Leading  Issues Journal  

Section A

Address to Victorian Women Lawyers

By Rosemary Calder
First Assistant Secretary
Office of the Status of Women

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This address by Rosemary Calder was delivered at a Seminar Sponsored by the Victorian Women Lawyers at Melbourne on 24 August 2000. 

Calder candidly reflects on her own career "diversions and detours," and the "subtle and systemic" barriers women face in their working life. "Women are entering the workforce in ever increasing numbers. They recognise that education is their best bet in securing equality - on the whole they are better educated than their male contemporaries. They advance through the lower levels of their chosen profession without any obvious discrimination and on to the middle echelons which is where most of them are halted irrespective of their talent. Relatively few make it to the top of their chosen profession and this is the case in all professions...The masculine workplace culture still persists... The need to prove themselves in the workplace and make their mark usually comes at the very time when most women are having their children."

Focusing on the problems experienced by women specifically in the areas of Law, Medicine, Education, the Media and non-traditional areas of employment such as engineering and architecture, Calder goes on to explore the factors that contribute to gender bias in these areas.

Arriving at the crucial consideration, " So, how do we bring about significant change?" she points out that, "strength could be drawn from collaboration between women in different professions - and their supporting male colleagues - to share concerns, to compare objectives, strategies and achievements, and to cooperatively develop awareness and advocacy activities...One strategy that has great benefits in the advancement of women across all fields is mentoring and it is a strategy that is being heavily promoted by OSW."

Finally, she delineates how the Office of the Status of Women is working towards removing discrimination from the workplace. "I believe OSW too has a mentoring role - that it should not only monitor what is happening to advance equality but act also as a conduit for disseminating what is best practice and as a forum for debate...No policy advisory unit should ever work in isolation and OSW must be firmly connected to the community it represents. I see the office as a very active member of a partnership which involves the government, the professions and industry. Its task is to formulate policy, encourage communication, identify best practice, provide role models in all areas that affect women in their professional and community lives... OSW must play a major role in strengthening the women's "sector" by helping to forge such strategic alliances...To that purpose, I am working on an idea to establish an annual women's conference that would be for all women and cover all topics. It would include the professions, business enterprises, Federal and State government departments, women's organisations - anyone who has a stake in women's affairs."

On 26-28 August 01, OSW will be hosting the first annual National Women's Conference in Canberra. 

Section B

Tony Brown is the Executive Director of Adult Learning Australia (ALA). ALA, established in 1960, is the peak national organisation for adult learning providers and facilitators and a voice for adult learners. Through leadership, advocacy, advice and action, ALA promotes and supports lifelong learning, working towards a learning society that is democratic, nurturing, productive and sustainable.  

Some interesting Facts by the ALA

• About 1.4 million adults each year attend a community-based adult education course
• 21% of Australian adults never return to learning after leaving school.
• 34% of Australian adults have inadequate literacy and numeracy skills.
• 30% of school students do not complete year 12.

  In 2000-01 the Commonwealth allocated

• Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs - $12 billion.
• Australian National Training Authority - $998 million.
• Adult and Community Education (ACE) - $750 thousand.

Featured in this section is an article by Tony Brown entitled, 

"A clever country means extending learning opportunities."

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In this article, Tony Brown asks a number of critical questions about the status of Australia's education, the political thinking that has influenced its scope and function, the growing divide in the populace of the 'educational elites' and the less well-educated, and the challenge to extend learning opportunity.

"In Australia there are separate national policies on higher, school, vocational and community education. But there is nothing that integrates these areas. They are separate and national policy remains fragmented and incomplete. There is neither a national framework nor a national policy statement outlining the Government's general commitment to lifelong learning."

His question, "Will the clever country be for all, or for those who are already educationally privileged?" calls for urgent debate and leadership on a crucial issue that affects us and our children.

Peter Kearns is Principal of Peter Kearns and Associates, a Canberra-based consultancy firm established in 1990 which has specialised in policy, review, and evaluation studies in fields of education and training. He has undertaken over 50 consultancies since 1990, mainly for government agencies such as DETYA and ANTA, with most of his work focused in the VET sector. 

As part of the Adult Learners Week 2000 Conference held in November 00 entitled, "Agenda for the future: Lifelong Learning in Australia," Peter Kearns presented the Paper: 

Policies and Strategies to Build a Learning Culture An Overview of Some International Experience and Lessons for Australia

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This Paper is based on a study that Global Learning Services undertook for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 1999-2000 on Building a Learning and training culture: The experience of five OECD countries (Kearns and Papadopoulos, 2000) and on an earlier study undertaken for NCVER in 1998 on the implications of lifelong learning for vocational education and training in Australia. 

Adopting an analytical framework to examine policy and strategies in five OECD countries: Britain, United States, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands, Kearns identifies three models of approach to building a learning and training culture - the British, American and Nordic Model.  He then considers, "Which of these models could provide the pathway for Australia towards a learning society, or is the Australian way some hybrid, yet to be articulated, which draws upon each of these approaches?"   

"Building a learning culture and society is a complex and difficult process, but is essential for Australia. When we wrote VET in the learning age my view was that this would only be achieved through a grass roots revolution in Australia, with local initiatives across the country. I still hold that view, and I am encouraged by initiatives such as the Victorian Learning Towns, but a national framework to facilitate local action is also necessary. At present Australia has no national policy or vision for lifelong learning (although this exists in the ACE sector), and this will impede our progress. I leave with you the critical question of how can we build such a shared national vision and construct the necessary alliances to turn vision to reality."

To build a learning and training culture, Kearns offers a table of nine major implications for Australia arising from the study. "The major implications of the study for Australia relate mainly to gaps in the policy framework rather than to current policies. This reflects the situation that demand side policies are not sufficiently developed and there is no shared national vision of Australia as a learning society to provide a national framework for concerted partnership action associating all stakeholders." 

Section D

Support Strategies for Women Councillors in NSW - An Issues Paper, March 2001

By the NSW Department for Women

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The Hands Up for Women in Council! Project  

*In NSW, 51% of the population are women, yet women represent just over a quarter (26%) of all local councillors. While there has been some increase in the number of women elected to local councils in recent years, there is clearly a long way to go to achieve more equal participation of women. Women’s participation at all levels of government will ensure that there are some different voices heard in decision making. With more women on council, decisions are more likely to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve and take into account a broader range of community interests and concerns. 

Promoting women’s election to council is, however, only one aspect of increasing  women’s greater participation in local government. As well as providing women councillors, particularly newly elected councillors, with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to operate effectively as councillors, it is also important to retain women in local government once they have been elected. This is more likely to happen when their experience in council is positive. 

The Department for Women (DFW), with the support of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA), the Local Government and Shires Associations (LGSA), the Department of Local Government (DLG) and the Premier’s Council for Women (PCW), recently initiated the Hands Up for Women in Council! Project. This project is aimed at identifying the support requirements of women councillors, and developing and piloting a best practice model of initiatives to address their support needs. It is proposed that the model be piloted and evaluated in three councils representing metropolitan, regional and rural local government areas. 

This issues paper is intended as a first step in identifying women councillors’ support issues and canvasses a number of possible elements of a best practice model of support. *

Featured here are excerpts from the Issues Paper:

Section 3: Support Issues features Issues of concern for women councillors. These are identified as:  practical barriers to participation;  dealing with inappropriate and harassing behaviours;         professional development through needs-based training and information (including training on meeting processes and procedures and other aspects of local government);  access to information and training;  professional and personal support through peer support, networking and mentoring relationships.

Section 5:  A 10-point action plan of best practice for supporting women councillors  

The Hands Up for Women in Council! working party has put together a draft action plan for councils. The draft action plan sets out key best practice strategies to be adopted and implemented by councils to better support women councillors.

Section 6: Where to from here?

This section invites comments and/or feedback all of which will be considered in the development of the best practice model.

Source: *-* from Section 1.1 and 1.2 of Support Strategies for Women Councillors in NSW - An Issues Paper, March 2001

Section E

Have you ever thought of standing for election to a Rural Lands Protection Board?

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Did you know that there are more than 380 directors of NSW Rural Lands Protection Boards (RLPBs) and just 34 are women.  The RLPBs are holding their 4-yearly elections in September 2001 with nominations to close in August–September.   The Department for Women and the RLPBs’ State Council want to encourage more women 'on board' and can show you how.

What do RLPBs do? RLPBs play an important role in your community, looking after: herd or flock based animal health;  control of feral animals, such as wild dogs, rabbits, feral pigs and foxes; and v control and management of traveling stock routes and reserves.  They also have a role in natural disaster relief.

Why become a director? Becoming a director of your local RLPB will give you an opportunity to: have a say in decisions that affect your local community;  build on your skills; and meet and work with people in your rural community.

Who are the directors? Directors are everyday local people who want to make a difference in their community. They can be farmers, schoolteachers, or simply people committed to their local area.

Source: RWN