether it’s government boards or federal Cabinet, women will continue to play a strong role in the decisions of the Morrison Government.

Record women’s workforce participation
  • There are 1.1 million more women in work today than in 2013 when Labor was in government.
  • In August 2021, there were 815,600 female business operators, up from 647,000 in 2013.
  • In March 2022, women’s workforce participation was still around record highs at 62.2 per cent, compared to 58.7 per cent under Labor. Under our Government, women’s workforce participation hit a record high of 62.4 per cent in February 2022.
  • The Gender Pay Gap fell to a record low of 13.4 per cent in November 2020 and while currently at 13.8 per cent, the Gender Pay Gap under our Government is significantly lower than the 17.4 per cent we inherited from Labor.
  • If today’s gender pay gap was as high as when Labor left office, women would be almost $70 worse off every week.
  • 170,935 women are enrolled in JobTrainer. That’s 55 per cent of all enrolments.
  • The Coalition has provided over $86 million to support 53,000 women and girls to improve their employment and leadership opportunities through the Women’s Leadership and Development Program.
Record funding for women’s safety
  • Since the Coalition's 2013 election, we have invested around $3.5 billion in women’s safety initiatives.
  • This includes $390 million across two National Partnership Agreements with state and territory governments to help address demand for frontline services throughout the pandemic.
  • This funding also includes over $400 million for the Escaping Violence Payment, providing up to $5,000 in financial assistance to establish a life free from violence, including up to $1,500 in cash.
  • Our $1.3 billion in the 2022-23 Women’s Budget Statement is the largest investment in women’s safety initiatives of any government. This means more frontline support, emergency accommodation and access to legal and health services for women and children in need.

Online safety
  • The Coalition has a strong track record on online safety. In 2015, we established a world-first eSafety Commissioner to force social media companies to remove cyberbullying material aimed at children.
  • eSafety has so far helped with around 4,000 child cyber-bullying complaints and over 70,000 items of illegal and restricted content, including child sexual abuse material.
  • More than 12,000 domestic and family violence frontline workers have done face-to-face eSafety workshops, and 1.1 million senior Australians have participated in the eSafety Commissioner’s Be Connected Program.

Supporting victims of image-based abuse
  • The Coalition has taken a strong stand against the scourge of image-based abuse, which can severely harm victims (usually young women) or be used to blackmail.
  • eSafety research shows more than 1 in 10 Australians aged 18 and over have had a nude or sexual photo or video posted online or sent on without their consent – the rate is much higher among girls 15-17 (15 per cent) and young women 18-24 (24 per cent).
  • In 2017, our Government expanded the eSafety Commissioner's role to introduce a world-first scheme to support victims of image-based abuse, with powers to issue orders to take down the material, and potentially fine the culprit.
  • The eSafety Commissioner has responded to and acted on around 9,000 complaints of image-based abuse.

Workplace Safety
  • The Coalition has either fully implemented or fully funded 43 of the 55 recommendations in the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s Respect@Work Report. Work is underway on all of the recommendations, with over $70 million committed to support implementation.
  • The Coalition has undertaken significant work to set a better standard for our parliamentary workplaces.
  • Our Government has agreed to all 10 recommendations of the Foster Review, and has implemented an independent complaints mechanism, along with dedicated support and training.
  • We are working towards implementing all 28 recommendations of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s Set the Standard report. Our progress includes key recommendations, such as the Statement of Acknowledgment, establishing the cross-party Parliamentary Leadership Taskforce, expanding the new Parliamentary Workplace Support Service by broadening the complaints and support mechanisms, as well as establishing a Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards to develop a code of conduct for parliamentarians and our workplaces.

Housing
  • Since 2020, the Coalition has committed $173 million to fund around 1,500 Safe Places projects, providing crisis and transitional accommodation for women and their children escaping violence. Once completed, we expect these places will support around 9,000 women and their children each year.
  • Since 2015, the Coalition has committed $90 million to support victim-survivors to stay safely in their homes through the Keeping Women Safe in their Homes program. This year’s Budget commitment of $54.6 million over five years will support up to 30,000 victim-survivors. This includes support for security assessments and upgrades including cameras, bug sweeps and safe phones. Where safe to do so, victim-survivors are provided with housing stability. The program also improves well-being by allowing women and children to maintain connections to their school and work.
  • The Coalition Government also expects to spend $9 billion this financial year to improve housing and homelessness outcomes. This includes $5 billion in direct Commonwealth Rent Assistance supporting over a million households, of which 69 per cent are female recipients. A further $1.6 billion a year will go to states to support housing and homelessness services through the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA). In 2021-22, $131 million will be dedicated to homelessness services, with matched funding from the states. Under the NHHA, homeless women and children affected by family and domestic violence are a priority.
  • The Coalition launched the Family Home Guarantee to help single parent families buy a home with a deposit of as little as 2 per cent. We recognise that the challenge of saving a deposit is even harder when you’re on a single income and raising children, especially if not eligible for first home buyer programs. So far more than 2,200 single parent families have bought a home using the scheme, with 85 per cent of them single
Gender equality
  • As part of the Women’s Budget Statement 2021-22, we initiated a review into the Workplace Gender Equality Act.
  • The review supports the implementation of the Respect@Work Report to prevent and address workplace sex-based harassment and discrimination.
  • Under the Act, non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees must report annually against standardised gender equality indicators.
  • In our Government’s response to the Respect@Work report, the Coalition went further by committing the Commonwealth public service to Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) reporting. This is a significant step towards a more comprehensive data set.
  • The WGEA must be effectively resourced. In 2021, we delivered an additional $6 million to strengthen its role on the Respect@Work Council. This year, we committed an extra $18.5 million to help WGEA implement recommendations from the Act review.
  • After consultation with employers, unions and women’s organisations, the Act review recommends steps to accelerate gender equality in workplaces and streamline reporting for employers. This includes further consultation on publishing organisation gender pay gaps to improve transparency and requiring large employers (500 or more employees) to set measurable gender equality targets.
  • The Government is also driving progress through its work with the National Cabinet to develop a nationally consistent reporting framework to measure progress on women’s economic security.
Backing women and families to make their own choices
  • Since the Paid Parental Leave scheme was introduced, more than 1.7 million Australians have received Parental Leave Pay and another 750,000 received Dad and Partner Pay.
  • During the pandemic, the Coalition extended the work test rules so that more women are eligible for government-funded Parental Leave Pay.
  • In this year’s Budget, we opened up more flexibility and choice through Enhanced Paid Parental Leave and expanded eligibility.

Child care support for families
  • Our child care package is fair for those who use child care. It’s also fair for those who do not, with 53 per cent of children aged five and under not in child care.
  • In July 2018, we replaced a complex system of Child Care Rebate (CCR) and Child Care Benefit (CCB) with one Child Care Subsidy.
  • The biggest reform to the child care system in over 40 years was designed to improve workforce participation.
  • Our child care system is targeted and measured, with more support for low and middle income, vulnerable and disadvantaged families.
  • Since 7 March, we are also providing support for families with more than one child aged 5 and under in child care. And the annual cap on child care subsidies has been removed, effective this financial year.
  • Together, these changes mean 250,000 families across Australia will be on average $2,260 a year better off in 2022-23.
Health
  • The Coalition provided over $350 million for women's health in the 2021-22 Budget and $330.6 million in 2022-23.
  • Listing Trodelvy® for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer, saving an average 580 patients each year $80,000 per treatment course.
  • Listing Kisqali on the PBS to support 1,600 patients battling breast cancer, saving patients $50,000 per treatment.
  • Listing Oripro on the PBS to prevent women from entering premature labour, saving 14,250 women up to $300 per course of treatment.
  • Implemented two days paid miscarriage leave for miscarriages under 20 weeks.
  • $34 million to support the National Stillbirth Action Plan.
  • Improvements to cervical and breast cancer screening programs, including $9.7 million for short term surge capacity for BreastScreen Australia in the 2022-23 Women’s Budget Statement.
  • Providing a record $58 million to support women living with endometriosis.


The Risk of Labor

Labor has no economic plan.

Labor can’t manage money, which is why they have argued for higher taxes, including on families.

Labor can’t manage money, which is why they couldn’t list life-changing medications on the PBS last time they were in government.

Labor’s $63 billion plan to provide child care subsidies to millionaires would leave taxpayers with a massive burden.

Labor’s gender pay gap was 17.4 per cent, far higher than 13.8 per cent now. Labor’s gap today would have left women almost $70 worse off a week.

Women’s workforce participation under Labor was 58.7 per cent. Under the Coalition, it’s62.2 per cent.

Only a strong economy under the Coalition provides record spending in women’s safety, economic security and health.

In uncertain times, Australia can’t risk Labor.


COALITION

LABOR

Women’s Workforce Participation
62.2% in March 2022, following a record high 62.4% in February 2022

Women’s Workforce Participation
58.7% in September 2013

Gender Pay Gap
13.8% in November 2021

Gender Pay Gap
17.4% in November 2013

Women’s Safety Funding
More than $2.5 billion for the first five years of the next National Plan.

Women’s Safety Funding
$86 million for the first National Plan.

Jobs

Female unemployment rate is 3.7 per cent in March 2022 - the lowest in almost 50 years.

1.1 million more women in jobs since we were elected in 2013

Jobs
Female unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in September 2013 when Labor left office.

Female unemployment rose under the Labor Government from the 4.7 per cent inherited from the Howard Government in November 2007.

Child care funding
$11 billion (2022-23)

Child care funding
$5.3 billion (2012-13)

Health

Over 2,900 new and amended PBS listings since 2013, with investment of over $16.5 billion.

Health

Stopped listing medicines in 2011 because they could not manage the economy. Patients denied vital medicines for endometriosis and IVF.


Cost

As part of our Plan for Women’s Safety, Economic Security and Health, the Coalition will invest an additional $25.7 million to the Gidget Foundation to establish 20 new perinatal mental health and wellbeing services.

The Coalition’s Plan for Women’s Safety, Economic Security and Health also includes funding for previously announced election commitments.

Funding for all other policies in the Coalition’s Plan for Women’s Safety, Economic Security and Health is already provided for within budget estimates.