MAY 2022

WEL’s 2022 Federal Election Scorecard.

No major Party gets full marks, but some do better than others

We wanted you to know that WEL has just launched its 2022 Federal Election Scorecard to help guide women’s votes for real change.

WEL’s scorecard reveals a mixed picture with the three major parties failing to fully address critical issues that affect women’s lives. Some scores are surprising.

Disappointingly the WEL Election Scorecard 2022 shows that the LNP has little or no policies in many areas that really matter to women, such as housing, safe and secure workplaces, adequate incomes and early childhood education and care.

We are pleased to see their slightly better showing in relation to eliminating violence and achieving some gender equity in vocational education and training.

That is not nearly enough.

Labor’s strong performance in 7 of the 12 Policy areas is encouraging. Their full commitment to strengthening women’s representation and providing safe and equitable workplaces shows they have taken on women’s concerns so forcefully advocated by the March4Justice movement in 2021 and earlier.

While the Greens have some excellent policies in areas crucial to women’s equality, it is surprising that they have not produced specific polices looking at the gendered impacts in areas they would see as their strengths: First Nations Women and Girls, Managing Pandemic Impacts on Women and Managing Climate and Environmental Crisis for Women.

See WEL’S Election Scorecard - How do the main political parties stack up?

WEL’s 2022 Federal Election Scorecard is based on a detailed assessment of the major parties’ publicly stated commitments against WEL’s top priorities.

See WEL's Policy Priority Chart here

Party commitments on issues such as pandemic management, violence and sexual assault, housing and income security can literally change women’s lives. Acting on issues like eliminating violence, access to reproductive healthcare or addressing women’s poverty can even be a matter of life and death and this goes for anywhere in Australia.

The Scorecard aims to empower women to make their vote count in whichever electorate, state or territory they place their vote.

Visit our social media platforms or check out our website to download our Scorecard and share it out to your networks. With only 5 days left, let's make sure our rage is reflected in our votes!

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Support WEL

As you know WEL is a feminist not for profit volunteer organisation. Our Election Group members have put in many hundreds of hours to develop the policy platform, scorecard and policy priorities chart.

We do not have the backing of wealthy people, nor do we enjoy support bases in rich metropolitan electorates. We need to build our resources for the next campaigns ... For an increasing number of conservatives here and elsewhere, women’s rights are still ‘conditional’, as we have seen in the recent US Supreme Court draft opinion on Roe vs Wade.

If you care about a more equal future for Australian women, donate below

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WEL Policy Forum: How Will Women Vote?

Around 100 invitees logged on to WEL’s Policy Forum last Tuesday 10 May.

Dr Anne Summers, Professor Nareen Young, Head of ACOSS Dr Cassandra Goldie and Professor Helen Hodgson talked through the ways in which Australia’s Political leaders and Parties have handled women’s policy in the election so far.

There was unanimity on the terrible impact on women and single parents, in particular flowing from the LNP and Labor refusal to consider an increase in Jobseeker to keep pace with inflation.

Dr Cassandra Goldie described the ways in which the latest round of tax cuts would largely flow to high paid male employees and disadvantage women and people living in poverty through further constraints on Government's capacity to provide services.

Panel members were concerned that the ‘teal’ independents reflected the rage expressed by women’s marches in 2021, where the major party platforms have failed to channel this rage into coherent policies to deliver justice for women. Some panellists felt that their fiscal conservatism and possible inclination to support policies limiting wages and weakening industrial agreements and regulations would work against women in insecure and poorly paid jobs and dependent on social security.

Members also noted the silences in the campaign so far. Very little on housing for women facing homelessness and fleeing domestic violence with the LNP failing to complete the Next National Plan for the Elimination Violence Against Women and the failures of the last Plan barely acknowledged.

Dr Anne Summers observed that Australia had a profoundly embedded and ongoing tradition of misogynistic violence with consequences extending into most dimensions of women’s lives. She felt that feminist campaigns could most usefully focus on the themes of women’s safety and security which together distil the economic, legal and social conditions for creating women’s equality.

You can view the full Forum here

WEL thanks our volunteer Campaign Manager Dr Bronwyn McDonald and Erina Finau, our Membership and Fundraising coordinator for staging and producing the Forum, and of course our wonderful panellists.

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Women decide Elections & we NEED your support! Donate Today

WEL depends more than ever on the support of our members and followers, to continue our essential work of lobbying and campaigning to protect the rights of Australian women. Armed with policies setting out our demands, we run campaigns and lobby politicians and governments to make women’s equality central to policy making and implementation.

We need your ongoing support!

Consider becoming a member and be kept WEL-Informed with our regular newsletter or become a monthly supporter– all proceeds go towards WEL’s work gathering research, meeting with industry leaders, lobbying politicians, collaborating with other women’s organisations, holding policy roundtables and conducting political education programs for women in the community.

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