Today we recognise International Women’s Day. This annual international campaign celebrates the cultural, political and socioeconomic achievements of women.
The 2024 theme is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress’. This year’s theme calls on us to remove barriers to women’s success and build an Australia of equal opportunity together.
The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 is guiding us towards ending gender-based violence in one generation.
Paid Parental Leave is one of the key activities we have expanded. We are providing more support for working families, improving outcomes for children and advancing gender equality.
From 1 July 2024, the Paid Parental Leave scheme will increase by 2 weeks each year. This means that by 1 July 2026, parents will be able to access 26 weeks of paid leave.
Visit the Services Australia(Opens in a new tab/window) website to see if you are eligible.
The introduction of paid leave for people experiencing Family and Domestic Violence(Opens in a new tab/window) (FDV) is an important change that the Australian Government legislated in 2023.
The Small Business, Big Impact: how to support employees experiencing domestic violence(Opens in a new tab/window) podcast was created to educate small business on how to support and respond to employees at risk of or experiencing FDV. The podcast is available on a range of platforms and more information about Paid FDV Leave is available on the Fair Work website.
The Australian Government has also committed $46 million to continue the award-winning Stop it at the Start(Opens in a new tab/window) campaign. Stop it at the Start aims to help break the cycle of violence by encouraging adults to reflect on their attitudes, and have conversations about respect with young people.
The campaign is aimed at parents and family members of young people, as well as the teachers, coaches, community leaders and employers of young people. Visit Respect(Opens in a new tab/window) for more information.
We all have a role to play in accelerating the progress of women. Learn more about International Women’s Day at UN Women Australia(Opens in a new tab/window).
Related news
The Respect Stories competition encourages young students to share their understanding of respect.
The 10 Respect Stories competition winners have been announced and their entries published in a new book.
An independent evaluation of the first 12 months of the Disability Gateway service has been completed.
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