EMILY's List

The Gender Gap

Although women and men are born with the same fundamental human rights historically women's specific needs, priorities and experiences have been undervalued or ignored. This is the Gender Gap, the disparity between the way women and men are treated by society, specifically in public policy priorities.

Examples of the Gender Gap in public policy:

• The long term absence of a Paid Parental Leave Scheme, despite decades of increased employment participation of women
• Pay inequity for women workers in "caring" professions
• Workplace policies that prevent work-life balance or flexible working conditions
• Unaffordable and inaccessible childcare

Despite all the achievements of women since Suffrage and the rise of modern feminism, there is still a long way to go before the Gender Gap is bridged.
Consider these statistics:

• In Australia, women working full-time today earn 16 per cent less than men.
• Currently, the average superannuation payout for women is a third of the payout for men - $37,000 compared with $110, 000.
• In the top 200 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange women hold only 8.7 per cent of board directorships. The small number of CEO's who are women receive half the salary of their male counterparts.
• Women make up only 25% of the House of Representatives in the Parliament of Australia.
• In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours List, there were only four women out of 30 recipients who received awards in the top two categories.
• In the Federal Court of Australia, women make up only 13% of the bench.
• In the 2007 Global Gender Gap Report, released by the World Economic Forum, Australia ranked 35th for women's political empowerment.

The Gender Lens

EMILY's List Australia knows that when women support women, women win.

By applying a gender lens to your giving, prioritising programs and organisations that put women first - like EMILY's List Australia - you can help build the bridge across the Gender Gap.

Women are the great givers of society – as unpaidworkers and as philanthropists. However, sometimes we forget the importance ofgiving back to ourselves, our sisters and our daughters.

We are just starting to understand the importance of giving to women. EMILY's List has known for a long time that when women support women, women win. In Australia, women

For more information about the importance of giving to women check out:

• Australian Women's Donor Network
• Victorian Women's Trust 

Why Support EMILY's List Australia

EMILY'sList Australia is a financial, political and personal support network for progressive Labor women candidates, helping them get elected to Parliament and in turn change the lives of all women. It is the only network of its kind inAustralia.

EMILY's List Australia is a non-profit organisation that receives no government or political party funding. It was deliberately established by its women founders to be separate from the ALP. It raises its own funds through members and supporters who give to the organisation and its candidates.

EMILY's List Australia is a Success Story for Affirmative Action

EMILY's List Australia is a success story for affirmative action in Parliaments. In just under 15 years, we have led to a 230% increase in the number of progressive Labor Women standing in winnable seats across the Country.

Our work has helped elect 126 women to Parliaments across the country, including:

• The first woman  Prime Minister, Julia Gillard
• The First elected woman Premier, Anna Bligh
• The First indigenous women in Parliament, Member for Kimberley in WA, Carol Martin.

Wehave achieved this through a range of affirmative action strategies for women including:

• Support for the setting and achievement of Parliamentary representation targets for women,
• A financial support program giving women substantial sums of money that they control,
• A political skills training program that shares knowledge amongst candidates, MP's and former MP's
• A mentoring strategy which matches successful women leaders of yesterday, with emerging leaders of today and tomorrow.

The equal representation of women in Parliament is crucial to a democracy. It ensures that policies, programs or legislation reflects the needs of the population, enhancesthe deliberations, decisions and outcomes by incorporating the different experiencesof women and ultimately improves public service provision by being more eflective of community need.

For more information on the EMILY's List Australia Success Story and how you can contribute to it click here