Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to bring to the House the critical role that women perform in advancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Disappointingly, the evidence confirms women are underrepresented in these critical disciplines. Researcher Kelly Roberts noted in her 2014 report to the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute that the proportion of Australian women in education and employment in fields of mathematics, computing and engineering is particularly low. She observes that 'Only 28 per cent of employed STEM-qualified Australian workforce aged 15 and over were female in 2011,' with this figure as low as 15 per cent in engineering. She goes on to say that in the very same year '33 per cent of tertiary qualifications were awarded to Australian women in STEM fields.' If the Australian economy is to transition into a smart economy, and one that advances and works in advanced manufacturing of goods and technology, we need all Australians to possess world-leading STEM skills. Frankly, it is unacceptable for women to be left behind, despite the chronic under-representation of women at the forefront of pivotal scientific breakthroughs.

In an opinion piece published last Wednesday in The Australian, the Chair of Universities Australia and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney, Professor Barney Glover, highlighted the importance to the national interest of the work being undertaken by quantum physicist Michelle Simmons. He says:

Simmons, a professor at the University of NSW, recently added the CSIRO Eureka Prize … to her impressive list of accolades. Yesterday—

on 6 October—

her team, including Andrew Dzurak, announced a profound advance: they have cleared the final hurdle in making a silicon quantum computer, bringing the promise of unbelievable processing speeds much closer.

He went on to note:

This game-changing discovery places Australia at the front of the international race to make quantum computing a reality.

This is exciting news. Professor Glover's observations illustrate how women in Australia are leading the world in pivotal STEM advances. The achievement of women in STEM fields emphasises the profound importance of addressing this important challenge at the national and regional level.

In my electorate of Lindsay, I am proud to inform parliament that the University of Western Sydney is taking steps to redress the STEM decline amongst women in a meaningful and generationally impactful way. Under the direction of Professor Barney Glover, the university has developed and fully costed detailed plans for the Western Sydney Science Centre. Drawing on the best practice internationally and domestic examples, the university is seeking $21.3 million in government support to create the centre and to refurbish a 6,000-square metre facility on its Penrith campus. Once completed in 2017, the Western Sydney Science Centre will provide highly educational, fully immersive, hands-on STEM experience for early childhood development and for school-aged children, as well as pivotal professional development and resources for teachers and professionals alike. The centre will focus in particular on engaging with young women, Indigenous people and socially disadvantaged people who may not have had access to such a quality education.

Western Sydney will be home to Australian innovation. I would like to commend the vision of the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, which will be creating the first STEM school in Australia, which will be part of the Sydney Science Park at Luddenham, a facility that will have 12,200 high-skilled jobs in places like biopharmaceuticals and advanced manufacturing, and 10,000 research positions. The exciting thing that the Catholic diocese is working towards is having from pre-K through to primary school, high school, university and postgraduate qualifications instead. This will all form part of an innovation corridor.

I am proud to talk on this motion, I am proud of the direction that Western Sydney is taking and I am proud to be part of a government that is providing the infrastructure that will provide the education to the people of Western Sydney.

Debate adjourned.

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