Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The release yesterday of Kate Jenkins' review into workplace culture in this building had some shocking content, especially on the treatment of women in this place. What I want to talk about today is some of the groups that really are making a fundamental difference. In particular I want to highlight the work of one group I recently visited that gave me hope. The next generation understand these issues, they take them seriously and they are ready to tackle them head on.

Girls with Attitude is a student leadership group at Para Hills School in Adelaide. They got together to address the everyday sexism and disrespect that the girls in the school were experiencing. They had a passion to work together and to create a safer and more respectful school environment. The school and its students have, after three years of this program, reported a significant shift in the culture of what happens in the playground, what happens in the classroom and what happens across the whole school community. Girls with Attitude has developed a campaign in conjunction with the Northern Adelaide Domestic Violence Service aimed at identifying the roots of gendered violence and developing strategies to shift those harmful attitudes towards girls and women.

I heard about how these girls, as young as 10, were already facing discrimination on the basis of their gender, and how it affects their lives and the lives of those close to them. We've got a lot to learn from groups like this. They know firsthand what it's like to be a girl in this country, and they know what needs to be changed to make a safer and more equal society for them to grow in. A big take-away from my meeting with the girls was how utterly, utterly fearless they are. They've got big dreams and big aspirations, and we could learn an awful lot in this place from a group of primary students addressing culture. (Time expired)