This article is part of our 2024-25 Federal Budget series. To view all articles, see The Price is Right: 2024-25 Budget or the bottom of this page.

A strategy for gender equality

This year, the Government launched Australia’s first national strategy with an explicit focus on achieving gender equality.

Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality (Working for Women) is the Government’s ten-year commitment to ‘shift the dial’ on gender equality. 

Reporting on the implementation of Working for Women

The Women’s Budget Statement is now a reporting mechanism for Working for Women. From this Budget onward, the Women’s Budget Statement will report on the Government’s investments to implement Working for Women.

The 2024–25 Women’s Budget Statement focuses on five priorities, which mirror the priority areas of Working for Women:

1. Gender-based violence
2. Unpaid and paid care
3. Economic equality and security
4. Health
5. Leadership, representation and decision making.

New measures announced

The Government has announced measures as part of the Federal Budget to:

• Take urgent action through the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 to address the epidemic rates of violence in Australia.
• Permanently establish ongoing financial support through the Leaving Violence Program for victim-survivors leaving a violent intimate partner relationship.
• Increase funding to assist women and children fleeing domestic violence with crisis and transitional accommodation.
• Provide cost-of-living relief to all women taxpayers and reduce disincentives to their workforce participation via the legislated tax cuts.
• Deliver additional energy bill relief and increase the maximum rates of Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
• Invest in women’s health to address the higher health costs faced by women, while ensuring greater choice, access and support.
• Reform the HELP debt indexation and introduce a new Commonwealth Prac Payment.
• Introduce a superannuation guarantee equivalent payment on Government-funded Paid Parental Leave from 1 July 2025.
• Provide funding towards wage increases for aged care workers and early childhood educators.
• Introduce the Building Women’s Careers program that will boost women’s participation in construction, clean energy and advanced manufacturing industries, and technology and digital sectors (as part of the Future Made in Australia initiative to reduce industry gender segregation).
  

If you have any questions about any of these initiatives, please email us or phone our team on 02 9899 3044.