Leading  Issues Journal  

nMorley stated that "women’s under-representation in senior and decision-making roles is not merely symbolic.n  It is a form of status injury.  nThe lack of women in senior positions is both cultural misrecognition and a material and intellectual oppression." n

Morley asked "what is to be equalised when we call for equality? nIs there a collective dimension to gender equity across the globe? nWhat are the aspects of gender inequality that universally disturb and discomfort?"

The Sounds that Morley identified as having emerged in gender equity in Higher Education are: 

The Changing Purpose of the University

Counting Women In: The Access Agenda

Gender Mainstreaming

The Gendered Division of Labour

Gender Violence and Sexual Harassment

Organisational Culture and Micropolitics

Women as Managers

With respect to the Silences, she considered:

Masculinities

Backlash

Intersection of gender with race, religion, social class, disability, sexual orientation

Alternative lifestyles for women

And in relation to the Contradictions she examined:

Is it possible to ‘do’ gender work without a feminist analysis?

Whose feminist analysis?

What theoretical tools are appropriate to the analysis of injurious acts?

Gender experts not influencing their own organisations.

Feminisation

Morley concluded with the following questions:

How can one avoid elite formation and development of multiple higher educations?

How can gender equity go beyond cultural recognition and symbolic or token inclusion?

What opportunities and choices is higher eduction opening up for all women?

How can gender equity initiatives in higher education contribute to the redistribution of social and economic rights of women in wider civil society?

To view the Paper, click here: Sounds, Silences and Contradictions: Gender Equity in Commonwealth Higher Education

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In Search of Sustainability 

Internet Conference, 1 February - October 2003

1 February 2003 - 31 October 2003

In Search of Sustainability, an innovative and progressive internet conference held from February to October 2003 was open to Australians from all walks of life. It aimed to stimulate wide public discussion on Australia's search for sustainability by tackling a different theme each month which can be freely downloaded from the website: www.isosconference.org.au  The nine months series of internet meetings are to be followed by a face-to-face conference in Canberra in November 2003.

A community based initiative, it hoped to take an objective look at Australia's future by:

• Providing an electronic venue for the exchange of ideas and current knowledge on issues that will affect Australia's long-term sustainability

• Drawing on Australian expertise across a wide range of relevant disciplines and perspectives to ensure that understanding of the issues is evidence-based

• Editing the product of these exchanges into balanced, accessible documents that can be used widely in the Australian community

John Burgess and Julia Connell from the Employment Studies Centre at the University of Newcastle presented a Paper entitled, "The Future of Work" as part of this conference series.

In this Paper, John Burgess and Julia Connell attempt to understand what has happened to work in Australia in the past 25 years in order to formulate a perspective of the future of the sustainability of work in Australia. They outline what has happened to work and the workforce over this period. Secondly, they consider what has happened to the rewards from work and thirdly, they look at the broad changes that have occurred in the institutions associated with work.

To view the Paper, see: The Future of Work by John Burgess and Julia Connell

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Health Reform in America

With Health care reform gaining momentum in Australia, information about a new community-based health reform process being implemented in the United States is well worth noting.

Wye River Group on Healthcare (WRGH) initiated a project in July 2002, called “Communities Shaping a Vision for America’s 21st Century Health and Healthcare.” This project was unprecedented – in its effort to understand how health care stakeholders and consumers view the values and principles underlying the American health care system. Phase I  was designed to elicit from health care leaders at the community level their thoughts about the values and principles that should be the foundation of health care in this country. 

During Phase I, WRGH held a series of Healthcare Leadership Roundtables, or “listening sessions,” in 10 diverse communities around the country between July 2002 and May 2003. In each community, WRGH assembled a diverse cross-section of public and private stakeholders with detailed knowledge of health and health care to reflect the nation’s diversity – not only its diversity of peoples, cultures and values, but also its diversity of health care challenges. Midway through its 10-city tour, WRGH began to develop a circle of advisers – leaders chosen from different health care sectors and communities – to help  develop recommendations and potential “next steps” in addressing common issues that arose in community discussions. 

After roundtable discussions were held in all 10 communities and the advisory boards wrapped up their work, WRGH hosted a retreat July 9-11, 2003, at the Aspen Institute Wye River Conference Center in Maryland.

To announce the “shared vision” that arose from this project, WRGH organized a national summit in September 2003 to showcase the findings of the 10-city tour and launch a national dialogue on health care among the American public, policymakers and health care stakeholders. 

The second phase of this project plans to build on the momentum created in Phase I by working with sponsors, national leaders, and local community leaders to develop and execute a campaign to raise awareness and engage the public in constructive dialogue on health care challenges.

One of the fundamental principles that emerged is that the problems in health care in America need urgent attention and need to be at the top of the nation’s list of priorities. 

Most community health care leaders agreed that the country has not developed a social contract for health care that is well-articulated and broadly understood. As a result, most Americans do not know what they can and should expect from their health care system. Nor do they understand their responsibility to contribute to the health care system.

What exists is a patchwork of public and private health insurance, a health care safety net under tremendous strain, and millions of Americans who are uninsured and/or medically underserved.  In the absence of a social contract for health care, it is exceedingly difficult to address such fundamental questions as what Americans can expect from their healthcare system, what services should be covered and for whom.

A full Report entitled “A Community Based Discussion of Values and Principles for American Healthcare”in PDF format (144 pages) is at: http://www.wrgh.org/book_shaping.pdf 

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Putting home ownership back in reach

On 20 September 20, the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced the establishment of a task force to study innovative approaches to reducing the costs of home ownership and the delivery of affordable housing assistance. 

Howard had charged The Menzies Research Centre with responsibility for undertaking this inquiry.  Christopher Joye, who is Director of the Menzies Research Centre and based at Cambridge University in England, outlines the details of his report to the Prime Minister in the article below.

By Christopher Joye

On June 6, Malcolm Turnbull and I presented a 380-page report to Prime Minister John Howard that advocated several approaches to radically reducing the costs of home ownership in Australia.

The insights offered in this submission, which was co-authored with colleagues from Cambridge, Harvard and New York University, are responsible for precipitating the Productivity Commission's housing inquiry and shaping its terms of reference.

For better or worse, the media attention to date has focused on our desire to relax the "all or nothing" constraint on home ownership and furnish families with the option of using debt and equity finance when purchasing their properties.

Along these lines, aspirants would not be compelled to acquire 100 per cent of the equity in their home or single-handedly bear the burden of the vast financial responsibilities inherent in owner-occupation.

Yet a considerable proportion of our analysis was also dedicated to investigating problems on the supply side of the housing market equation. So what were the key findings?

First, a great deal of confusion tends to reign in the emotive affordability debate. Most commentators make the mistake of attempting to judge the costs of home ownership in relation to the income levels of prospective acquirers. While poverty undoubtedly leads to significant suffering, this does not justify tying housing policies to the distribution of income.

If government wants to assist the economically disenfranchised, it should do so via targeted anti-poverty proposals. If it is especially eager to ensure that poor people are able to afford appropriate shelter, then housing vouchers that are linked to income may make sense. Good public policy, however, does not confuse issues that cause high house prices with those
that contribute to poverty.

Second, there is an affordability problem in Australia but it has nothing to do with income levels, interest rates or a dearth of exploitable land. Rather, it is the result of oppressive local and state government regulations (often imposed with the enthusiastic support of proximate
communities) that severely constrict the stock of low-cost properties and, when combined with ever-growing demand, artificially inflate the price of housing.

Viewed differently, these constraints on dwelling dispersion and the release of greenfield and brownfield sites act as a burdensome tax on new building, which leads to a mismatch between the accommodation needs of Australian households and the supply of available properties. 

This in turn produces a divergence between the price of homes and their underlying costs of construction. As a consequence, we recommend expanding the affordability debate to  incompass local and state government reform rather than confining ourselves to that perennial panacea, public housing.

Specifically, we believe several innovative steps can be taken to improve the availability of housing without resorting to subsidies and that would contribute to a striking reduction in the costs of home ownership right across the country.

The overall objective here is to accelerate the approval and land release process to promote private-sector investment in the production of affordable housing.
 
In particular, we propose a system in which local councils are set targets for the number of new building approvals they issue during any given period. The size of these quotas would be determined according to a variety of factors, including environmental considerations, the density of existing dwellings, developer demand and cross-municipality prices.

Hence, regions characterised by a combination of high prices and low dispersion would be set comparatively high targets, all else being equal. The scheme could be enforced by tying the council's funding to their ability to boost supply in line with the mandated goals.

This brings me to a more general point, which is that many local and state governments have failed to come to the affordable housing party.

To a certain extent, this is an upshot of their profound aversion to instituting changes that are perceived to be disruptive to existing residents (popularly encapsulated in the NIMBYism movement).

Although we believe that our strategy goes a long way to addressing these concerns, it may not garner adequate political support. In the event that it does fail, councils still have an arsenal of other alternatives on hand. As a minimum, they should strive to adopt clearer and more objective review standards, and expeditiously render land-use decisions in an attempt to enhance the ownership opportunities available to present and prospective home buyers.

The states, on the other hand, need to make a much greater commitment to providing the vital physical infrastructure (or at least its funding) that is required before zoned land can be made useful for housing purposes.

In the US and the UK, there has been emerging recognition of the merits of this method. For example, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg notes: "Our affordable housing strategy [rests on] changes that will cut building and land acquisition costs in order to facilitate private housing construction." His counterpart in London, Ken Livingstone, recently tendered a vision for his city along similar lines.

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Elimination of Violence Against Women News

1. On 17 December 1999 the General Assembly of the United Nations designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and has invited governments, international organisations and NGOs to organise on that day, activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem. Women's activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981.
2. In the third collection of reports, Violence Against Women: 10 Reports/Year 2002, published by the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of its Violence against Women Programme, it was reported that, "Besides being the victims of violence perpetrated by state agents and armed groups, women are frequently victims of physical and psychological violence within the domestic sphere and within the community. This violence by the hands of private individuals may include; domestic violence, crimes committed in the name of honour, female genital mutilation, rape and sexual assault, and trafficking into forced prostitution or forced labour." Across the board, these OMCT reports found that the vast majority of violence against women takes place within the family.

Over the past year, OMCT submitted ten alternative country reports to the five "mainstream" human rights treaty bodies on: Croatia, Czech Republic, Moldova, Poland, Spain, Sudan, Togo, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Yemen. (Source: Carin Benninger-Budel and Joanna Bourke-Martignoni, Violence Against Women: 10 Reports/ Year 2002, OMCT, 8.8.03. E-mail: omct@omct.org Website: www.omct.org)

3. On 23 September 2003 the International Day Against the Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Women and Children, Australian Democrats' Senator Brian Greig, who initiated a Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into the trafficking of women and children into Australia, says the momentum must continue to ensure the issue is not sidelined again by lack of political will or withdrawal of resources.  

Australian Democrats' Status of Women spokesperson, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, said trafficking in persons is a modern-day form of slavery, threatening the dignity and security of millions of people throughout the world. "The trafficking of people has become the third largest source of profit for international organised crime," Senator Stott Despoja said. "Yet, it is the victims who are often treated as criminals, or illegal immigrants, by officials."

Featured here is a speech made by Senator Stott Despoja on Monday night as an adjournment speech when the Senators are given an opportunity to speak about issues of importance.  

Violence against Women Speech by Senator Stott Despoja

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Opinion poll shows tide is turning for Refugees

Australians no longer think refugees are a threat to Australia's borders but they deserve a fair go, said national human rights group A Just Australia, at the launch of For Those Who Come Across the Seas, a new CD by leading Australian musicians.

"This poll says the national mood has shifted," said A Just Australia National Director Howard Glenn, in response to an independent Saulwick opinion poll released today by JOB futures.

The survey polled 1000 Australian workers asking them for their attitudes towards refugees in Australia.

A majority of those polled (61%) think refugees pose little or no threat to national security and a large majority (71%) think refugees should have access to government funded employment services.

"It's been two years since Tampa, the policy of naval interdiction has stopped boats from arriving and Australians no longer see refugees as a threat. Instead, Australian workers support the idea of a fair go for refugees", Mr Glenn said.

The poll shows that while most (54%) think refugees on temporary visas should return home if it is safe to do so, only about a third (37%) think that the Australian government should be responsible for deciding whether it is safe for those to return. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (55%) is preferred.

"The government's credibility has been damaged by its persistent deception and blame-shifting on refugee matters", Mr Glenn said.

"Australians trust the United Nations judgement on refugees more than their own Government.

The survey also showed Australians now rejected the language of 'queue jumpers' (30% approval), preferring more neutral language such as 'asylum-seekers' (78% approval).

"Australian opinion has moved on but thousands of refugees remain stuck in limbo.

"We are proposing a three point plan and urging the Federal Government to make the right choice:

• provide permanent protection for proven refugees, with assistance to return home on a voluntary basis;
• introduce a process for humanitarian visas or solutions for those stuck in the limbo of long term detention; and
• immediately release children and their families into the community.

"The government has made its point about border protection. There's no need to keep punishing these people", Mr Glenn said.

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On the 19th of October 2001, a tiny nameless fishing boat carrying over 400 asylum seekers, bound for Australia, sank in international waters. SIEVX is the acronym for 'Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X' (the X stands for 'unknown'). It is the name by which we have come to know the dilapidated, criminally overloaded Indonesian fishing boat that sank en route to Australia's Christmas Island. 

353 people died in what is now known as the tragedy of SIEV X.

146 children

142 women 

65 men

Last week Senator Jacinta Collins made the following comments concerning Justice Minister Ellison's response to a question she had put to him in July concerning the Jakarta Harbour Master's document:

When the final round of Senate Estimates hearings for 2003 begins this month, it is expected that Senator Collins and others will continue to vigorously pursue this matter.

To view other sites that provides more information about this tragedy see:

Asylum seekers drowned off Indonesia, PM Archive - Tuesday, 23 October , 2001  Reporter: Ginny Stein

Transcripts of video taped statements from the survivors of the boat that capsized with 418 asylum seekers on board in October 2001

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Nigeria's Amina Lawal's Stoning Sentence Overturned

Amina Lawal's plight has drawn much international criticism. Sentenced to be stoned to death for having sex out of wedlock in accordance with Shariah law in Nigeria, her unjust predicament set into motion a wave of objection from humanitarian and feminist groups, a campaign that was led by Amnesty International. The article below details how this abominable sentence was overturned.

_______________________________________

Nigeria Court Overturns Stoning Sentence By Todd Pitman, The Associated Press, Thursday, September 25, 2003; 3:49 PM

KATSINA, Nigeria -- An Islamic court overturned the conviction of an illiterate mother sentenced to be stoned to death for having sex out of wedlock, easing pressure on the Nigerian government in a case that has drawn sharp criticism from around the globe.

Lawyers hailed Thursday's ruling as a triumph for Islamic justice, but conservative Muslims in the predominantly Islamic north said Amina Lawal should have been executed.

"It's a big relief for all of us," defense lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim told The Associated Press. "Amina can have her life back, and we are grateful to the court."

Wrapped in a light orange veil and sitting quietly at the front of a small, sweltering courtroom, the 32-year-old at the center of the controversy appeared emotionless throughout the hearing, staring down at the floor, cradling her nearly 2-year-old daughter.

A panel of five judges in white turbans and black robes ruled 4-1 in Lawal's favor, citing procedural errors and arguing she was not given "ample opportunity to defend herself."

Lawal did not speak after the verdict, and police and lawyers hustled her away as reporters crowded around.

Had the sentence been carried out, Lawal would have become the first woman stoned to death in Nigeria since 12 northern states began adopting strict Islamic law, or Shariah, in 1999.

Reading the hour-long ruling in the local Hausa language, Judge Ibrahim Mai-Unguwa argued that only one judge was present during Lawal's initial conviction in March 2002, instead of the three required under local Islamic law.

He noted that under some interpretations of Shariah, babies can remain in gestation in a mother's womb for over five years, opening the possibility that her ex-husband -- whom she divorced two years before giving birth -- could have fathered the child.

Mai-Unguwa also said the policeman who first arrested Lawal in 2002 should have been flogged because he did so in violation of Islamic law, which requires four witnesses to the crime. Lawal was not "caught in the act," Mai-Unguwa said.

Ibrahim, the defense lawyer, welcomed the decision.

"It's a victory for law. It's a victory for justice, and it's a victory for what we stand for -- dignity and fundamental human rights," she said, smiling broadly.

Lead prosecutor Nurulhuda Mohammad Darma said he was "satisfied" with the ruling. The state has 30 days to appeal, but Darma said that was unlikely.

In the sole dissenting opinion, Judge Sule Sada said the conviction should stand since Lawal had confessed. The defense argued the confession was invalid because no lawyers were present when it was made.

The proceedings took place at the main appeals court in Katsina. Dozens of police -- carrying batons, rifles and tear gas -- stood guard, and onlookers peeked through barred windows into the stifling, blue-walled courtroom.

Filling the first row of wooden benches were defense and prosecution lawyers in black robes and white wigs -- leftovers from British colonial rule. Much of the country still relies on a version of the British legal code.

The case had drawn sharp criticism from international rights groups. President Olusegun Obasanjo's government and world leaders called for Lawal to be exonerated, and Brazil offered her asylum.

Katherine Mabille of the French group Avocats Sans Frontieres, or Lawyers Without Borders, said the ruling "was very good for Amina," but pointed out other cases were pending. Her organization is assisting two Nigerians facing amputation of their hands for theft.

On Tuesday, 20-year-old Jibrin Babaji was sentenced to death by stoning for sexually molesting three young boys in the northern town of Bauchi, the independent Punch newspaper reported Thursday.

Three people, including Lawal, have had stoning sentences overturned so far. Aside from the latest case in Bauchi, two others -- a pair of lovers -- are awaiting rulings.

Also under Shariah punishments, one man has been hanged for killing a woman and her two children. Muslim authorities have amputated the hands of three others for stealing respectively, a goat, a cow and three bicycles.

London-based Amnesty International called stoning, flogging and amputation "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" in a statement issued Thursday. The rights groups urged the Nigerian government to ban them.

The introduction of strict Islamic law in a dozen northern states heightened ethnic and religious tensions across the country, triggering violent clashes between Christians and Muslims that left thousands dead.

Most Nigerian Muslims, however, welcomed the implementation of Shariah, saying it is an essential part of their religion and discourages crime. Many in Katsina denounced Thursday's verdict.

"There was no justice. The Quran was ignored," said Masaud Kabir, a 24-year-old student.

Nura Ibrahim Aliyu, a 26-year-old civil servant, said he would "gladly" carry out the stoning himself.

"She has already confessed to her crime," Aliyu said. "That's enough for me."

© 2003 The Associated Press

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The Nobel Peace Prize 2003

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2003 to Shirin Ebadi for her efforts for democracy and human rights. She has focused especially on the struggle for the rights of women and children.

As a lawyer, judge, lecturer, writer and activist, she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country, Iran, and far beyond its borders. She has stood up as a sound professional, a courageous person, and has never heeded the threats to her own safety.

Her principal arena is the struggle for basic human rights, and no society deserves to be labelled civilized unless the rights of women and children are respected. In an era of violence, she has consistently supported non-violence. It is fundamental to her view that the supreme political power in a community must be built on democratic elections. She favours enlightenment and dialogue as the best path to changing attitudes and resolving conflict.

Ebadi is a conscious Moslem. She sees no conflict between Islam and fundamental human rights. It is important to her that the dialogue between the different cultures and religions of the world should take as its point of departure their shared values. It is a pleasure for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize to a woman who is part of the Moslem world, and of whom that world can be proud - along with all who fight for human rights wherever they live.

During recent decades, democracy and human rights have advanced in various parts of the world. By its awards of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has attempted to speed up this process.

We hope that the people of Iran will feel joyous that for the first time in history one of their citizens has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and we hope the Prize will be an inspiration for all those who struggle for human rights and democracy in her country, in the Moslem world, and in all countries where the fight for human rights needs inspiration and support.

Oslo, 10 October 2003 http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/2003/index.html

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CEO Turnover Points to a Short-Term Australia 

A new study which has found that Chief Executives of our largest companies have half the tenure than their overseas counterparts underlined a worrying trend towards short-termism in Australia, the Business Council of Australia said today.

The study, conducted by leading management consultants Booz Allen Hamilton as a joint initiative with the BCA, found that global trends resulting in more Chief Executives departing in quicker time are far more pronounced in Australia.

In particular, Australian CEOs on average spend only 4.4 years in the top job, compared to an average 8.7 years for their global counterparts.

BCA President, Dr John Schubert, said the study raised a number of serious issues not just for companies but also for investors, the market and the Australian economy generally.

“The fact that the average CEO of a large Australian company spends half the time in the position compared to Chief Executives globally is of concern,” Dr Schubert said.

“It points to growing expectations that CEOs are expected to deliver more in a shorter timeframe, at the potential expense of longer-term strategies.”

Dr Schubert said given the overall strong performance of the Australian economy and sharemarket the study raised issues as to whether Chief Executives were marked harder than those in other countries.

While M&A activity-related turnover was higher in Australia than overseas in 2002, the longer-term trend suggested this was not the singular issue that might explain Australia’s disparity in average CEO tenure.

Dr Schubert said other likely explanations might include the growing trend towards CEO performance in Australia being judged within shorter timeframes as well as the demands of overseas travel, the result of Australia being geographically remote from the mainstream of global trade, he said.

“Overall, the study questions whether the timeframes of demands on and expectations of Australian CEOs and their performance are realistic in the longer-term,” Dr Schubert said.

“The study also suggests we are potentially losing valuable experience at a quicker rate in what is a small market for experienced Chief Executives. This at a time when Australia relies increasingly on the performance of its large companies to drive local growth and performance in the global economy.”

The study found that:

• The rate of CEO turnover in Australia is, at nearly 17.8 per cent, much higher than the global average of just over 10 per cent;
  
• That the average CEO tenure in Australia has decreased, from nearly 6 years in 2001 to 4.4 years last year; and
  
• Mergers and acquisitions account for a sizable proportion of Australian CEO turnovers, but over the past three years the trends are broadly similar with overseas.

The study focused on all CEO turnovers, both voluntary and forced, of Australia’s top 200 ASX companies in 2002.

Source: Business Council of Australia 

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Literacy Volunteer Tutoring TAFE NSW

Do you know of adults in the community who may welcome the opportunity to increase their literacy skills with the assistance of confidential tutoring? 

Are you interested in becoming a Literacy Volunteer Tutor? 

TAFE NSW seeks to support and develop the literacy skills of adult community members. The course in Literacy Volunteer Tutoring will: 

·        Provide free training for those who wish to become literacy tutors.  

·        Provide a cost free pathway for community members to increase their literacy skills with individual and confidential support of a trained tutor. 

Training to become a Literacy Volunteer Tutor involves course work in both theory and fieldwork modules. 

On completion of the theory module, tutors are able to enter into fieldwork and serve the wider community with free personal and confidential tutoring.  

Community students are matched with available tutors. The Adult Literacy Officer will provide ongoing support and monitoring of the tutoring program. 

The Literacy Volunteer Tutor Program has been operating successfully, long term, enabling many people to improve literacy skills and self-confidence. 

Our adult students represent a wide cross-section of the community and are often those who have not had the opportunity to consolidate literacy skills enough for them to feel confident and effective with demands of literacy in the home or workplace.  

Personal improvement made by students, as a result of working with a trained tutor is often the catalyst for more informed choices and increased personal confidence along with providing a positive outlook towards the next step in education.  

Contact the Adult Literacy Officer at your local TAFE Institute for further information.

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