The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to a more inclusive Tasmania that empowers and enables women and girls to participate equally in society.
That is why I am delighted to release the Tasmanian Women’s Strategy 2018-2021, which sets the direction for ongoing actions to achieve gender equality in Tasmania.
Building upon the achievements of the Tasmanian Women’s Plan 2013-2018, this comprehensive strategy aims to establish further opportunities for Tasmanian women to participate fully in our social, political, economic and cultural life.
Nearly 1400 Tasmanians contributed to the new strategy, which identifies four priority areas: financial security; safety; leadership and participation; and health and wellbeing.
Since 2014, the Hodgman Liberal Government has made strong progress.
Women’s representation on all Government boards and committees has increased from 33 per cent to 40 per cent; 52 per cent of Government Business Enterprise directors are women and 44 per cent of State Owned Company directors are women.
We have also seen a number of firsts: our first female Speaker in the House of Assembly, the first female Governor of Tasmania, the first female Chief Magistrate the first Minister for Women since 2006 and Tasmania’s first, nation leading, Family Violence Action Plan – Safe Homes, Safe Families.
But there is still more to be done - despite many gains, gender inequality persists in our community preventing Tasmanian girls and women from reaching their full potential.
The Hodgman Liberal Government will continue to push for positive change, and the Tasmanian Women’s Strategy 2018-2021 will help pave the way.
We will also continue to move towards a target of 50 per cent representation of women on Government boards and committees by July 2020, and are making major investments into female sporting facilities to encourage more women and girls to participate through our $10 million investment in Levelling the Playing Field.
A copy of the Tasmanian Women’s Strategy 2018-2021 is available on the Department of Premier and Cabinet website at: http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/csr/policy/Policy_Work/tasmanian_womens_strategy_2018-2021?SQ_DESIGN_NAME=women