Claiming a rightful place in the polity

Addressing the under-representation of women in politics.

By MURIEL REDDY

Women are the new force in Australian politics. Wave after wave is joining the fray, competing to represent constituencies across the country in federal, state and local governments. Even more significantly – and certainly not before time – women are winning a greater number of seats than ever before.

The figures speak for themselves. Women now fill 44.5 per cent of the seats in federal parliament. They make up a majority in the Senate. Ten women sit at the cabinet table of the Albanese government, and they come from diverse racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds.

In the lower tiers of government, representation by women is patchy but is slowly improving too.

At least some of the credit for this monumental shift must go to “Pathways to Politics for Women”, a national nonpartisan initiative designed to prepare women for competing in the political arena.

The program, which provides networking opportunities and practical training, and emphasises good governance, ethics and leadership, was launched to address the underrepresentation of women and non-binary people in Australian politics.

The initiative was rolled out eight years ago at the University of Melbourne but has now been embraced by universities in five other states and territories: Queensland, South Australia, the NT, the ACT and NSW. The program expects to be truly national from next year.

Its achievements to date are impressive.

“We have 300 Pathways alumni nationally, drawn from the across the political spectrum, and have had 27 electoral successes at local, state and federal levels,” says Sarah Buckley, chief executive of the Trawalla Foundation, a philanthropic body that has spearheaded the movement along with the university and the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia.

“A record 19 alumni across six parties and independent campaigns ran in the recent Victorian election: six were elected, representing a 31 per cent success rate.”

Politics has historically been a fraught occupation for women, a fact brought into sharp relief by the famous 2012 misogyny speech of Australia’s first woman prime minister, Julia Gillard. Delivered across the dispatch box in the House of Representatives, it helped spark a global conversation about sexist and misogynistic treatment of female politicians. While ground has been gained, some of those fears persist.

“I think the greatest fear for many women is the impact on them and their families,” explains Dr Meredith Martin, director of the Pathways program. “Unfortunately, the way misogyny can play out, through trolling for example, can spill over into real life and into threats.

“Women can also be concerned about the reality of managing their families and the demands on life of being a political figure.”

And yet, their passion to make a difference, to do something to effect change, is empowering women and non-binary people to break through the fear. More than 500 expressed an interest in joining the Pathways program two years ago.

“Over the years, as challenges have arisen in our political system, we have wondered if women would want to step back,” says Martin. “But we have seen the reverse. We had a huge increase in our waitlist, and I think that was a statement from women that enough is enough.

“Most of the women who join our program want to change the way politics is done and make a down payment on that through their own behaviour.”

Diversity is an important criterion of the cohort.

“For some, there is an issue around youth. A lot of young women are interested in politics, but they don’t feel they have a seat at the table. Increasingly now, it’s thinking broadly about different barriers that women face in terms of formulating an aspiration, and then thinking realistically about how they can address that.

“What we do in spades is that we provide our participants with an enormous amount of confidence but at the same time prepare them for the resilience that is required for entering a parliament that is still not diverse. But we are making headway.”

The journey for many is magical. Understanding that they can have a voice in the hurly-burly of the political world can be transformative for those women and non-binary people who take on the challenge.

“Our success in terms of electoral success and electoral participation has gone beyond our wildest dreams,” says Buckley. “We’re one part of the effort and the agenda that has turned the tide.” unimelb.edu.au/pathways-to-politics