We are currently living in a world where, sadly, violence against women is dominating the headlines, along with issues like the gender pain gap, the gender pay gap and rising levels of homelessness amongst women.
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Fifty-one per cent of Victorias six million people are women, yet women are under-represented across local government in both elected councillor and senior manager roles.
The Victorian Government Safe and Strong Gender Equality Strategy aims to deliver 50:50 representation in local government by 2025, and it would appear that there has never been a more critical time to have fair representation.
The outcome of the 2024 local government elections in October this year will determine whether this goal is reached.
The Victorian Local Governments Women's Charter recognises that councils are in a unique position to contribute to the global goal of gender equity. The Charter aims to increase women's participation in the key decision-making forums and articulates principles of gender equity, diversity and active citizenship.
When there is diversity in decision-making bodies, better decisions are made. It is vital that councils reflect all the people they serve and, as a woman, I am certainly keen to see that the council includes representatives that understand issues relevant to me and mine.
The first Victorian female councillor, Mary Rogers, was elected to Richmond City Council in 1920. In the intervening 100 years there has been slow progress toward parity, culminating at the 2020 local government elections where women councillors made up 44 per cent of elected representatives.
It is a great testament to Victoria that it leads the nation in gender diversity in local government and heartening to see some positive strides forward, even though it has taken a century to get here. This progress stems from a long history of support and targeted funding in Victoria and, while that should be celebrated, we do need to recognise that there is more work to be done.
In the women's health sector, we often use the term driving gender equity, reflecting that change doesn't just happen on its own; it does require intent and action. I recently had the pleasure of seeing a presentation by Ruth McGowan OAM about an initiative to drive towards the 2025 goal of gender parity in local government.
Ruth is a former mayor at Baw Baw Shire Council and author of Get Elected - a step-by-step campaign guide to winning public office. She is one of seven community-focused women who established an informal network to advance equality in local government. This group, called 1000 women standing, also includes Ashleigh Vandenberg, Jenny Wills, Leonie Morgan AM, Linda Bennett, Seema Abdullah and Sandra Wilson.
The group are working collaboratively with local and state governments, peak organisations, community groups and interested women and men to support women to stand in local elections.
The goal is to see 1000 women standing for the local council election in October 2024. Ruth McGowan says that when we have more women in council chambers, it results in better council decisions for all of us.
This is because of the diversity of lived experiences that women bring to the table to inform council decision-making.
Whether it is through the knowledge they bring from their professional lives, understanding of services because of their caring responsibilities or knowing what can be done to better support volunteers, women councillors are able to contribute their unique wisdom and experiences about how to improve their local community.
Why 1000? Approximately 650 councillors, from across 79 councils across Victoria, will be elected in 2024. To achieve gender parity 325 of these councillors must be women. Historically, one out of every three women candidates are elected, so an estimated 1000 women candidates need to stand for election to achieve the 50:50 goal.
The 2020 election results demonstrated progress, but there were still worrying gaps in gender equity. Across Victoria, one-in-seven wards fielded no women candidates, and eight councils elected only one woman. The election also resulted in one all-male council (Mansfield). This shows that we cannot assume that once a council achieves progress towards gender parity, this will be sustained or improved at the next election.
What is stopping women from standing? The perennial puzzle of balancing family responsibilities and employment, along with the obligations that come with leadership, means that nominating or election is often complex for women. This is particularly acute for younger women, the missing cohort in local government. Addressing structural and cultural issues within local government, particularly matters of childcare, councillor conduct, and culture, is vital to attracting and retaining more women candidates.
Most disappointingly, some women opt out of standing due to fear and concerns about abuse, online trolling and harassment, and these fears are not unfounded. International research shows that women in politics and female candidates receive an overwhelming amount of online abuse, harassment, and gendered defamation via social media platforms, often up to ten times that of male candidates in the same race.
It takes some guts, stamina, and considerable personal resilience to persist in what is effectively an unfair playing field. This gendered harassment has led to eligible and capable women choosing not to stand, and in some cases, to the withdrawal of candidates before the election process is complete.
There is, however, some good news for women in local politics. When women do stand for council, it appears that our communities are keen to elect them. In fact, women have as much or more chance of getting elected as men, with one-in-three women candidates being elected in 2020 compared to one-in-four males.
Seema Abdullah, of the 1000 women standing movement, is currently a councillor and a project management professional. She has held the roles of board director, chair, former mayor, and deputy mayor and is the first woman of ethnic origin, and a first-generation Pakistani Muslim woman elected to the Greater Shepparton City Council. I strongly advocate for women (including migrant women and others) to pursue councillor roles on their local councils.
Their inclusion enriches the governing structure with a variety of perspectives, leadership approaches, and ensures a more balanced gender and diversity representation. This diversity leads to positive outcomes on personal, organisational, and societal levels.
Local government is often a training ground for politicians in other levels of politics, and so greater diversity at the local level can act as a stepping stone to increased representation at state and evennational levels.
There are currently three women councillors (of seven) on Warrnambool City Council, and one woman councillor (also of seven) on Moyne Shire Council. With this in mind, I see tremendous value in being active across our communities to encourage and support women to stand and to serve as councillors.
So, what action can we take to drive equity in our local councils? Obviously, we all have our vote, an important and powerful tool to be sure, but only fully effective if we have relevant candidates to vote for.
We can all probably identify women who would make great councillors. Some may be toying with the idea of standing; some may consider standing one day rather than today. We can encourage those women in our lives to find out more, to investigate the process, to look at the resources available. We can rally around them and support them to take that step to nominate. A little bit of support can make a world of difference in building capacity and confidence, so have that conversation.
With the local government elections looming, it would be great to see 1000 women standing come October, and maybe, just maybe, well see the 2025 gender parity goal achieved.
Jodie Hill, chief executive officer, Womens Health and Wellbeing Barwon South West
