The first 50 years of the Office for Women

2024 marks 50 years since the establishment of a centralised women’s policy function in the Australian Public Service – what is now known as the Office for Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Office for Women continues to play an important role in driving the Australian Government’s ambition for women and gender equality, building on the work and achievements of the past.

This timeline provides a brief overview of some of the key achievements of the Office for Women and its major milestones in the journey towards gender equality over the last 50 years.

The first 10 years: 1974 to 1983

In the late 1960s, feminism in Australia focused on women’s liberation and general human rights for all. Women were challenging traditional gender roles, calling out sexism, and urging for social transformation. By 1972, many women wanted change, and were looking to the government for action. The establishment of the Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) in 1972 brought the demands of the women’s movement to government – with calls for childcare, equal pay and equal opportunity, no-fault divorce and reproductive freedom.1 It was at that time that the Hon Gough Whitlam AC QC was elected Prime Minister and made a decision to appoint a women’s advisor to his office. On 8 April 1973, Elizabeth Reid was appointed Women’s Advisor to the Prime Minister, making Australia the first government in the world to appoint such a position.2

1974
  • Establishment of the Women’s Affairs Section within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), with four staff led by Sara Dowse providing support to the Prime Minister’s Women’s Adviser, Elizabeth Reid.
1975
  • It is decided that the role of the Women’s Advisor is best placed within the public service, rather than the Prime Minister’s office. The Women’s Affairs Section is expanded to become the Women’s Affairs Branch in PM&C.
1976
  • August 1976: 1976-77 Commonwealth Budget (PDF 19 MB) includes funding for long-day care,3 an achievement in childcare reform advocated for by the Women’s Advisor. This paved the way for further childcare funding in the future.
1977
  • The Women’s Affairs Branch in PM&C is renamed the Office of Women’s Affairs.
  • December 1977: The Office of Women’s Affairs is moved from PM&C to the newly created Department of Home Affairs.
1978
  • September 1978: Opening of the Office of Women’s Affairs’ Women’s Shopfront in Canberra. The Shopfront provided information on government policies, programs and services. It also acted as a collection point for women’s views and ideas about the relevance and effectiveness of such policies. Family law, social security payments, housing and discrimination were the most commonly raised issues by women calling the Shopfront.
1983
  • The Office of Women’s Affairs is renamed the Office of the Status of Women.
  • The Prime Minister makes a number of women’s policy commitments, including that the Office of the Status of Women moves back to PM&C.
  • Australia ratifies the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This emphasised Australia’s commitment to promoting policies, laws, organisations, structures and attitudes that ensure women are guaranteed the same rights as men.
  • August 1983: The Aboriginal Women’s Task Force is established in the Office for the Status of Women, after years of advocacy and external pressure to ensure Aboriginal women can have a say in their future. The two person task force undertake the first Australia-wide consultation with Aboriginal women across 200 communities, resulting in the landmark Women’s Business report published in 1986.

1984 to 1993

The 1980s saw an acceleration in government efforts towards gender equality in Australia. Women’s rights organisations were advocating for reproductive rights, equal pay and for an end to workplace discrimination. Australia continued to take an active role in raising the status of women, both domestically and internationally. Australia became the first country in the world to introduce gender responsive budgeting and set out an ambitious agenda for women moving towards the year 2000.

1984
  • In a world first, Australia introduces the Women’s Budget Program to Parliament – a document, published on Budget night, outlining the impact of measures on women.4 This process required departments to think about policy in terms of gender and consider, for example, how decisions about tariffs, industrial relations, taxation and industry policy might have different effects on women due to their different role in the workforce and the family.
  • The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 becomes law, helping to ensure that Australian women have the same access to jobs, services and accommodation as men. It also makes sexual harassment illegal for the first time in Australia.5 These reforms had been a key focus for the Office for the Status of Women in the preceding years.
  • The Hon Elizabeth Evatt AC was the first Australian elected to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), and held the position of Chair of the CEDAW Committee from 1989-1990. The CEDAW Committee is a body of 23 independent experts on women’s rights from around the world, who monitor the progress of UN member states’ efforts to meet obligations under CEDAW.
1986
1987
  • The Association of Non-English Speaking Background Women of Australia (ANESBWA) is established, following a national meeting funded as part of the National Agenda for Women to address issues facing women from non-English speaking backgrounds. ANESBWA aimed to promote access and equity for culturally and linguistically diverse women, providing a forum for women to represent their priorities and experiences, without relying on organisations that were otherwise led by men.
1988
1993

1994 to 2003

The third decade of the Office of the Status of Women was marked by ongoing work towards gender equality. Feminism in the 1990s increased focus on diversity and inclusion, as it coincided with movements for the rights of other marginalised groups including migrants and refugees (especially those from non-English speaking backgrounds), Indigenous people, lesbians and gay men.

1994
  • The Women’s Statistics Unit is created within the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This was a joint venture between the ABS and the Office for the Status of Women.
1995
1997
  • November 1997: The Prime Minister, the Hon John Howard OM AC SSI, convenes the National Domestic Violence Summit, a Heads of Government meeting, where the Office for the Status of Women provides organisational support. The Prime Minister announces the Partnerships Against Domestic Violence initiative, to bring together Commonwealth and State and Territory leaders for a three-year collaborative effort to test innovative approaches to domestic violence prevention. This was serviced by the Office for the Status of Women.6
1999
  • The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 becomes law (replacing the Affirmative Act 1986), to promote women’s participation in the workforce and require employers to develop strategies to prevent discrimination. The Act required employers to identify their own gender and equal opportunity concerns and develop actions to address issues identified.7
2000
  • Child Care Benefit is introduced, subsidising the cost of child care for eligible families. This was supplemented with the Child Care Rebate in 2004.8
2001
  • May 2001: The Women’s Development Programme is established in the 2001-02 Budget to fund research, and support women’s contributions to policy development.
  • A Wealth of Women, by historian Alison Alexander, is released. Commissioned by the Office for the Status of Women with funding from the National Council for the Centenary of Federation, this book tells the stories of the lives of Australian women since 1788, based off the many stories sent to the Office for the Status of Women.

2004 to 2013

The fourth decade of the Office for Women built on the momentum of third wave feminism. There was an increased focus on domestic violence and sexual harassment with the release of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. This period also saw a focus on women’s leadership, the gender pay gap and economic equality. In 2010, Paid Parental Leave was introduced, and Australia elected its first female Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard AC. The Workplace Gender Equality Act came into law in 2012.

2004
  • October 2004: The Office for the Status of Women is moved from PM&C to the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and renamed the Office for Women. Around this time, changes to Budget processes resulted in departments no longer being required to provide gendered impact assessments of their policies.9
2005
  • The Women’s Development Programme is expanded to the Women’s Leadership and Development Program to support a range of projects for women focused on improving the economic security, employment, leadership and safety outcomes for women in Australia.
2009
2010
  • March 2010: The National Women’s Alliances (NWA) are established to create a better, more informed and representative dialogue between women and the Government. They provide advice and engage with the Government around gender-based violence, women’s economic equality and leadership and the needs and experiences of First Nations women, migrant, refugee and culturally and linguistically diverse women, women living in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia and women with disability. The NWA continues today.
  • The Paid Parental Leave Act 2010 becomes law, enabling eligible primary carers to receive 18 weeks of paid parental leave at the national minimum wage.
2012
  • The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 becomes law (replacing the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999), providing a fundamental shift to the way Australia approaches gender equality in the workplace. The Act introduces a standardised reporting framework that enables comparison across employers against Gender Equality Indicators.
2013
  • The Office for Women moves back to PM&C.

2014 to 2024

More recently, efforts to advance gender equality have gained momentum, alongside international and national conversations about violence against women and respect in the workplace. In Australia, various public cases of domestic violence have sparked national conversations and action. In 2015, Rosie Batty AO was made Australian of the Year, putting domestic violence on the national stage, and in 2017, the growing momentum from the #MeToo movement sparked a global conversation on sexual harassment and assault. In 2021, Australians all over the country took part in March4Justice protests, demanding solidarity and change. As it has been throughout its history, public discourse, events and new technologies continue to inform and shape Government priorities and the work of the Office for Women.

2014
  • The Workplace Gender Equality Agency releases its first, world-leading, comprehensive dataset. The dataset covered over one-third (4 million) Australian employees and provided a benchmark for tracking progress of workplace gender equality.10
2018
  • The first Women’s Economic Security Statement is published, led by the Office for Women. The Statement focused on achieving progress in three priority areas: workforce participation, earning potential, and economic independence.
2019
  • 1 January 2019: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is removed from ‘feminine hygiene products’, following unanimous agreement between the Commonwealth and state and territory Treasurers on 3 October 2018. GST had been applied to these products since its introduction in 2000.11
2020
  • March 2020: The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) establishes the Women’s Safety Council, a forum for Commonwealth, state and territory governments to jointly drive national progress in reducing violence against women and their children, with secretariat led by the Office for Women.12
  • With support from OFW on the election campaign, Ms Natasha Stott Despoja AO became the second Australian elected to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), following 30-years with no Australian representation on CEDAW after Hon Elizabeth Evatt AC’s term ended in 199013.
2022
2023
  • February 2023: The Fair Work Act 2009 is amended, to introduce an entitlement to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave, helping ensure women don’t have to choose between their work and their safety.
  • March 2023: Supported by the Office for Women, Senator the Hon Malarndirri McCarthy leads the Australian Delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women - the was the first time the delegation was led by a First Nations woman.
  • March 2023: National Cabinet establishes the Women and Women’s Safety Ministerial Council under renewed federal relations structures, which is supported by a secretariat in the Office for Women. The Council brings together the Commonwealth, state and territory Ministers for Women and similar Ministers with portfolio responsibility for women, families and/or the prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence, to continue to drive national progress on gender equality and women’s safety in Australia.
  • March 2023: On International Women’s Day, the Office for Women publishes the first Status of Women Report Card, which becomes an annual publication.
2024
  • 7 March 2024: Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality is published. Developed by the Office for Women, this is Australia’s first national gender equality strategy. The Strategy outlines where the government will focus its efforts over the next decade to achieve its vision – an Australia where people are safe, treated with respect, have choices and have access to resources and equal outcomes no matter their gender.
  • March 2024: The Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Act 2024 becomes law, expanding the Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme weeks to 26 weeks by July 2026.16 In October 2024, this is followed by the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Act 2024 becoming law, to enable superannuation contributions on PPL. This brought PPL in line with other workplace entitlements.17
  • June 2024: The Office for Women ran the re-election campaign for Ms Natasha Stott Despoja AO. In June 2024, Ms Stott Despoja was re-elected to CEDAW for the period 2025-2028.18
  • 23 August 2024: The Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches report, Unlocking the Prevention Potential: Accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence, is released. The report provides independent advice on opportunities to expand and strengthen prevention efforts across all forms of violence against women and children, including a particular focus on preventing homicides.
  • 6 September 2024: National Cabinet meets in Canberra to agree practical steps to accelerate action to end gender-based violence. Announcing a comprehensive $4.7 billion funding package, First Ministers agreed ending the national crisis of gender-based violence to remain an ongoing priority for National Cabinet.19

End notes

The book ‘Working from Inside: Twenty years of the Office of the Status of Women’, published in 1994 by the Australian Government Publishing Service, provides detailed discussion of the early years of what is now known as the Office for Women. Further detail on other sources that informed this timeline are provided below.

  1. Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL), WEL History, WEL website, n.d.↩
  2. Whitlam Institute, Explainer: Elizabeth Reid and the Whitlam Government, Whitlam Institute website, 13 July 2022.↩
  3. Parliament of Australia, Budget Paper 1976-77, Australian Government, 1977, p. 43-44.↩
  4. UN Women, Explainer: What is gender-responsive budgeting?, UN Women website, 13 November 2023.↩
  5. National Museum of Australia (NMA), Defining moments: Sex Discrimination Act, NMA website, n.d.↩
  6. J Howard, Partnerships against domestic violence [media release], Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 7 November 1997.↩
  7. Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), Our story, WGEA website, n.d.↩
  8. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), Child care in Australia, DEEWR, Australian Government, August 2013.↩
  9. R Sharp and R Broomhill, A case study of gender responsive budgeting in Australia, Commonwealth Secretariat, 2013. ↩
  10. WGEA, Annual Report 2014-15, WGEA, Australian Government, 2015.↩
  11. L Cook, ‘Removing GST on feminine hygiene products’, Flagpost, 29 November 2018.↩
  12. Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee. Chapter 1: Inquiry into domestic violence with particular regard to violence against women and their children, Parliament of Australia, 2020.↩
  13. M Payne, https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/marise-payne/media-release/ms-natasha-stott-despoja-ao-elected-un-committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women [media release], 10 November 2020.↩
  14. Office for Women, Gender Responsive Budgeting: Including gender analysis in budget proposals, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website, n.d.↩
  15. K Gallagher and A Rishworth, National Plan to end violence against women and children 2022-2032 [media release], 17 October 2022.↩
  16. Department of Social Services (DSS), Paid Parental Leave scheme, DSS website, 8 July 2024.↩
  17. K Gallagher and A Rishworth, Super boost for new parents [media release], 19 September 2024.↩
  18. Office for Women, https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/international-forums/committee-elimination-discrimination-against-women/cedaw, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website, n.d↩
  19. A Albanese, Meeting of National Cabinet [medial release], 6 September 2024.↩