it is a privilege to be part of EMILY's List. Knowing that there is such a wealth of support behid us as candidates is of enomours benefit
EMILY's List Australia is a financial, political and personal support program for progressive Labor Women candidates and Members of Parliament. We provide support to women in a variety of ways including :
- Campaign Donations – Early Money and Directed Donations
- Training on essential skills necessary to win and hold office
- Mentoring women by linking new candidates to former women MPs, candidates and campaign experts for advice and counsel
- Allowing our candidates to tap into a new volunteer case for their campaigns
- Gender Gap Research to ensure our Candidate and MPs have the cutting edge of polling and research to win the Women's Vote.
- Political skill training to the next generation of candidates and MPs.
EMILYs List Australia is a non-profit organization with a nation-wide network of members, supporters and volunteers – both men and women – who make our support of progressive women possible.
EMILY's List is an acronym that means Early Money Is Like Yeast (it makes the dough rise). Early campaign money is often the most important support a woman can have when heading into an election, enabling her to produce leaflets, deliver direct mail within their electorate and launch a website.
For many women, the cost of running an election campaign can be prohibitive to their involvement in politics. This is particularly when you consider that women have a reduced earning capacity compared men because they often earn less, take time out at the peak of their careers to have families and have diminished superannuation and other investments across their lifetime.
Like its US counterpart which only supports Democrat women, EMILY's List was set up by ALP women members who believe that, of the two major parties, the ALP will always be the more progressive party in government.
Despite this, EMILY's List Australia was set up independent of the ALP. This was very important to the founders of EMILY's List as it preserved an important feminist principle – that women should control their own money and organizations. EMILY's List Australia is therefore open to non-ALP members. In fact, 1 in 3 members of the organization are not members of the Australian Labor Party.
EMILY's List is not a faction of the ALP and hence does not get involved in the pre-selection process. Only after pre-selections are complete, and a woman is declared the ALP's pre-selected candidate for the seat, does EMILY's List approach women for endorsement. EMILY's List supports women across the political spectrum of the ALP who pledge their commitment to the core principles of Equity, Diversity, Choice, Equal Pay and Childcare.
What we have achieved
- EMILY's List Australia has helped 139 women into Australian parliaments across the country at both a Federal and State/Territory level. This includes:
- the election of the first woman Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.
- the election of the first woman Premier, Anna Bligh, in Queensland
- the election of Carol Martin, Member for Kimberley in Western Australia, to become the first Indigenous woman to be elected to any Australian Parliament. Since Carol's election we have also assisted a further 5 Indigenous women into WA, NT and NSW parliaments.
- Raised $4.5 Million to help individual candidates and ensure the long term support of progressive Labor women.
- EMILY's List Australia has helped an additional 151 women in marginal and safe Liberal seats who were unsuccessful.
- In 1996, when EMILY's List was first launched, there were only 46 women in Federal Parliament and only two Cabinet Ministers. In less than 15 years, that number has increased by 67% to 68 women, with 5 Cabinet Ministers responsible for the important portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister, Education and Employment, Health, Housing, Climate Change and Families.
- The election of EMILY's List MPs across Australia have also led progressive reforms for women including,
- Abortion law reform in ACT, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
- Women's Safety strategies in Victoria revolutionising the family violence system
- Women's Health & Well-being Strategies
- Extending paid maternity leave provisions
- Enacting payroll tax exemptions from organisations providing paid maternity leave (Victoria)
