Acting for change: Tackling the big issues for women in Tasmania
About TasCOSS TasCOSS is the peak body for the Tasmanian community services sector. Its membership comprises individuals and organisations active in the provision of community services to low-income, vulnerable and disadvantaged Tasmanians. TasCOSS represents the interests of its members and their clients to government, regulators, the media and the public. Through our advocacy and policy analysis and development, we draw attention to the causes of poverty and disadvantage and promote the adoption of effective solutions to address these issues. Phone Fax Postal Web
03 6231 0755 03 6223 6136 PO Box 1126 Sandy Bay Tasmania 7006 www.tascoss.org.au
Authorised by Kym Goodes, CEO For inquiries Kath McLean Social Policy & Research kath@tascoss.org.au
This paper was prepared for TasCOSS by Morven Andrews, June 2016.
Contents Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 5 Economic security ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Participation in employment ........................................................................................................................ 9 Pay equity ................................................................................................................................................... 11 Child care and other caring roles ............................................................................................................... 13 Women in retirement................................................................................................................................. 15 Affordable and secure housing .................................................................................................................. 19 Education and training ............................................................................................................................... 21 Safety and violence .................................................................................................................................... 23 Health and wellbeing.................................................................................................................................. 25
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Introduction As women in Tasmania, we face some seemingly intractable issues but it is quite within the power of all of us, individually and together, to act for change. This paper provides some facts and figures about these big issues, references to guide you to further information, and ideas for taking action. These ideas pull together some of the collective wisdom of Tasmanian women.
Key issues Women in Tasmania have much less economic security than men. They receive less pay and are more likely to live in poverty. There are wide disparities – some women are doing it much tougher than others. Women are less likely to be in leadership roles. Affordable and secure housing is out of the reach of some women. Many girls are not progressing through the educational system. Family violence is a big issue for many women. Women have different health issues to men; many are strongly linked to social and economic circumstances. No Tasmanian woman should face an insecure retirement because of her gender. Many of the ideas for action are directed at governments – federal, state and local. Our governments have the resources but we have the power and the responsibility to ensure our voices are heard. This is the start of a process. How we can progress some of these ideas and get the commitment and resources needed to implement them is the next step. Any discussion of women’s issues should not lead to arguments of women versus men. There is ample evidence that improving the lives of women and girls means overall gains for all.
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Among Tasmanian women, there are certain groups that are consistently ‘doing it tough’. These include women and girls who: • live in rural and remote areas • have disabilities • are Aboriginal • live in low income communities • are on pensions and benefits, and • are refugees or new arrivals and speak languages other than English. Some of the issues facing these women are touched on in this paper but it is by no means a comprehensive analysis.
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Economic security Women in Tasmania have much less economic security than men. Economic security is fundamental to women’s wellbeing. The ability to be able to afford the basics in life and not just survive affects all aspects of women’s lives. Barriers to women’s economic security are deep seated in our Australian culture and in work structures that favour continuous, full time employment and place lesser value on ‘women’s work’. The gendered nature of career choices and caring responsibilities work against women’s economic potential and the gender pay gap is evidence of entrenched inequities. Many Tasmanian women (more so than men) are anxious about the cost of living, with low income earners being the most anxious. High levels of anxiety are also reported by divorced people, single person households, people with children and those who were not employed. 1 Inability to fund their retirement is a particular concern for many women both in Tasmania and across Australia. Some Tasmania women are living in poverty. Women are more likely to experience poverty than men, and Tasmanian women are more likely to experience poverty than women in other parts of Australia. Gender based bias regarding income intersects with other factors such as locality or disability to increase the chance of women experiencing poverty. •
In 2011, 14.7% of Australian women experienced poverty (earned less than 50 per cent of median income) compared with 13% of men. 2
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In 2011, 15.1% of Tasmanians experienced poverty compared with a national average of 13.9%. 3
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The risk of poverty increases to 16% outside of Hobart, which is the highest risk of any Australian state or territory. 4
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The risk of poverty also increases for people born outside of Australia with languages other than English, for sole parents, for women with disabilities, for Aboriginal women, and for people dependent on government allowances. 5
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The pay gap and other barriers to accumulating wealth mean that women are more likely than men to experience poverty in retirement. Single women are more likely than partnered women to experience persistent poverty during their retirement. 6
NAB Behavioural & Industry Economics, 2016. NAB Consumer Behaviour Survey: Q1 2016. Summary Report. http://business.nab.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Consumer-Behaviour-Survey-Q1-2016.pdf 2 Australian Council of Social Service, 2014. Poverty in Australia 2014. Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW, p 17. 3 Ibid. p 29. 4 Ibid. p 29. 5 Ibid. p 10. 6 Australian Human Rights Commission, 2009. Accumulating poverty? Women’s experiences of inequality over the lifecycle. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/accumulating_poverty.pdf. p 3. 1
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Participation in employment Women and men experience work very differently. Women are more likely to work in lower paid roles, part time or casually, and are more likely to take breaks from employment to provide unpaid care. Increasing opportunities for women and girls in Tasmania to participate in the workforce and redressing some of the structural barriers could go a long way towards increasing economic security. Women reentering the workforce, women and girls living in rural areas and in low income communities, Aboriginal women, women with disabilities, and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, face particular barriers to employment. •
In March 2016, the overall female participation rate in employment in Tasmania was 55.3% while that for males was 64.9%. 7
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In 2015, 70.7% of Tasmanian part time workers were women, and 63% of underemployed people (people working under 35 hours per week who would like to work more) were women. 8
There is growing recognition of the importance of paid parental leave in supporting women (and men) in the workforce to maintain income and connections to the workforce when taking time out to care for children. Allowing women to combine the government’s paid parental leave payments with any employer contributions enables them to extend the amount of time they can have at home with their new children. •
Currently in Australia, employers offer an average of 11 weeks paid primary carers’ leave and eight weeks’ paid secondary carers’ leave. 9
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The current government Paid Parental Leave scheme of 18 weeks at the national minimum wage rate is well below the OECD average of 52 weeks. 10
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In Australia, about three quarters of women who had a job when pregnant, took some form of unpaid leave to care for their children. The average amount of unpaid leave taken (over and above any paid leave) was 25 weeks. 11
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The majority of people accessing the current government Paid Parental Leave scheme are low to middle income earners with incomes between $20,000 and $70,000 per year. 12
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016. Labour Force Australia, April 2016. Cat No 6262.0, ABS Canberra. Ibid. 9 Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) 2015. Australia’s gender equality scorecard. https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-15-WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf 10 Australian Government, Department of Social Services, Factsheet 10. n.d. 11 Ibid. 12 news.com.au. ‘Majority of new mums using paid parental leave scheme are low and middle income earners’ http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/majority-of-new-mums-using-paid-parental-leave-scheme-are-low-and-middleincome-earners/news-story/b4f204cdb03bcb1fa804e81d161ea131. 7 8
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Taking action
Encourage young women you know to work in non-traditional areas of work. Request employers to: •
implement flexible ‘family friendly’ work practices
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replace casual positions with permanent part time positions
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employ women with disabilities and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and
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increase cultural awareness training/provide Aboriginal cultural awareness training for staff.
Call on governments (national, state and local) to:
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support women after childbirth, older women or those with caring responsibilities to return to the workforce by providing more flexible and secure work options, affordable childcare, elder respite care, and retraining programs
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develop programs to increase aspirations of girls in rural locations and lower income areas regarding potential career paths
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develop job creation programs and social enterprise programs for women in rural and remote areas
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support women in business through mentoring and networking programs
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provide assistance to women escaping family violence to find training and employment, and
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increase Paid Parental Leave entitlements to align with other OECD countries and provide more equity of access to this support.
Pay equity Tasmanian women earn less than men. Reducing the pay gap and achieving pay equity for women is another way of increasing economic security. Some of the gender pay gap is explained by the fact that women tend to go into occupations such as community services, hospitality and retail, that are less well paid than those where men predominate. A lack of quality, flexible work options in higher paid roles limits opportunities for women to combine work and family responsibilities. •
In November 2015 there was a 12.6% pay gap between women and men in Tasmania - a difference of $174 per week or over $9,000 per year. 13
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If new male and female university graduates with the same qualifications apply for similar jobs, there is a gender pay gap of over $2,000 per year. 14
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As women get older, the pay gap widens. Australian women aged 55-64 have a much lower workforce participation rate than other comparable countries. 15
There is substantial evidence of the benefits to any organisation of having a balance of genders, particularly in decision-making roles. Organisations where there is gender equality can attract a wider field of talent with a different skills mix, reduce staff turnover, and improve productivity. 16
Redressing the gender gap Managers of DPIPWE (the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment) discovered they had a big gender gap, with few women in senior management, a predominance of women in lower paid part time positions, and a median salary gap of almost $12,000. In response to these findings DPIPWE has developed a draft Gender Equality Action Plan which it intends to implement over coming years.17
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015. Average Weekly earnings Australia, Cat No 6302, Table 11F, ABS Canberra. Graduate Careers Australia, 2014. An analysis of the gender wage gap in the Australian labour market, 2013. 15 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends, Cat 4102, Sep 2010. ABS Canberra. 16 Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 2015 ‘About workplace gender equality’ www.wgea.gov.au/learn/about-workplacegender-equality. 17 DPIPWE Gender Equality Action Plan, Draft Version 0.1, DPIPWE February 2016. 13 14
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Taking action
Call on governments to:
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restructure the workforce to reduce the gender pay gap, offer women more access to leadership opportunities, and accommodate different work patterns linked to caring responsibilities, and
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conduct gender pay gap analyses and implement gender equality action plans.
Child care and other caring roles Caring responsibilities, such as raising children and caring for other family members, are much more likely to be taken on by women than by men. Lack of affordable and flexible child care keeps many women out of the workforce. Caring responsibilities are also the reason that many women work in part time or casual employment with little job security or career pathways. Access to childcare is particularly an issue for parents in rural areas and for those who have children with disabilities. Increasing the availability of child care (Early Childhood Education and Care) services could go a long way towards helping women to stay in the workforce and increase their economic security. •
In Tasmania in 2011, 46% of working women with children aged 0-12 years used part time work arrangements to care for their children, while only 6% of men did so. 18
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Women in Tasmania comprised 61.4% of unpaid carers of people with disabilities, those with long term illness or those who were frail elderly in 2011. 19
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In 2011, there were 22,824 sole parents in Tasmania and 81.5% of these were women. Of the female parents, 55% participated in the labour force compared to 71.4% of sole male parents.20
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In Australia, 84% of women with a child under two years of age works part time. 21
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Australian women spend almost twice as much time on unpaid work around the home than men, reducing their ability to be in full time work and to progress to higher levels of pay. 22
Taking action
Encourage men and boys you know to take on a greater share of child-caring responsibilities. Request employers and educational organisations to increase onsite childcare. Call on governments to: • increase childcare affordability •
increase childcare availability, particularly in rural areas and for children with disabilities
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develop programs to change structural barriers/attitudes regarding men and child-caring, and
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ensure grandparents raising children also have access to child care subsidies.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015. Childhood education and care, Australia, Cat No 4402.0.55.003, Table 5, June 2011, ABS, Canberra. 19 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011. Census of Population and Housing, Basic community profile (Tasmania), Cat No 2001.6, Table B21, ABS, Canberra. 20 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015. Childhood education and care, Australia, Cat No 4402.0.55.003, Table 5, June 2011, ABS, Canberra. 21 ANZ 2015. ANZ Women’s Report. ANZ, n.d. http://www.women.anz.com/the-conversation/anz-womens-report. 22 Ibid. 18
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Women in retirement Australia’s retirement income system does not adequately accommodate the difference in working patterns between men and women. Structurally, it favours people who work full time and continuously over many years. Many older women face economic insecurity in retirement. The gender pay gap and wealth gap that women experience earlier in their lives, contribute to economic disparities in older years. •
Older women are more likely than older men to live in poverty. 23
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More older women (56%) than men (44%) are reliant on the Age Pension. 24
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Single Australian women are more likely than partnered women to experience persistent poverty during their retirement. 70% of single women aged 65 and over rely on the pension and 40% of all retired single women live below the poverty line. 25 26
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Ninety per cent (90%) of women will have inadequate savings to fund a comfortable lifestyle in retirement by the time they exit the labour force. 27
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Thirty-seven per cent (37%) of women report having no personal income at the age of retirement. 28
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One in five Australian women yet to retire has no superannuation. On average, women retire with only around half as much superannuation as men. 29
Taking action
Call on governments to: • look at ways to address the superannuation and gender income gap for women •
provide financial literacy training in schools and other education facilities, and
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offer financial planning and advice to young women entering the workforce and at other critical times in their lives.
Australian Council of Social Service, 2014. Poverty in Australia 2014. Social Policy Research Centre, University of NSW. Australian Government, Department of Social Services 2014. Income support customers: a statistical overview 2013. Statistical Paper No. 12, Table 5, p 6. 25 ANZ 2015. ANZ Women’s Report. ANZ, n.d. http://www.women.anz.com/the-conversation/anz-womens-report. 26 The Senate, Economics References Committee, April 2016. ‘A husband is not a retirement plan’ Achieving economic security for women in retirement. Commonwealth of Australia 2016. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid. 29 The Association of Super Funds of Australia (ASFA) 2011. ‘Developments in the level and distribution of retirement savings’. www.superannuation.asn.au/ 23 24
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Women’s representation in power structures Overwhelmingly, men hold the positions of power and influence in Australia. Women are underrepresented in the political sphere, on boards, and in senior management positions. Structural bias in the workplace and lack of flexibility in senior management roles contribute to this underrepresentation. There are a lack of part time and flexible senior roles suitable for women who need to balance work with other responsibilities. •
Even if women and men move through managerial positions at the same pace, men are likely to earn about 35% more than women. 30
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Women represent only 31% of all federal, state and territory parliamentarians. 31
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In Tasmania in March 2016, 40% of both the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council were women; 22.2% of Cabinet were women; and 31% of local government councillors were women. 32
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While 70.2% of the State Service were women in June 2015, women only comprised 23.5% of Heads of Agency and 29.7% of senior executives. 33
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In March 2016, women accounted for 37.2% of Tasmanian Government boards and committees. 34
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In June 2015 in DPIPWE (Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment) only 3 of 20 senior executive positions were occupied by women, women comprised only 27% of representatives on boards and committees, and the gender pay gap between female and male employees was 15%. 35
Increasing women’s representation in leadership would provide models for other women and help change attitudes and culture around the role of women in society. This, in turn, would increase women’s economic security. There is also evidence that organisations with more women in senior positions are more profitable. 36) The Senate, Economics References Committee, April 2016. ‘A husband is not a retirement plan’ Achieving economic security for women in retirement. Commonwealth of Australia 2016. p 8. 31 ANZ 2015. ANZ Women’s Report. ANZ, n.d. http://www.women.anz.com/the-conversation/anz-womens-report. p 120. 32 Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities Sport and Recreation, 2016. Leadership and Community Participation. Women and Girls in Tasmania. Fact Sheet 5. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 DPIPWE Gender Equality Action Plan, Draft Version 0.1, DPIPWE February 2016. http://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/Documents/DPIPWE%20Gender%20Equality%20Action%20Plan%20-%20Draft%201.0.pdf 36 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012. Women in leadership, http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features30Dec+2012. 30
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Taking action
Request employers to: • create mentoring opportunities for young women and girls, particularly those from low income communities and rural areas, and •
increase access of young women to leadership training, mentoring and networking opportunities.
Encourage community organisations to: • provide programs that support women running for local, state or federal government •
develop grassroots community leadership programs
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develop programs that help women to recognise and market their skills and experience, and
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promote the benefits of volunteering.
Call on governments to: • implement formal flexibility arrangements for management positions in government agencies and government funded organisations, and encourage similar provisions in the private sector
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progressively work towards gender balance in senior roles and implement gender equality action plans
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increase numbers of women on boards and in leadership positions, and
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recognise Tasmanian women who are leaders or emerging leaders, and promote them as role models.
Affordable and secure housing Access to affordable housing is a key aspect of women’s economic security. Lack of regular, secure employment can impact on the ability of women to secure appropriate housing. •
Those most affected by homelessness and housing crises tend to be poor or vulnerable in some way, including women and children experiencing violence. Domestic and family violence is a leading cause of homelessness in Australia. 37 38
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Sole parents in Tasmania (over 80% of whom are women) are less likely to achieve home ownership than couples, with only about 36% of sole-parenting women achieving home ownership compared with 44% of men. 39
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Women in Tasmania are less likely to be homeless than men, and more likely to be in public housing (55.6% of public housing tenants were female in 2013). 40
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Access to appropriate and affordable housing is a particular issue for women with disabilities, culturally and linguistically diverse women with large families, single parents, older women, and women exiting women’s shelters. 41
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Women with disabilities have a higher risk of violence and sexual assault than other women and a need for secure housing but their housing needs are not well met by existing services. 42
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were overrepresented among clients of Specialist Homelessness Services, accounting for 15.3% of clients in 2012-13 (and only 4% of the total population of women in Tasmania). 43
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The waiting list for public housing continues to grow (up 24% in 2014-15) and more Tasmanians are relying on the private rental sector for housing, including people with disabilities and older people. 44
Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities Sport and Recreation, 2016. Housing and Homelessness. Women and Girls in Tasmania. Fact Sheet 4. 38 Homelessness Australia. http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/index.php/42-news/68-no-excuse-4-dfv 39 Ibid. 40 Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities Sport and Recreation, 2014. Women and Girls in Tasmania Report. State of Tasmania. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 43 Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities Sport and Recreation, 2016. Housing and Homelessness. Women and Girls in Tasmania. Fact Sheet 4. 44 Department of Health and Human Services, Housing Tasmania 2015. Tasmania’s Affordable Housing Strategy 2015-2025. State of Tasmania. 37
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Almost one quarter of Tasmania’s low income households are in housing stress or crisis. Those most likely to be experiencing stress of crisis are single people, one parent families (predominantly women) and couples with children. 45
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In April 2016, only one quarter of advertised rental properties were affordable for households living on the minimum wage. 46
Taking action
Encourage community organisations to: • increase public awareness of the housing needs of different groups of women (women with disability, women escaping family violence, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and older women on low incomes) and the inadequacy of current housing assistance. Call on governments to: • undertake measures to increase housing affordability (in public and private markets) •
provide more public housing that is appropriate for women during all stages of their lives - older women, Aboriginal women, women with children, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, young women, single women, women with disabilities, and women escaping family violence
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increase safe housing options and emergency accommodation for women, particularly for those escaping family violence
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provide incentives for landlords to rent to women escaping family violence who have children and pets and provide an emergency bond program, and
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investigate the difficulties facing older people in the rental market and the adequacy of rental assistance.
Anglicare Tasmania, Social Action and Research Centre 2016. Rental Affordability Snapshot 2016, Tasmania. https://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/research-library/report/rental-affordability-snapshot-2016-tasmania. 46 Ibid. 45
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Education and training Women and girls in Tasmania achieve relatively well in most educational attainment measures in comparison to men and boys. They: • have higher NAPLAN results • have higher retention rates across years 9-12, and • are more likely to attain higher qualifications post Year 10 (in all areas except for Level III and IV Certificates). However, Tasmania ranks lowest in the country on educational status, with only 57.1% of women having completed Year 12, compared with 70% nationally. 47 Women’s educational achievements are also less likely than men’s to translate into permanent full time work and well paid jobs. Women tend to study health sciences, education, and arts-related disciplines and are less likely to go into traditional male areas of science, engineering and technology, or into traderelated areas. Tasmania also has very low levels of adult literacy. There is a strong correlation between low literacy, poor health, and low socio economic status, with more than a third of Tasmanians living on government allowances. • Almost one half of adult Tasmanians cannot read and write properly, and do not have the literacy skills to get by. 48 •
While girls scored well in school testing, adult men in Tasmania scored higher than women in terms of both literacy and numeracy in 2011-12. 49
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Literacy levels for both men and women tend to decrease as people age. 50
Taking action
Encourage men to do more child-caring. Encourage women and girls to participate in non-traditional areas of education and training. Promote lifelong learning for older women.
Save the Children Australia, 2016. State of Australia’s Mothers. https://www.savethechildren.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/143863/SOAM_report_2016.pdf 48 Department of Education Tasmania. Tasmanian Adult Literacy Action Plan https://www.education.tas.gov.au/documentcentre/Documents/Tasmanian-Adult-Literacy-Action-Plan.pdf 49 Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities Sport and Recreation, 2016. Education and Training. Women and Girls in Tasmania. Fact Sheet 2. 50 Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013. Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, Australia, 2011-12. Cat No 4228.0. ABS Canberra. 47
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Encourage community organisations to seek funding to: • provide educational information, access and assistance to newly arrived women, and those from refugee or humanitarian backgrounds •
support women who have been in family violence situations to find suitable and appropriate training (as education can provide economic security and a pathway out of family violence), and
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provide support programs for older women, women with disability, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and younger women to engage in education and training.
Call on governments to: • provide financial assistance, where necessary, to assist women on low incomes to continue or re-enter education and training
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provide more flexible and family friendly education options
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improve access to affordable, flexible child care
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support single mothers to continue their education and training
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implement strategies to increase educational engagement and retention of young women in rural areas (e.g. provide Years 11 and 12 locally, as well as transport assistance, affordable accommodation, flexible campus options and more online courses), and
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provide more programs to keep girls engaged with education, especially those with learning difficulties, with disabilities, with low literacy, on low incomes, or from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Safety and violence Feeling safe is a basic human right but we live in an increasingly violent world. Both women and men experience violence, but this experience is quite different. Women who are assaulted are most likely to be assaulted by a family member, whereas men are more often assaulted by strangers. The perpetrators of interpersonal violence against both women and men are much more likely to be male and their victims, female. Family violence and sexual assault are the major forms of violence against women, but bullying, cyber bullying and texting, verbal harassment, and stalking are all issues of concern. Women are still reluctant to report abuse. For every case that gets reported, many more are hidden behind closed doors. The extent of interpersonal violence is, at long last, getting widespread community attention in Tasmania and in the rest of Australia and there is commitment from all levels of government to do something about it. We know what the problem is. •
On average in Australia, more than one woman a week is killed by a current of former partner. 51
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From 2005 to 2015, over 80% of family violence perpetrators in Tasmania were male and almost 88% of victims were female. 52
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In 2014-15, of the 2,010 sexual assaults reported in Tasmania, 80% were perpetrated against women. By far the majority of perpetrators were known to their victims. 53
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Women with a disability are much more likely to experience violence. An estimated 90% of Australian women with an intellectual disability have been subjected to sexual abuse. 54
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In Australia, it is estimated that between 3% and 5% of older people are subjected to elder abuse each year which translates to about 3,000-4,500 Tasmanians. 55
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In Tasmania over a three-month period, 60 cases of alleged elder abuse were reported to an Elder Abuse Information, Advice and Referral Helpline run by Advocacy Tasmania – which
51 Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS). Violence against women: key statistics. http://anrows.org.au/sites/default/files/Fast%20Facts%20-%20Violence%20against%20women%20key%20statistics.pdf 52 Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities Sport and Recreation, 2016. Safety and Justice. Women and Girls in Tasmania. Fact Sheet 6. 53 Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Council on the Ageing (COTA) Tasmania, 2013. Facing the Future – A Baseline Profile on older Tasmanians. p 128.
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equates to 240 cases a year. Two thirds of the calls to the Helpline were in relation to older women. 56 And the answer? Women need services and support to live free from danger. Societal attitudes towards violence need to be changed. Community perceptions, responses and awareness of violence against women need to change. All men need to say ‘no’ to violence. Properly resourced responses to violence and services are critical to the safety of women affected. Primary prevention strategies are needed to effect whole of community attitudinal change.
Taking action
Encourage community organisations to seek funding to: • provide expanded counselling services and programs for perpetrators of family violence •
provide more information and support for young women around violence and how to report sexual assault and violent crimes
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provide appropriate support and provision of information and services for women with disabilities (and their carers) regarding asserting their rights and reporting crimes
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offer childcare support for family violence victims, and
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educate boys and men about family violence and increase their awareness of the need to change community perceptions, responses and awareness of violence against women.
Call on governments to: • give top priority and adequate resourcing to implement the ‘National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children’ and the Tasmanian ‘Safe Homes, Safe Families’ Family Violence Action Plan
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develop specific responses to the needs of women with disability, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and older women who are subjected to violence
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extend legal services for women across Tasmania
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support strong sentencing for breaches of family violence orders, and
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expand the provision of sequential ‘respectful relationships’ education in schools so all girls and boys learn about healthy relationships from a young age.
Ibid.
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Health and wellbeing Health is complex. Good health and wellbeing is intrinsically connected to economic security, education, literacy, housing, freedom from violence, and a range of other circumstances outside the control of the individual. The health status of women may also be influenced by characteristics such as ethnicity, Aboriginality, sexual orientation, disability, education, location and age. Risk factors such as smoking, nutrition, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, obesity, and psychosocial wellbeing also come into play – and these are often related both to individual behaviours and to the social determinants of health. In Australia, women follow different health trajectories than men. Women live longer but have more chronic illness and more years with a disability than men, use doctors and other health services more, and have different patterns of disease. 57 Some groups of women have worse health than others: women who are most socially and economically disadvantaged are much more likely to have long term health problems; refugee women are at greater risk of mental health disorders; women with disabilities are over-represented in institutional care; women who identify as bisexual or lesbian are more likely to experience violence and discrimination; and women living in rural and remote areas often have difficulty accessing health services. With Tasmania’s low overall socio economic status and highly regionalised population, Tasmanian women are at greater risk of poor health than women elsewhere in Australia. Some key indicators of women’s health in Tasmania are as follows: •
There is a large gap in self-reported health status between people on the highest incomes in Tasmania (51.7% rated their health as excellent or very good in 2009) and those on the lowest incomes (31% rated their health as excellent or very good). 58
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Life expectancy for women in Tasmania (82.5 years in 2011) is almost five years greater than for men, but the life expectancy gap between Tasmanian women and women in Australia as a whole is widening, possibly due to higher smoking rates in Tasmania. 59
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The Australian Health Survey found that 50.8% of Tasmanian women in the 18-34 age groups were either overweight or obese, and one in four pregnant women were obese at the time of conception. 60
57 Australian Medical Association. Position Statement on Women’s Health – 2014. https://ama.com.au/positionstatement/womens-health-2014 58 Department of Health and Human Services Tasmania, Population Health 2013. State of Public Health 2013, Available at: https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/132263/State_of_Public_Health_2013_LR.pdf p 18. 59 ibid p 3. 60 Ibid p 13.
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In 2011, 53% of people with a profound or severe disability in Tasmania were female, with this rate progressively increasing with age. 61
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Tasmania continues to have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Australia, with over 6% of women giving birth in 2011 being under 20 years of age. Eighteen percent (18%) of young women smoked during pregnancy. 62
Taking action
Encourage community organisations and health services to: • understand the links between health and other social and economic factors (the Social Determinants of Health) •
provide education for young women around risk taking behaviour, underage drinking, smoking and taking drugs
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develop programs that promote healthy eating, physical activity and healthy lifestyles and encourage positive body images for women and girls, and
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ensure ‘health literate’ (easy to understand) information is available to women to help them find and use their services, that buildings are accessible, and reception staff are helpful and respectful.
Call on governments to: • address the high cost medical services, particularly for women who cannot afford private health cover •
increase the accessibility of health services for women who have disabilities, and who are from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
•
recognise the strong interplay between social determinants of health, health behaviours and health outcomes and the need to work upstream as well as with individuals to prevent illness and promote good health and wellbeing
•
recognise violence as a key determinant of health outcomes and provide easily accessible counselling and support programs and medical treatment for victims of family violence
•
provide state level policy direction for women’s health and develop a Tasmanian women’s health plan to determine future investment strategies
•
ensure consumer representation in health policy, program and service development
•
increase support for women experiencing issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, sleeping issues and other mental illness
•
increase access to emergency contraception and make terminations of pregnancy readily accessible through the public health system
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011. Census of Population and Housing, Basic Community Profile (Tasmania), Cat No 2001.6, Table B18, ABS Canberra. 62 AIHW online statistics. http://www.aihw.gov.au/child-health/risk-factors/ 61
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•
encourage informed choice around childbirth and provide extended midwifery care
•
provide better women’s health and sexual health services and increased access in rural and remote areas
•
recruit more women doctors into the public health system, and
•
provide sequential sexual health and relationships education, including anti-violence and antibullying, in schools.
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