Next month there will be Local Government elections in Queensland and later in the year the New South Wales and the Victorian Councils will go to the polls as well. In FOCUS last month the president of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA) Councillor Coral Ross wrote on the issue of gender equality and named it a priority.
With the whole eastern seaboard electing new councillors this year, it is timely to turn our attention towards equality on councils. In 2015 Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, spent countless hours shinning a spotlight onto women. Likewise, the new Australian of the Year for 2016, David Morrison, is a former army chief known for saying to the troops to ‘get out of the military if you can’t treat women
as equals’.
The Federal Government and the opposition are looking to add more women to their numbers, as is the Victorian State Government.
It is time that the tier of government closest to the people pushed to gain more female representation on councils; the Municipal Association of Victoria has been championing this for some years.
Those women currently in council need to promote and support other women to become involved. They need to continue in their role, and if re-elected encourage others in their community to step up and play a role in the running of their council. If each female councillor managed to get one additional women on board imagine how the numbers would increase.
Each of the states has guidelines at the State Electoral Commission which are easy to follow, give it a go!
