Alison Penfold (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the October-December 2025 period, 46 per cent of patients were T4 or T5—that's low acuity—to Manning Base Hospital, but the T2 treatments that were on time in terms of servicing were 35.1 per cent, and T3 had 39.2 per cent treatment on time. Now let me compare this to Maitland Hospital. Maitland has an urgent care clinic—in fact, it was a commitment that I made and my Liberal Party colleague in the seat of Paterson made at the last election. In comparison, at Maitland Hospital 39.6 per cent of presentations were T4 or T5, yet the T2 treatment on time was 79 per cent and T3 was 60.1 per cent. In those figures alone you can see the benefit to hospital ED when you have an urgent care clinic available for low acuity, for people that could go and see a GP if one were available.

In my prebudget submission to the government back in January, under portfolio funding priorities for health, the Taree urgent care clinic was the No. 1 priority. I talked about what redirecting suitable T4 and T5 presentations to an urgent care clinic would mean. They would relieve pressure on the ED, and we can see that from those Maitland statistics. Free ED spaces and clinician time for high acuity presentations. Reduce overall waiting times and the of patients staying greater than four hours. Reduce ambulance offload delays by clearing ED capacity and reducing bottlenecks. Improve patient experience with faster treatment for low acuity problems in an Urgent Care Clinic model and make better use of workforce nurse practitioners' GP procedural skills. They can manage many of the T4-T5 problems at lower cost than an ED. I went on to say in my pre-budget submission that redirecting even 30 to 50 per cent of those annual presentations to an urgent care clinic would remove 5,000 to 8½ thousand presentations per year from the ED. That's 13 to 23 per day on average. It would deliver notable noticeable improvements in ED capacity and wait times. That exact same language I have said in numerous letters to the minister, laying out the case for an urgent care clinic in my area.

Let me give some more context. I know 'What about Taree?' is a bit of a catchcry in the parliament, and I know many people from across the chamber now know where Taree is, but I want to give some more context for why I'm so passionate about getting this facility in my electorate. Taree has an Indigenous population of some 12.7 per cent. There are a lot of Birrbay and Warrimay people who live in the Lyne electorate, who live in and around Taree from a population of about 25,000 people across the greater Taree area. So it is not only for the broader population but also specifically for a population with a significant Aboriginal population. This is a facility that would be of significant benefit and use to them.

The other context I want to give is the state of our public hospital in Taree. I grew up in and around Taree. As I've said, I went to school in Taree. We were very proud of Manning Base Hospital, back in those days. But I looked on NSW Health's site, and they don't even call it a base hospital anymore; it's now called Manning Hospital. When we, the Nationals, were in government in the New South Wales state parliament, we put aside a significant amount of money for redevelopment at what I'm still going to call Manning Base Hospital.

Recently, there have been significant concerns in the community about the state of the redevelopment, and questions have been put to Hunter New England Local Health District about these concerns about the future of the stage 2 redevelopment, and, frankly, they have been less than forthcoming. I'll read from an article from the local paper: 'The community has waited more than five years for the promised stage 2 upgrade, but, since the administration building was demolished in July 2025, there appears to be no activity on site, and the health district has ignored questions regarding whether hospital bed numbers will be slashed from 112 to 84 and whether floors 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the existing hospital will be closed on completion.'

The Manning Great Lakes Community Health Action Group and their president, Eddie Wood—and these are experienced health professionals, who are actively fighting for health services in our area—have raised these concerns and are bitterly disappointed about the response from the New South Wales Labor government and from the local health district. I'll read what he said in this article: 'What we're actually getting after 10 years is an incomplete building that does not meet the original stage 2 plan to meet the needs of our area. It is disgusting—absolutely disgusting. We're already so short of beds, it's causing bed block.'

So I want the parliament, the government and the minister for health to understand that my impassioned plea for an urgent care clinic is not just on the basis of having a service for T4 and T5. It is in the context of the serious concerns the community has about the state of health services in Taree and the area.

Interestingly, I had a retired doctor come and speak to me only last week in the electorate. He had been a GP in the area for well over 40 years. He is now retired, but his career as a GP basically spanned a very significant part in our area. He enlightened me that, under a former coalition government, in the Howard years, we actually had an after-hours GP program that was funded, and he, in fact, had received that funding for his clinic to provide after-hours, fully-bulk-billed, no-appointment-needed care. And what he said to me, in two words, was: 'It worked'—it worked for the people of the Manning. That's from the horse's mouth—from somebody who knows the value of an urgent care clinic, not just for his own business but for the people of Taree and the Manning area. An urgent care clinic has worked in our area. We desperately need one now. And he agreed.

In fact, I met another doctor, from a clinic in Tuncurry, only last week as well, and he too is impassioned about getting an urgent care clinic for the Forster-Tuncurry area. I'm so grateful that my colleague Tanya Thompson, the member for Myall Lakes, has been successful in securing state funding for an urgent care clinic under their model for Forster-Tuncurry. So she's fighting that battle, and I'm fighting for the federal funds to come for the urgent care clinic for Taree.

I wrote to the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Mark Butler, after the announcement, prior to the budget, that there will be additional funding and they're locking in the urgent care clinic model, and I thanked the government for that commitment. But I asked him: 'Is there funding for Taree?' I can't be much clearer—I can't make the case any more clearly to him. Is the budget commitment providing funding for an urgent care clinic for Taree?

As I've said, there is not a clinic between Coffs Harbour and Newcastle. It's pretty hard for me, let alone for my constituents, to have to sit here and hear colleagues on the other side get up and say, 'We're about to get our second,' or, 'We're about to get our third urgent care clinic.' Are we not Australians? Are we not equal citizens in the eyes of this government? We're an area of low socioeconomic means, an area of great need in terms of the number of GPs we have per head of population. The case I've made in terms of the challenges that we have at Manning Base Hospital—surely, the minister cannot ignore the need on the Mid North Coast. Surely he is not so cruel as to take joy in announcing more urgent care clinics in electorates that already have them while denying one for the people of the Mid North Coast.

There are Labor members in the Lyne electorate. I think Labor got 20 per cent of the vote. What message is he sending to them? Come on, Minister, we need an urgent care clinic.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really pleased to be able to speak on the 2026-27 Women's Budget Statement, which is a statement that reflects not only a set of policies but also a vision for the kind of country we want Australia to be—that is, a country where women are safer, where women are healthier, where women are paid fairly, valued properly, and given every opportunity to participate fully in our economy and thrive in our society. We know that when women do well, Australia does well, and that is exactly why the Albanese Labor government has made gender equality a central issue to our government and a core economic priority.

As the Women's Budget Statement says, creating greater opportunity for women is central to building a stronger, more productive and more resilient nation. Labor has a proud history here. It was the Hawke Labor government that introduced the world's first Women's Budget Statement in the 1980s, and it was the Albanese Labor government that restored it in 2022, because we understand that budgets are not gender neutral. The decisions made in this chamber shape the lives of Australians differently, and good governments must recognise that reality.

We have a caucus made up of a majority of women, one that is reflective of Australia and our communities, and that's why our government introduced gender-responsive budgeting, ensuring that gender equality is considered in budget decisions and embedded at the centre of economic policy. The results are already being seen. Women's labour-force participation reached a record high in 2025. The gender pay gap has fallen to an historic low of 11.5 per cent. Women's full-time ordinary earnings have increased by more than $290 a week since May 2022. Australia's global ranking for gender equality has risen dramatically from 43rd in 2022 to 13th today.

Those outcomes did not happen by accident. Those outcomes came about through deliberate decisions, ones directly informed by women around the table in our government and in our communities. These deliberate decisions include those like cheaper child care, expanding paid parental leave, backing pay rises for aged-care workers and early childhood educators, and making gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act.

For too long women's work was undervalued. There is, of course, still a lot of work to do for real sustained equality, but it is a focus of this government, and we are determined to do what is necessary to achieve that real and sustained equality. For too long the sectors dominated by women—care, education, community services—were treated as secondary to the economy, when in reality they are foundational to it. Our government understands that care work is nation-building work. Through our government, we're finally seeing that reflected in policy and in outcomes for workers.

The Women's Budget Statement highlights the government's investments in early childhood education and care, including the continuation of cheaper childcare reforms, the Building Early Education Fund and the three-day guarantee that commenced earlier this year, saving households on average $1,490 each year. These are reforms that make an enormous difference for women balancing work and caring responsibilities and, of course, have impact on their families and their communities.

Too many women throughout history have faced impossible choices—and still do—between career progression and family responsibilities, between paid work and unpaid care and between financial security and flexibility. Our budget continues the work of breaking down those barriers and of making decisions less difficult for families. We recognise unpaid care as real work. This is work that sustains families, sustains communities and sustains the economy itself.

Housing security is also fundamental to women's equality and safety. Unfortunately, we know that it is women, particularly older women, who are one of the fastest growing groups of people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness in Australia. Our government is addressing this issue by investing in social and affordable housing, supporting renters through increased Commonwealth rent assistance and helping first home buyers into the market. For women and children escaping violence, this budget continues critical investment in crisis and transitional accommodation. No woman should have to choose between violence and homelessness.

The Women's Budget Statement rightly and clearly places gender based violence at the centre of the national conversation. It states clearly that gender equality cannot be achieved while women continue to experience violence and abuse in their homes, workplaces, communities and online. This is a truth we must face honestly, no matter how confronting. Nobody should lose their life to violence, and every woman living in fear is a failure of the systems around her. This is a system failure. She has been failed. Unfortunately, there are no simple solutions here. But, despite that, there must be determined action.

Our government has now invested more than $4.4 billion under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. This includes support through the Leaving Violence program, additional frontline workers, investment in prevention and early intervention and measures to address systems abuse and economic abuse. Importantly, this budget also supports the first standalone First Nations led national strategy to end family, domestic and sexual violence, recognising that lasting change must be community led and must be culturally informed.

The Women's Budget Statement also reflects something that many women have said for years: women's health issues have often been ignored, dismissed and certainly underfunded. We know that, for too long, women's pain has been minimised, women's conditions have been overlooked, and women's health outcomes have suffered as a result. Our government is changing that. Our landmark women's health investments continue in this budget, from cheaper contraceptives to expanded endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, menopause support, bulk-billing investments and improved access to Medicare services. These reforms matter because health care should work for women at every age and every stage of life. It also reflects the principle that women deserve to be listened to.

We know that representation matters in this place. That's the system our democracy is built on. So it follows that, when women are in rooms representing our communities where decisions are made, outcomes improve. We are more representative. Policies become more responsive. Institutions become stronger. Democracies become fairer. I spoke earlier this year about the importance of different voices being heard in positions of leadership and decision-making. I said then that positive change happens when women's voices are included in the rooms where decisions are made. This parliament is now the most gender balanced in Australia's history, with women making up nearly half of all parliamentarians at the opening of the 48th Parliament. This progress really does matter because young women and girls should be able to look at this parliament, at all institutions, indeed, and at leadership across the country and see themselves reflected there.

Representation alone is not enough, though. We must continue the work of dismantling the structural barriers that hold women back economically, socially and politically. Around the world, we're seeing women's rights challenged and rolled back. We're seeing growing misogyny online. We're seeing new threats emerge through technology, exploitation and disinformation. This tells us that progress cannot be taken for granted.

Earlier this year, reflecting on International Women's Day, I spoke about the activism of Zelda D'Aprano and her belief that progress builds person by person, voice by voice, to build a strong movement. That spirit of collective progress is at the heart of the Women's Budget Statement. We understand that equality is not achieved in one budget, one parliament or one generation. It requires sustained effort, it requires persistence and it requires governments willing to make choices that will shape a fairer future. Our budget contributes to that effort. We are investing in women's safety through this budget, as well as women's economic security and women's health and care. I'm really proud to speak on this statement in the House today.

Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Delivering for women matters for everyone. When women are safe, healthy, supported and economically secure, families are stronger, communities are stronger, the economy is stronger and Australia is stronger. A rising tide lifts all boats. I welcome that this government has continued the Women's Budget Statement. Gendered analysis of the budget was abandoned by my predecessor, Tony Abbott, and restoring it was an important step.

But analysis is not enough. This budget was largely underwhelming for women. This Women's Budget Statement rightly identifies many of the key problems—the gender pay gap, women's safety, unpaid care, financial insecurity and the compounding disadvantage faced by First Nations women. But the measures funded in this budget do not meet the scale of the challenge. In too many areas, the budget repackages existing announcements, applies selective gender analysis and celebrates progress against benchmarks that are far too low. There is no published gender analysis of the NDIS reforms that will divert some 160,000 participants to Thriving Kids by 2030 despite the enormous implications for women, who remain the majority of carers. Climate change, which disproportionately affects women in disaster recovery areas, in housing insecurity, in unpaid care and in community resilience, does not even get a mention in the Women's Budget Statement. These are serious omissions if the government wants to seem legitimate with this statement.

There are some really important measures in this budget that I do want to commend in relation to gender equity around child support. I welcome the government's investment of $182.6 million over four years, with $19.6 million ongoing, to improve patient compliance within the Child Support Scheme. It's long overdue and an issue I've raised on many occasions, because unpaid child support keeps women and children in poverty. As a former family law barrister, I have seen firsthand the impact of problems within this system. Child support is too often weaponised after separation, and the government has acknowledged that in this budget.

It's important to know the facts. There's around $2 billion in unpaid child support across Australia. Those payments are owed by 229,000 parents, and about 83 per cent of recipient parents are women. So overwhelmingly this unpaid child support impacts women and—let's be real—it impacts children's because ultimately it is what the children need to grow up healthy and have their needs met. Single Mother Families Australia has also highlighted the scale of the problem. Nearly 300,000 families lose approximately $810 million annually in family payments due to child support income that may never be received. So that's a structural failure. The maintenance income test can be harsher than the income test applied to wages or investment. A mother is often treated by the government as though she has received child support from the former partner when in reality that money has never been paid or arrived. Too often, mothers are left with unpaid child support from an ex-partner and then the Commonwealth seeks to recover a debt from them through the family support payments because it has arisen from their former partner's delay in disclosing their income or attempts to minimise their income to avoid paying child support.

In this context of domestic and family violence, it's deeply concerning that the system can effectively facilitate financial abuse. Parents should not be forced back into conflict, unsafe contact or repeated administrative battles with an abusive former partner simply to secure payments their children are owed. Where there is a debt owed to the Commonwealth, because child support has not been paid or has been under-declared for too long, the Commonwealth should recover that debt from the parent with the child support liability—not, as it currently does, from the parent to whom that debt is owed, who is already carrying the overwhelming burden of care. So this measure in the budget is an important step forward, but it is not the level of reform needed to make this system safe and fair. I've discussed this issue with the minister, who is well aware of the problem. More must be done to rectify this systemic abuse that is occurring, essentially facilitated by the Commonwealth.

The area where the budget falls most seriously short is keeping women and children safe from violence. Domestic and family violence is a national crisis. Women and children escaping violence need safety, secure housing, legal support, trauma informed services and long-term pathways to rebuild their lives. The budget includes $62 million a year to continue action on gender based violence. You'll hear, from many members of government, big numbers extrapolated over numerous years. What you need to do is break it down on a per year basis to understand the real shortfall. Violence against women is estimated to cost the Australian economy $21.7 billion every year. So consider the discrepancy of the scale of the commitment. The Women's Economic Equality Taskforce has estimated that $128 billion could be added to the economy by boosting women's workforce participation and productivity. So why are we still underinvesting in the very services that keep women safe and support women's economic security and productivity?

Women's Legal Services Australia has warned that services are already forced to turn away around a thousand women a week. In the same day the budget was announced, Domestic Violence NSW reported a 49 per cent increase in high-risk referrals to services by New South Wales police. This year alone, 29 women and nine children have reportedly been killed by violence from people they knew. That includes five women and two children in the week following the budget. Yet frontline services remain chronically underfunded.

Every budget is a reflection of priorities. If this government is serious about ending violence against women in a generation, it must provide secure, long-term funding for frontline services including women's shelters, legal clinics, counsellors, crisis accommodation and perpetrator-intervention programs. This means listening to organisations calling for at least a 50 per cent increase in frontline service funding just to meet existing demand. We can't keep funding fragmented responses without interrogating the system that continues to fail women and children. We need accountability and we need funding that matches the scale of the crisis. And this is where we have to call out the government and the Prime Minister around the response to the now over 112,000 people who have signed a petition for a royal commission into domestic violence. The Prime Minister, when pressed, said:

We know what keeps women in these relationships. We know what's required … And we need to get on with action …

He said that we don't need a royal commission.

If the government knows what needs to be done, the real question is: are they doing it, and are they doing it to the scale that is really required? And that is what a royal commission can expose. It can force states and territories together, with the federal government, for some accountability around what is really happening. It's too easy to say, 'We know what needs to be done and we're doing it,' but you're not. You have not changed the laws around alcohol, you have not impacted gambling and you have not impacted the drivers. We need the accountability that only a royal commission can provide.

I need to say—and I accept and understand—that many in the industry are tired of providing evidence to various inquiries; there are hundreds of outstanding recommendations. But, again, we need that accountability. A federal royal commission can show how many of those recommendations have not been implemented.

This budget delivers no targeted relief for women in poverty. Lifting income support would have one of the most immediate impacts on women's economic security. The government has said 'no-one left behind', that this is a budget about fairness. But the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has repeatedly called for income support to be increased. That will have an impact on women's economic equality. The Australian Bureau of Statistics say there are more than one million one-parent families in Australia. Most are single mothers, and one-third of single-parent families are living below the poverty line, yet JobSeeker remains below 50 per cent of the minimum wage. Income support remains too low, too conditional and poorly designed for women experiencing coercive control or financial abuse. For example, a woman in an abusive relationship may be disqualified from support because her partner earns a sufficient wage even if she cannot access that income or benefit from it. That is a dangerous policy blind spot. It ignores the reality of financial abuse and coercive control and that poverty can trap women in unsafe relationships.

If the government is serious about women's economic security, it has to lift income support and decouple it from relationship status. The structural pressures that keep women in poverty—unaffordable child care, insecure housing, unpaid care, low-paid feminised work, inadequate support for single parents—continue. You can pat yourself on the back if you want, but there are so many other areas that need to be addressed. Women cannot leave violence if they cannot access housing and those kinds of supports. So, if you're genuine about leaving no-one behind, address these issues.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand the member for Pearce would like to present a copy of their speech for incorporation into Hansard, in accordance with the resolution agreed to on 6 November 2025.

Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

I would like to speak to the women's budget that has been presented and to recognise what I believe is a deeply significant moment not only for women across Australia but also particularly for the women and families in my electorate of Pearce, where so many people are working hard to build secure futures in one of the fastest-growing communities in the country.

This budget matters deeply to communities like ours because the people of Pearce understand pressure. They understand what it means to juggle mortgage repayments, household costs, childcare costs, school expenses, transport costs and the demands of modern family life while still trying to create opportunities for their children and contribute to their communities. Across suburbs such as Yanchep, Butler, Hocking, Wanneroo, Clarkson and Two Rocks, families are working hard every single day to get ahead, and women are carrying an enormous amount of that responsibility.

What we saw delivered was not simply a collection of announcements but a budget that acknowledges the reality of women's lives and the extraordinary contribution women make to our communities, workplaces, families and economy.

Before anything else, it is important to congratulate the Minister for Women, the Treasurer, every member of government involved in the development of this budget and, equally, the countless advocates, organisations and community leaders whose years of advocacy helped bring these measures into a reality.

Budgets do not emerge in a vacuum. They are shaped by people who continue showing up year after year insisting that governments pay attention to the lived experiences of women, who care that work has value, that safety matters, and that economic equality is not an optional extra but a fundamental requirement of a modern nation. Today's women's budget reflected exactly that understanding.

The 2026-27 Women's Budget Statement made clear that gender equality is now being recognised as a core part of economic policy. It recognised that women's workforce participation has reached record highs, while the gender pay gap has fallen to historic lows, and that these gains are connected to sustained investment in care, safety, health and economic opportunity. That reality is especially visible in large and fast-growing outer suburban communities such as Pearce, where many families are young, where both parents are often working hard to keep up with rising costs and where access to affordable child care and health care can make an enormous difference to everyday life. The significance of this budget lies in the fact that it recognises those realities and responds to them in practical ways.

The continued investment in child care and early education deserves enormous recognition because affordable child care is transformational not only for individual families but also for workforce participation and long-term financial security. The introduction of the three-day guarantee is one of the most important reforms in this area because it ensures eligible families can access three days of subsidised child care each week regardless of activity levels. That matters enormously for families in communities like Pearce, where many parents are juggling casual work, shift work, study or changing employment arrangements.

In communities across Pearce, I regularly meet mothers who want to work more hours but cannot make the childcare arrangements work financially, women trying to return to the workforce after having children and parents balancing shift work with school schedules during a cost-of-living crisis. Every one of those families understands the difference affordable child care can make. It creates opportunities for women to increase their hours of work, return to their careers earlier, pursue leadership positions, undertake study or training, build businesses and participate more fully in economic and civic life. The truth is that childcare policy is economic policy. It is productivity policy. It is equality policy.

The investments in paid parental leave also deserve recognition because they reflect a growing understanding that supporting families during the earliest stages of raising children creates stronger outcomes not only for parents and children but for workplaces and the broader economy. From July this year, government funded paid parental leave will increase to a full six months, building on earlier reforms that introduced superannuation on paid parental leave. These are important reforms because they help reduce the long-term financial penalties women have historically experienced as a result of caring responsibilities.

This budget also recognised the critical importance of women's safety because economic security and personal safety are inseparable. A woman cannot fully participate in education, employment or community life if she is living with violence, insecurity or fear, which is why investments in frontline services, crisis accommodation, prevention programs and support systems are so important. The Women's Budget Statement highlighted that, since 2022, the government has invested more than $4.4 billion toward delivering the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, including additional investments supporting frontline services and prevention initiatives. Every worker in the family violence sector, every frontline advocate, every counsellor and every support worker who has fought tirelessly for stronger responses to violence against women deserves acknowledgment because much of the progress reflected in this budget has been driven by their persistence and expertise.

The increased focus on women's health also represents an important and long overdue shift in national priorities. For many years, women's health concerns were too often minimised, underfunded or overlooked entirely, despite the fact that women's health directly affects families, workplaces and quality of life across the community. As someone whose own life has been touched personally by breast cancer and MSA, I know how important accessible health care, early intervention and compassionate medical care can be for women and families navigating incredibly difficult circumstances.

This budget includes measures to expand access to cervical cancer treatment through Keytruda, increases support for long-acting reversible contraceptives and continues progress toward universal perinatal mental health screening. These are practical reforms that will improve women's lives in meaningful ways.

One of the most encouraging aspects of this women's budget is the way it demonstrates that sustained advocacy can and does lead to meaningful change. Every community organisation, advocate, researcher and woman who refused to accept inequality as inevitable has helped shape the outcomes we saw delivered this morning. This budget also sends an important message to younger women and girls in Pearce about what they should expect from their government and from society more broadly. Young women in our northern suburbs should expect fair opportunities, fair pay, safer workplaces, stronger support systems and the ability to pursue careers and leadership positions without having to choose between professional ambition and personal responsibilities.

None of this means the work is complete. Women across Australia continue to face very real challenges. The gender pay gap remains. Women remain overrepresented in insecure and lower-paid work. Too many older women are experiencing housing stress. Too many women continue carrying overwhelming caring responsibilities without adequate support. Recognising progress should never mean ignoring the work that remains ahead of us. At the same time, it is important that we allow space to acknowledge meaningful progress when it occurs.

The fact that a women's budget now sits centrally within national economic discussion reflects years of determined effort and represents a genuine shift in how governments understand economic policy itself. What this budget ultimately demonstrates is that policy matters, representation matters and sustained advocacy matters. Most importantly, it demonstrates that governments can make decisions that improve lives in practical and tangible ways.

Today is an opportunity to congratulate everyone involved in bringing these measures forward, to recognise the years of work undertaken by advocates and organisations across the country, and to acknowledge the women and girls whose lives will hopefully become safer, fairer and more secure as a result of these investments. Those outcomes are worth celebrating.

Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Women matter and their voices matter: that's what I heard growing up in a house full of seven girls and a brother. Mum was a true role model. She was a powerful voice on social justice issues in our community. I've been surrounded by women teachers, coaches, mentors and friends who guided me and lifted me when I needed it. But, despite this, I navigated a world that was built for men. This isn't a criticism at all; it's just a reflection of our society—the norms and the infrastructure that underpin it.

Women make up half our population, yet our issues were often misunderstood, dismissed or ignored. As I reflect on my decades of life, the good news is the world is changing in a very positive way. We know that women getting elected matters, because we can drive the change that women need from within. I want to say to all women across the country, and in Brisbane, that you matter, that the Labor government are listening and that we are delivering for you.

Australia's Women's Budget Statement is more than just a financial document; it's a reflection of what we value as a nation and how seriously we take gender equality. In fact, it was a Labor government that introduced the world's first Women's Budget Statement back in the 1980s, under the legendary prime minister Bob Hawke, and in 2022 the Albanese government brought it back.

For decades, women in Australia have faced structural barriers that impacted their financial security, career progression, health outcomes and retirement savings. Women are still more likely to undertake unpaid work, earn less over a lifetime, experience domestic violence and retire with significantly lower superannuation balances compared to men. But reforms and investments made since 2022 are already improving the lives of women across Australia and will continue to do so into the future, because of budgets like this.

Women's labour force participation reached a record high in 2025. The gender pay gap is at a historic low, at 11.5 per cent, and women's full-time average weekly earnings have grown by almost $300 a week since May 2022. That's an 18 per cent increase. Australia has achieved its highest ever international ranking for gender equality, up at 13th, up from 43rd only five years ago. These gains reflect deliberate choices to put gender equality at the centre of government decision-making.

The Women's Budget Statement exists because budgets are not gender neutral. We get it. This is our fifth Women's Budget Statement, and it reflects our sustained commitment to making gender equality a core economic priority. Every funding decision—it doesn't matter whether it's in health care, child care, taxation, housing or workforce policy—affects men and women differently. At their core, the women's budget statements have focused heavily on key areas such as affordable child care, paid parental leave, women's health, domestic and family violence prevention, housing security and workforce participation.

One of the most significant investments has been in early childhood education and child care. In December 2024, this Labor government took the steps towards universal child care, announcing a three-day childcare guarantee and $1 billion to build and expand childcare centres. Child care is not simply a family issue. It is a family issue, but it's also an economic issue. When childcare costs become unmanageable, women most often are the ones who reduce their working hours or leave the workforce entirely. This does not have to happen now. I look at Elly, a Brisbane local. She's recently had a baby. She's on government paid parental leave with a solid plan to get back into the workforce.

Another major focus has been paid parental leave and superannuation reforms. As I said, historically, caring responsibilities have disproportionately fallen on women. This results in less super in retirement. That is why the government introduced reforms which include changes to the low income superannuation tax offset, payment of superannuation on government funded paid parental leave, increases to the super guarantee and super being paid on payday.

The Women's Budget Statement also acknowledges the devastating national crisis of domestic violence, and ending it is a national priority. Men's violence against women remains distressing, and it's an unacceptable reality. Gender equality cannot be achieved without women being able to feel safe in their homes, in their workplaces, in their communities and online. The government is putting money into this. To support this, the government has invested more than $4.4 billion under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. I acknowledge comments made by those earlier in the House—there is more work to do. But, since that investment, 10,000 victims-survivors have received financial and other support through the Leaving Violence Program in its first five months of operation alone, an additional almost 500 frontline workers have been employed across Australia to support victims-survivors, and almost $1 billion has been invested in emergency accommodation, frontline services, legal support and prevention programs.

Investment in these services recognises that women's safety is fundamental to women's equality. Programs like these have helped Karen, a local Brisbane woman who was escaping domestic violence. She eventually found a place of her own where she was safe and she could live her life her way. She no longer has to ask when to use the washing machine. She can leave the dishes to tomorrow. She can live her life in her home in safety and security.

Importantly, though, this statement also highlights women's health. For too long, areas such as reproductive health, menopause, endometriosis and maternal care have all been underfunded and/or overlooked. The landmark 2025-26 budget women's health package strengthened Medicare to better support women at every stage of their life. It's already delivering real benefits, including cheaper medicines, more choice and expanded access to women's health services, all designed to improve women's health outcomes into the future. Some key outcomes are 33 specialist endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics; more than 380,000 women having access to new, cheaper contraceptives—and that's in the first year alone; 430,000 women having access to new menopausal therapies; and Australia's first national menopause awareness program, which will launch this year.

This is making a real difference in the lives of women. I was at o-week earlier this year, and a student who had no idea that her contraceptives will now be $7.70 literally jumped for joy when she heard the news. There was also a lady I met while doorknocking whose menopausal medicines are now covered by the PBS. She was so happy. She said to me: 'I can now afford those meds, and it means that I can now go outside. I feel confident enough to walk outside my front door.' These are real stories of real people doing better because of this Labor government's focus on women's health. This budget also continues investment in bulk-billing, Medicare urgent care clinics and mental health support, building on the progress already made to improve women's health care. Our increased funding in these areas represents progress towards a healthcare system that better reflects women's real experiences. However, while progress has been made, challenges do remain—we have to acknowledge that. Women continue to be overrepresented in low-paid industries such as nursing and aged care. The gender pay gap still exists. Housing affordability continues to disproportionately affect single mothers and older women. In fact, First Nations, migrant women, women with disabilities, women in rural and remote communities often face even greater challenges.

A women's budget statement should not simply celebrate announcements, though; it must hold governments to account. Real equality requires long-term investment, not short-term headlines. It requires recognising unpaid care work. It requires safe workplaces. It requires economic security and it requires policies designed with women, not merely for women. Ultimately, the success of a women's budget statement should not be measured just by the dollars allocated but by the outcomes achieved. Are women safer? Are women healthier? Are women more financially secure? Are women genuinely equal in opportunity or representation?

We are seeing encouraging results, but there is always more work to do. The majority-women Albanese government continues to invest in women, putting them and gender equality at the heart of Australia's economic plan, and making women's lives safer, fairer and more equal. When women and girls stand equal, families are stronger, workplaces are fairer, communities thrive and society becomes safer for everyone. This is not about doing something special for women at the expense of men; it's about building our society. We have more work to do, but I'm proud to be part of a Labor government who is delivering for women across Brisbane and Australia. Hear, hear.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Eighty-four years ago, not a single woman had been elected to this place. Just over 60 years ago, not a single woman had been appointed as a minister in this place. Seventeen years ago, we hadn't yet had our first woman Prime Minister. Twelve years ago, there was no Women's Budget Statement, not because there had never been one before—indeed, as the member for Brisbane said, what Labor introduced in the eighties under the Hawke government was the first women's budget statement—but because the coalition government abolished it. In 2022, when the Albanese Labor government came back to power, we brought it back.

This is the Albanese Labor government's fifth Women's Budget Statement. If you've been paying attention over that time, you'll know that, for this government, the Women's Budget Statement isn't mere rhetoric; it's about doing something meaningful. It's meaningful action and it's measurable outcomes. It's not only a measure of our economic policy but also a reflection of our values as a society. It outlines and tracks our progress towards building a future where women are safe, where women are supported and empowered to fully participate in every aspect of our economy and our community, and, ultimately, it illustrates Labor's commitment to putting greater equality and gender equality at the centre of economic policy.

When we talk about economic policy as it relates to women, when we talk about this Women's Budget Statement, it's not a favour to women. It's not just a boost for women; it actually has a profound impact on our economy as a country. It has a profound impact on how well our economy goes and how much it grows, because we know that when women participate in the economy, our economy goes better. We know that when women participate in the economy, it boosts our GDP. We know that when women participate in the economy, we see economic growth. We know that when women participate in the economy, we see economic diversification. We know that when women participate in the economy, we close the gap on superannuation. And we know, when it comes to business, that when women participate at the highest levels of business and corporates, they make more profit. This is not a favour; it's something that will make our nation stronger.

The Women's Budget Statement focuses on five key priority areas to advance gender equality: addressing gender based violence, recognising and valuing both unpaid and paid care, strengthening economic equality and security, improving women's health outcomes, and ensuring women's leadership representation and voice in decision-making. These challenges, they're not siloed; they don't fit neatly into separate boxes. But these challenges are inherently what we must address if we are to make sure that women's participation in the economy is stronger. They are deeply connected. One woman's economic security is affected by her unpaid care responsibilities. Another woman's capacity to lead is shaped by whether she feels safe from violence. And a different woman's health challenges affect her ability to work and to participate in everyday society.

Recently, I attended a Mother's Day breakfast at the C&K Arnwood Place Community Childcare Centre in Ekibin in my electorate on Brisbane's southside. It was a lovely morning with director, Krystal Sisson, and her team, as well as parents, carers and children. As a mum of a toddler and whose daughter also attends child care, I can relate to the stories that the parents at that breakfast were sharing, from the struggle to get out of the house on time in the mornings through to the tension that can exist between the demands of work and the childcare hours available. In fact in 2024-25, the lack of available child care was the main barrier for 43 per cent of women who wanted to work or who wanted to work more hours but couldn't. Difficulties with accessing early childhood education and care are also linked to higher rates of part-time work among women, and women's disproportionate concentration in part-time work has significant long-term impacts. Around one-third of the gender pay gap is driven by time spent out of the workforce and disruptions to continuous full-time employment due to caring responsibilities.

The Albanese Labor government has been working towards narrowing the gap between women and men in part-time and flexible work. Since 2023, more than one million Australians families have benefited from cheaper child care. Since January this year, Labor's three-day guarantee has meant that every family eligible for the childcare subsidy is now guaranteed a minimum of 72 hours of subsidised early childhood education and care each fortnight. I like that word 'guarantee' because it means certainty. It means that families can plan. It means something they can rely on. And it has given women, particularly those with irregular or non-standard working arrangements, such as seasonal or intermittent employment, exactly that—a guarantee, not just for their work but for their family. By improving both affordability and reliability of access, it provides important support to low-income families and single-parent households, most of which are led by women.

The key to women's economic equality and security are core economic goals for this government. We need women's workforce participation. Measures like the three-day guarantee are an important part of this interconnected story. And Labor has implemented other crucial reforms to increase labour force participation and to decrease the gender pay gap. I'm talking about tax cuts. I'm talking about wage increases in highly feminised sectors such as child care and aged care. I'm talking about expanded paid parental leave. I'm talking about superannuation with parental leave. I'm talking about stronger workplace equity laws. These have all had a very important part to play in the fact that more Australian women are participating in the workforce than we have ever seen in our country's history. In 2025, women's Labor workforce participation hit that record; however, it still remained below that of men. That's why, in the 2026-27 budget, this government is committing to implement structural reforms aimed at progressing gender equality and removing barriers so that women can earn more, retain more of that income and build long-term financial security. One of these structural reforms is the requirement for Commonwealth public sector and private sector employers to be transparent about their individual gender pay gaps and their plans to meet equality targets. This is about making sure that people put on the table the actual figures. It's about making sure that there's accountability in the system and that you don't just get to talk about women's equality. You don't just get to bust rhetoric about it. You need to show your numbers and you need to share them with the public. That is what Labor has done to ensure that there is a driver of accountability there and that people have to put up and put their cards on the table.

Women represent over 61 per cent of the 2.7 million Australians who are covered by modern awards. The Albanese Labor government has supported an increase to award wages since 2022, emphasising that women are far more likely to rely on award wages. Over this period, the national minimum wage has risen by more than $175 a week. That's 175 bucks each and every week, and it makes an impact, particularly at a time when we know the cost of living is really hurting families. The new working Australian tax offset will implement a permanent annual tax offset of up to $250 from the 2027-28 income year. This will benefit 6.3 million women workers, and, when coupled with the instant tax deduction of $1,000 for work related expenses, it's going to benefit over three million women. I've just touched the surface of what's contained in the women's budget statement. I'd like to congratulate the Minister for Women and thank her and her team for continuing this important work. It broadens the conversation, but there is absolutely more to do.

Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday, I sat down with the gorgeous Amelia for a coffee in Camp Hill. Amelia is a young parent raising her child, trying to start up a brand new small business and doing what so many women in our community do every day—holding many responsibilities at once. She's thinking about her child's future, her family, her business, her time and the pressures that come with trying to build a good life. As we spoke about family, work and the daily reality of running a small business, I was reminded how important it is that public policy meets people where they are at. For young parents like Amelia, for example, paid parental leave is part of the support that helps families navigate those early months with a little more security, time and breathing room.

Across Griffith, I hear echoes of Amelia's story all the time from women at school gates, mobile offices, community events, local cafes and small businesses, from students working while they study, from carers supporting older parents and from volunteers keeping our local organisations going. They talk to me about safety, services close to home, wages that reflect the value of their work and a government that sees the full contribution women make to our economy and to our communities. Those conversations are at the heart of the women's budget statement.

The Hawke Labor government introduced the first women's budget statement in the 1980s, and, in 2022, the Albanese Labor government brought it back. For too long, budgets were treated as though they affect everyone in the same way, but decisions about tax, wages, child care, paid parental leave, health care, housing, superannuation and safety can land very differently in women's lives. We brought back the women's budget statement to make those impacts visible and to ensure gender equality is built into economic decision-making from the beginning. Good policy depends on seeing the whole picture—paid work and unpaid care, financial security and safety, health and housing, opportunity today and retirement security tomorrow. We are seeing the results.

Since 2022, women's average weekly earnings have grown by almost $300 a week. More than one million families have benefited from cheaper child care. Australia has recorded its highest ever international ranking for gender equality, moving to 13th in the world, up from 43rd when we came into government. Since 2023, women have also saved more than $647 million across 139 million prescriptions, including through cheaper medicines and expanded access to contraceptives and menopause therapies. That is meaningful progress, and we are ensuring progress reaches women in their daily lives—at work, at home, in caring roles, in study, in business and in moments when they need safety, dignity and support. In Griffith I see what women's leadership looks like every single day, like at the Women's Creative Centre in Greenslopes, which last year celebrated 50 years welcoming generations of women to learn skills, share knowledge, make things with their hands and build friendships. I've seen it in the leadership of Mama Saba OAM, who founded the Eritrean Australian Women's and Families Support Network in West End, helping people from refugee, asylum seeker and migrant backgrounds build skills, confidence and community. I've seen it in organisations like the Immigrant Women's Support Service, led by Mitra, and from Deb Kilroy OAM and her team at Sisters Inside. These are two incredible organisations that support women through some of the hardest moments in their lives, with dignity, expertise and so much care. I've seen it from Tamara and Sue, just down the road from my electorate office, at the Queensland Country Women's Association, our state's largest and most widespread women's organisation. And I have seen it in all of our local sporting clubs and communities, including the Southside Eagles, who I joined with the other weekend. Women and girls are claiming space on the field, building confidence, backing each other and helping shape the future of women's sport. These local stories show why the Women's Budget Statement is so needed. When we talk about gender equality, we are talking about real women, real communities and real organisations doing this work every single day.

This budget provides practical support for women and families. From 1 July, every Australian taxpayer will receive more tax cuts to help with cost-of-living pressures. On top of those cuts, we're delivering a new $250 working Australians tax offset. We're introducing a $1,000 instant tax deduction for work related expenses without receipts, which will benefit around 6.2 million working women. For a woman earning around the average wage of $81,000, the combined benefit of our legislated tax cuts, the new tax offset and the instant tax deduction could mean she is nearly $3,000 a year better off from 2027-28 compared with the 2023-24 tax settings. Cheaper child care has already helped more than one million families, and the three-day guarantee will give families access to three days a week of subsidised early childhood education and care. Paid parental leave, something that I discussed at length with Amelia, is also being expanded to reach six months from July this year, where eligible families with a baby born or adopted from July will be $14,000 better off than they would have been in May 2022. These reforms recognise something women have known for a long time: care is work and care supports work. When families can access affordable early learning, when parents can share care more fairly and when women are supported to return to work on their own terms, the whole economy benefits.

We're also investing more than $1 billion in the Support at Home program, supporting women both as unpaid carers of many old people and as the majority of people who use the aged-care services. We are continuing our record investment in women's health. Our government's historic $792.9 million women's health package is already delivering better outcomes, including cheaper medicines and better access to contraceptives and menopause therapies. In this budget we are strengthening Medicare mental health centres where women make up more than 57 per cent of users. We're also investing in perinatal mental health through our expansion of perinatal mental health centres, including at Gidget House in Greenslopes at the Greenslopes Hospital, which is in my electorate. It has been supporting my community with three individual psychological counselling services for expectant, new and potential parents.

At local women's health forums in Griffith that I have held over the last couple of years. I've heard women speak about the importance of being listened to, believed and supported when they seek care. Whether it's in reproductive health, menopause, mental health, pelvic pain, eating disorders or perinatal care, women deserve health services that take their experiences seriously. Women's safety remains a central priority. We've now invested more than $4.4 billion since 2022 towards the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.

This budget also includes $218.3 million to support 'Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices', the first long-term, First-Nations-led national strategy to end family, domestic and sexual violence. We're providing $61.2 million for the 500 Workers Initiative to support the frontline family, domestic and sexual violence response workforce, and $11.7 million to continue the Family Violence and Cross-examination of Parties Scheme. We're also delivering the most substantial changes to the child support system in nearly 20 years, which will reduce the weaponisation of the child support system and help protect women and children from financial abuse.

We know there is more work to do, but progress for women has not happened by accident. It happens when women are in the room, when women are heard and when women help shape the decisions that affect their lives. Under this Labor government, we have a gender-equal cabinet and women proudly make up 56 per cent of the Labor caucus. For too long, women were expected to carry the consequences of decisions they had little power to shape. Women are now in the room, not through tokenism but as leaders, decision-makers and equals. When women help shape the budget, the budget better reflects the lives of the people that it is meant to serve. When our parliament looks more like the communities we serve, our democracy is stronger.

In Griffith, I will keep listening to the women who shape our community every day, because their experiences should guide the decisions we make in this place. When women are safe, paid fairly, able to access health care and able to participate fully in work and community life, our whole community is stronger. That is the purpose of this Women's Budget Statement and that is the work this Labor government will continue to do.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand here proudly as the member for Lalor, sent here by my community to represent them—all of them. I stand here as a proud member of the Labor government, the Labor Party and the labour movement. It's a movement that is dedicated to equality and fairness, a movement that wants to see equity for all Australians, and gender equity is at the core of that.

I know, from my years as a teacher, from my years as a principal and from my years of playing sport, that we measure the things that will help us get better, the things that we think are important, and that's why the Women's Budget Statement is so important and the bedrock of a Labor federal government. We know that, if we don't measure the road to gender equity, we'll fall off the road to gender equity. I know, when I coach under-16s playing netball, that I need to set targets around the number of intercepts I want to see from the goal defence and the shooting accuracy I want to see from the goal shooter. I know that in my classroom I need to say to a student: 'You're capable of an A+ on this exam, and together we're going to get an A+ on this exam.' If you don't set targets, you don't reach them.

I stand here proudly, as a woman in the federal Labor government, to say that this tradition of setting targets and working hard to meet them delivers a budget with gender equity at its core. At the core of the five budget's handed down by the Albanese Labor government, Australian women have been a clear focus. In this budget, our fifth budget, and our fifth Women's Budget Statement, we've reported the significant progress made towards gender equality since we came to government in 2022.

It is essential that we invest in women and that we get it right. In a community like mine, with the highest number of nought- to four-year-olds in the country, there are lots and lots of young families, young couples starting out together, understanding that they're in an equal relationship—sharing responsibility for parenting, sharing responsibility for financial security, sharing responsibility for making that mortgage payment or saving for that deposit. These are all really important things in my community. What's also really important in my community is that, when women have economic security, they can make real choices for themselves and their children, alone or with a partner. They are free to do both. They are in relationships not because they need them but because they want to be there. That is critical in a journey to gender equity.

Women are earning $291.60 more per week on average than they were in 2022. This is because of the measures put in place by this government. More than one million families have benefited from our investments in cheaper child care. Earning more and keeping more of what you earn is a bedrock of this government, and we've worked hard to get there. We've expanded paid parental leave, meaning eligible families will be $14,000 better off than they would have been in May 2022. Important and critical superannuation reforms are working to improve retirement outcomes for women and close the retirement income gap, something we also need to set some targets around.

Our continued commitment to reducing the cost of medicines has saved women over $647 million on medicines and provided them with increased PBS access to contraceptives and menopause therapies. Who could believe that it has been 30 years since a new contraceptive was put on the PBS, and 20 years since a new hormonal menopausal therapy was put on the PBS? This is the work of the Labor government.

We've provided 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave. Again, why? Because we measure the things we care about. We know that economic arguments often carry the day in this place. So let's start measuring the economic impact of domestic violence and have that as part of the arsenal in the conversations to reduce domestic violence. Eligibility has expanded for the parenting payment single, increasing Commonwealth rent assistance by over 50 per cent and ending ParentsNext. And Australia is now ranked 13th internationally for gender equality. It is our highest ever ranking. We are setting Australian women up for success, which in turn sets up Australian families for success and sets up our children for success.

The 2026-27 budget has built on this progress and made our investments larger than ever. We're making lasting change for generations to come. The $250 working Australians tax offset will benefit 6.3 million working women from the 2027-28 income year; around 6.2 million women will benefit from changes allowing Australian workers to claim an instant tax deduction of up to $1,000 for work related expenses; 182.6 million will deliver significant changes to the child support system; and, since 2022, $4.4 billion has been invested in the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.

This budget includes further investments of $218 million to support 'Our ways—Strong ways—Our voices', the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plan to end family, domestic and sexual violence 2026-36; $61 million for the 500 workers initiative supporting the frontline family, domestic and sexual violence workforce; and $11.7 million to continue the Family Violence and Cross-Examination of Parties Scheme, which provides legal supp for family law matters involving family, domestic and sexual violence.

I've often spoken about the endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics around the country and particularly about the one in the heart of my electorate in Werribee, which is on the same site as the Medicare urgent care clinic. This is great for families, great for women, and mostly sees children at the busiest times on the weekend, post sport. This budget has also delivered a joint investment of $4 billion with states and territories to establish Thriving Kids. A $2 billion investment will provide Medicare Healthy Kids Check—a health assessment subsidised by Medicare to ensure the health and development of children aged three, referring them to appropriate support if required. This is critical for families, critical for mums and critical for children.

Improved practice around early childhood development and culturally appropriate support through national workforce measures is also supported, and there's more support for children with autism and their families. We're also growing the National Immunisation Program in pharmacies in a push to increase childhood vaccination rates. I know parents in my electorate will welcome these investments because they provide reassurance that every family deserves. Obviously, this budget locks in Medicare urgent care clinics permanently. This is an absolutely incredible thing for a community like mine. We've also improved bulk-billing rates, with 82 per cent of GP clinics in Lalor now bulk-billing.

We're levelling the playing field by reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax, making it easier for Australians to buy their first home. This sort of stability is life-changing, as the over 5,000 people in my electorate who've already secured a home with the five per cent deposit scheme are testament to. And there are single parents who are doing so in a two per cent deposit scheme. This is really going to make a difference in communities like mine.

Where to next? Where does Labor look next on this road to gender equity? Efforts on the gender pay gap are important, and they've seen us gaining ground on that equality target. The pay gap is the easiest to measure. Superannuation is another target we need, as is an income gap and an asset gap, because income, as many of us found out in this budget, is not just what you earn in your job but what you earn from your assets. What's the target there? Can we measure those things into the future to make a real difference on our road to equality? As I said before, we measure what we care about. While the road to economic equity may be long, we've shown that smart targets and targeted measures work, having women in the cabinet room works, having women in the caucus works and having women in parliament works.

To the women in my electorate, to those with children, to those without children, to women over 65, to those struggling to put food on the table, to those doing as much as they can—catching early trains to work, getting on a train at 6 am, getting off a train at 6 pm, picking up the kids from child care before you go home with your partner, perhaps, to cook dinner and get ready for the next day—to all of you: this government has your back.

Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand here today on the backs of Aussie women who have worked hard for the rights and opportunities that I and all Australian women are afforded today. I'm really proud to follow my friend, the member for Lalor, a wonderful representative for women in Melbourne's western suburbs. I stand here alongside a majority female Labor caucus—the largest female representation in any government in Australian history. We are led by Australia's first gender-equal cabinet. We are a government that wants to give women choice and opportunity, safety and security and financial independence.

It's not just something we talk about; it's something we act on. Back in the eighties, Labor introduced the world's first Women's Budget Statement. The Libs cut it, and in 2022 the Albanese Labor government brought it back. With our Women's Budget Statement, we continue to carve out change for Australian women by making sure to evaluate the impacts the budget measures will have on Aussie women and reporting on significant progress towards gender equality since 2022. The Women's Budget Statement is an essential part of ensuring gender equality is at the core of our economic agenda. Let me tell you a little bit about the impacts our budget will have on Aussie women. At the heart of our Labor government is greater opportunity for women by investing in women's health outcomes, closing the gender pay gap and delivering cost-of-living relief.

When it comes to women's health, for too long not enough has been known about women's pain and conditions like endometriosis, and not enough has been done. We're changing that. Thanks to this Labor government, more than 380,000 women have accessed new, cheaper contraceptives in their first year on the PBS. More than 430,000 women have accessed new menopausal therapies. We have opened 33 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics right across the country, including in Melbourne's western suburbs, in Werribee. And 100,000 people have received a new menopause and perimenopause health assessment. It's all part of this Labor government's health package, including the opening of urgent care clinics in my community in Sunshine and Melton. With this budget we are making our urgent care clinics permanent. It's because we know that women's health care matters.

In my electorate, the suburbs of Rockbank, Aintree and Truganina have the second-highest birth rate in greater Melbourne. That means we're a young community, a community full of families and a growing community as well. When babies come along into a family's life, women take breaks from work. Historically, women have taken on the burden of unpaid care. About 68 per cent of primary carers are women, taking long career breaks to take on the unpaid household labour, and it means women earn less. It means women face more obstacles towards career progression and a loss of future earning potential, and it means women retire with less super. The gender super gap is about $50,000 for Australians nearing retirement, and my electorate of Gordon is amongst the highest Victorian electorates for unpaid super. For Aussie women, this just isn't good enough, and it's why we're expanding paid parental leave to 26 weeks from July this year, and it's why we've introduced superannuation to paid parental leave.

Thanks to the work of this Labor government, the gender pay gap is sitting at a historic low at 11.5 per cent. We've also expanded eligibility of the three-day guarantee, giving families access to three days a week of subsidised early childhood education and care. This is about relieving women of the primary care burden and giving women that opportunity to return to work. We've already seen more than one million families benefit from cheaper childcare investments. Let me be clear: these changes are positive for the entire household, because, when both parents have access to paid parental leave, it gives the entire family that freedom of choice and opportunity. In the long term, facilitating women in sharing the care burden and returning to work increases overall household earnings.

Everyone has a young family in their life who will benefit from this. For me, it's my sister, my sister-in-law and my cousin Hayley from Taylors Hill. Across my community in Melbourne's western suburbs, it's the hundreds of families who are experiencing these changes. It's no coincidence that Australia's first ever gender-equal cabinet has made big steps in confronting the cost-of-living barriers that women face, because, when women are at the table making the decisions, we get better outcomes for women.

As well as the unpaid care roles, women also take on a significant amount of the paid care sector, like childcare and aged-care workers, which is why we've introduced pay rises for early childhood and aged-care workers, stronger minimum wage and award wage settings and important workplace reforms, and it's working. Women are now earning, on average, $290 more a week than in 2022. With an instant $1,000 tax deduction, women are expected to make up 54 per cent of the beneficiaries.

Women's safety remains a priority in ending violence against women. To date, the government has invested over $4.4 billion under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022 to 2032. Under the national plan, more than 10,000 victims-survivors have been provided with financial and other supports through the Leaving Violence Program in its first five months of operation. 496 additional frontline staff supporting victims-survivors have been employed across Australia, and $985.7 million in funding has been provided to states and territories to support frontline service delivery. There is no simple solution, but we need to better support women and children who have experienced violence so they can recover. It's about working to prevent and address sexual violence and about activating more systems and more services to intervene at the earliest opportunity to disrupt violence and strengthen safety. The second action plan is guiding a coordinated whole-of-system response across governments, communities, employers, schools, health and justice systems, as well as frontline and prevention services, to identify high-impact solutions to prevent and end violence and hold perpetrators to account, because it takes a whole-of-system approach.

We are also investing $182.6 million to deliver the most significant changes to the child support system in nearly 20 years. These changes include historic reforms which will work to reduce the weaponisation of the child support system and protect women and children from financial abuse. Reforms will also help parents navigate the system, improve the accuracy and timeliness of support payments, and crack down on those avoiding their child support obligations.

Our government remains committed to making gender equality a core economic priority. Through significant structural reforms and sustained investments since 2022, the government has strengthened the foundations for lasting change. When everyone feels safe and valued and is able to participate fully in our economy and our society, Australia is stronger, more productive and more resilient. Everyone stands to benefit from reforms that create fairer systems, structures and attitudes. When women are involved in decision-making and policy design, outcomes are better for everyone. I am proud that we are seeing significant structural reforms, and I am proud that we have been putting in sustained investments since 2022—better for men, better for women and better for Australia.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Four years ago, the Albanese Labor government made a promise to the women of Australia: your economic security, your safety, your health would be at the centre of every decision we made, not as an afterthought, not as a sidebar but as core economic priority. Today I stand here to tell all of the women in Australia that we kept that promise, and, with this budget, we are going further, because here is what we know to be true: when women thrive, Australia thrives; when women are paid fairly, our economy grows; when women are safe at home, our communities are stronger; and when women have access to health care, our nation is healthier. This is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do. This is a budget for every Australian woman—every mum, every nurse, every teacher, every engineer, every woman working two jobs to keep the lights on. To every woman who has ever been told that politics doesn't speak for her, this budget is for you.

Before I talk about where we are going, let me take a moment to acknowledge where we have come from, because the numbers tell a powerful story. Women's labour workforce participation is now at a record high—63 per cent. The gender pay gap has fallen to a historic low of 11.5 per cent. Women's full-time wages have grown by almost $300 a week since May 2022, an 18 per cent increase. And on the world stage, Australia's international gender equality ranking has jumped from 43rd to 13th. That is not an accident; that is the result of deliberate, sustained Labor policy. We didn't get here by luck. We got here by choice, and the choice was to put women first.

Let me talk about every woman's pay packet because this budget delivers real, meaningful tax relief that will be felt by millions of Australian women. We are introducing a new $250 working Australians tax offset. Around 6.3 million women will benefit from this ion the 2027-28 financial year alone. But that's not all. Combined with the three tax cuts we've already legislated and the $1,000 instant tax deduction, the average Australian female worker earning around $68,000 a year will be up to $2,494 better off per year compared to where she was under the old tax arrangements. That is more money towards groceries, rent, kids' expenses or simply having a little bit of financial breathing room for the first time in years. And critically, our tax cuts are designed to particularly benefit part-time and lower income earners, which means they are designed to benefit women, because we know that women disproportionately work part-time, often because they're carrying the weight of caring responsibilities. Our tax policies recognises that and makes sure that we're levelling the playing field.

There is one issue in this budget I want to speak about with the weight that it really does deserve. Every week in Australia, women are being killed. Every week, women are trapped in homes that are not safe. This is an absolute national emergency, and this Labor government is treating it like one. Since 2022, we have invested over $4.4 billion to deliver the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children—the most of any government ever. Over 10,000 victims-survivors have been supported through the Leaving Violence Program in just its first five months. We've added 496 frontline workers to the domestic and family violence and sexual violence sector right across the country, and we've provided nearly $1 billion to the states and territories for service delivery. Every woman deserves to feel safe in her home, on the streets, online and at work—everywhere.

Ending violence is not just about physical safety. It is also about financial safety. Right now, across Australia, there is $2 billion in outstanding child support debt—$2 billion owed to single parents, the vast majority of them women. Former partners refuse to pay what they owe to their own children. In this budget, we are investing $182.6 million to fix the Child Support Scheme and stop it being weaponised as a tool of financial abuse and control. We are making it easier to move to agency-collected arrangements, where there are greater protections. We are giving Services Australia the power to stop vexatious and harassing behaviour, and we are making sure that perpetrators cannot hide their income to minimise what they pay. This will protect 478,000 women receiving child support and around one million children. These are real families and real lives, and they deserve a government that has their back.

I also want to speak directly about the disproportionate burden of violence faced by First Nations women, because any serious plan to end gender based violence must start with them. In February this year, we launched the first-ever standalone First Nations led national domestic, family and sexual violence prevention strategy, titled 'Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices', developed in genuine partnership with the First Nations community. It is backed by $218.3 million in new funding, investing in a national network of Aboriginal community controlled organisations to deliver specialist, community led family safety services. Lasting change must be driven by First Nations communities. This government listens, and then it acts.

For too long, women's health was treated as a footnote. Conditions that affect millions of Australian women were underresearched, underfunded and too often dismissed. Labor changed that. Today, 33 specialist clinics for endometriosis and pelvic pain are open right across Australia. More than 380,000 women have accessed new, cheaper contraceptives for the first time since their PBS listing, and 430,000 women have now accessed new menopausal hormone therapies. This budget continues to invest in bulk-billing, Medicare urgent care clinics and mental health support. Good health is not a privilege. It is absolutely a right. Two clinics service my community of Bonner—the Carina-Carindale clinic and also the Redlands clinic. Over 8,000 people have already been through those doors since they opened in December. This week we also launched the first-ever national menopause awareness campaign, because it is long past time that we talked about menopause and perimenopause in an open and honest way, without shame.

Women in Australia carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care work, and that has a direct cost to their careers, their wages and their retirement savings. Labor is changing this. From 1 July 2026, the Paid Parental Leave scheme reaches six full months—six months to bond with your baby without being forced back to work before you or your child might be ready. We're investing $4.7 billion into cheaper child care and have introduced the three-day guarantee. So far, 80,000 more children are now enrolled in early childhood education, and 52,000 more educators are working in the sector, supported by a 15 per cent pay rise. Childcare workers, who are overwhelmingly women, have been undervalued for too long. Labor is fixing that.

There is another statistic that should make every Australian woman angry. On average, women retire with significantly less superannuation than men. They live longer. They earn less over their lifetime, and they've had their super cut off every time they have paused to raise a child. Labor is fixing this as well. Superannuation is now paid on government funded paid parental leave. The superannuation guarantee is increasing. We've reformed the low income superannuation tax offset, and we're ensuring that super is paid on payday so that employers can no longer delay payments that belong to you.

I want to close with this. No budget can be perfect, but this budget is proof of something powerful—that, when a Labor government is in office, women's lives are better for it. There's record women's participation in the workforce, a shrinking pay gap, six months of paid parental leave, tax relief in millions of women's pockets, 33 endometriosis clinics now open and over 10,000 domestic violence survivors given the help they need to leave. These are not talking points; they are lives changed. This Labor government will continue to put women first.

Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the clearest lessons in public life is this: when women are around the table, things change. They change because women bring lived experience, practical thinking and an unshakeable focus on the everyday realities families face. They ask different questions, they see different pressures and they push for different priorities. For example, on Monday, the federal government launched the menopause and perimenopause campaign to better understand the signs and symptoms of menopause. That matters in every parliament, but it matters especially when we talk about domestic and family violence. This issue is not something happening elsewhere to someone else. It is happening in our suburbs, in our streets, in our schools and in our communities. It affects women and children in Dunkley, just as it does across the country. That is why I am proud to stand with the majority of Labor women in this government that understand that women's safety must be at the centre of the budget—not an afterthought and not a footnote but a national priority.

This morning I was very fortunate to sit with the Minister for Social Services and the Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence to talk about a range of consultations that will be rolled out over the second half of the year to talk about the impact of domestic and family violence and how we build a second plan to address this scourge on our communities. This budget shows what that looks like in practice—how we work with people in the community and support women.

Since Labor coming to government, $800 million has been invested into women's health. More than $4 billion has been invested to address gender based violence, strengthening legal assistance with $3.9 billion in new funding. This funding has boosted 1800RESPECT by $41.8 million and builds on the introduction of 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave. This leave and these measures support the first ever First Nations led plan to end family violence against women. It continues the full implementation of Respect@Work, including a legislated positive duty. These are not small changes. They are structural changes. They acknowledge that violence against women is not private, it is not inevitable and it is not something governments can ignore.

This budget also recognises something women in my community know too well. Violence is not just physical. It can also be financial. It can be coercive. It can continue long after a relationship ends. That is why we are investing $183 million to make the child support system both safer and fairer. Right now, there is around $2 billion in unpaid child support debt in Australia, and women make up around 83 per cent of recipients. The average debt is nearly $8,700. For many families in Dunkley, $8,700 is significant, particularly with the cost of living. It is money for braces, for a child's school excursions, sport registration fees, music lessons and groceries. It's food on the table. These reforms are the most significant changes to the child support system in nearly 20 years. They will crack down on financial abuse, reduce the scope for weaponisation of the system and help ensure more children and families get the support they are owed. That matters deeply because economic security is safety, as is a fair system.

Housing is safety too. Everyone should have a safe place to call home, especially women and children experiencing domestic and family violence. That is why this budget includes support that helps women leave unsafe situations and rebuild their lives. We are investing $59.4 million over four years for community housing providers, supporting young people at risk or experiencing homelessness. Girls and young women make up 66 per cent of homelessness service users, and many of those young people have also been affected by gender based violence. This builds on broader action we are taking: a 50 per cent increase in Commonwealth rent assistance, $1 billion for crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children, the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund and 30,000 new social and affordable homes. In communities like Dunkley I hear about the need for housing. The stress is real. I hear about it from young mums, grandparents raising children and women trying to start again after trauma. A woman cannot plan for her future if she does not have a house over her head. So housing security is not separate from women's safety but is fundamental to it.

This budget also continues our record investment in women's health because, too often, women's health has not been taken seriously enough. So far, women have saved more than $647 million across almost 139 million prescriptions on the PBS. And this budget includes an additional $2 billion to strengthen Medicare. We have opened 33 endometriosis clinics under this government and provided $2.7 million to improve access to long-acting reversible contraceptives, like IUDs and implants.

Health matters and safety matters but so does opportunity. Since 2022, women's workforce participation has reached a record high. The gender pay gap is at its lowest ever recorded level. Women's average weekly earnings have grown by almost $300 per week. More than one million families have benefited from cheaper child care. Australia's global gender equality ranking has improved from 43rd to 13th. Those outcomes do not happen by accident. They happen when gender equality is treated as a core economic policy. That is why the Women's Budget Statement matters.

A Labor government introduced the world's first women's budget statement in the 1980s, and, in 2022, the Albanese Labor government brought it back. It outlines the impact new budget measures have on women. Through gender-responsive budgeting, every proposal is tested against its impact on women as part of the budget process. That means asking who benefits, who misses out, who is safer, who has more opportunity and who still needs support. This is how we make gender equality part of our economic agenda, not separate from it. And it reflects something we should be proud of: representation.

Our government is majority women: 56 per cent of the Labor caucus are women. When more women are in the room, the national conversation changes. Women's safety, health, the unpaid work of care and the financial pressures on single mothers are all taken more seriously. I know this not only as a parliamentarian but as someone who has spent decades working alongside women in community life.

Before coming to this place, I founded the Women's Spirit Project in Frankston. It grew from a simple belief that women who have experienced disadvantage, trauma and abuse deserve more than a crisis response. They deserve connection, confidence and the chance to rebuild. Through the Women's Spirit Project, I witnessed the strength of women who had long been made to feel alone. When they were offered support instead of judgement, community instead of isolation and opportunity instead of barriers, real change followed. I saw women regain confidence, rebuild connections and begin to imagine a different future for themselves and their children.

Women are not asking for slogans. They are asking for action. They want safe homes, fair pay, affordable health care, reliable child care and systems that protect rather than entrench disadvantage. Above all, they want a government that understands the reality of their lives. This budget also helps with the cost of living, which is critical for women's economic security. In Dunkley, it matters. It matters to the women I meet at schools. It matters to women from every corner of this country. This budget says women should expect better, they should expect safety and they should expect fairness. And, under a Labor government, that is exactly what we are delivering.