WEL-Informed  August 2026

FEMINIST GIANTS OF THE ACTU STEP DOWN

WEL thanks outgoing ACTU President Michele O’Neil and Secretary Sally McManus for their leadership of the Australian union movement over the past 8 years.

Working with the Albanese government, Australian unions led by Sally McManus and Michele O’Neill have achieved major industrial law and wage gains for women, especially in the female-dominated care sectors, with the aim of closing the gender pay gap.

Their first major win was to persuade the new Federal Government to make gender equality a core objective of the Fair Work Act, making the Fair Work Commission prioritise fair pay for women.

Other achievements include the government enabling multi-employer bargaining. This has helped low-paid women join together in unions like the United Workers Union, the Health Workers Union and the Australian Services Union to raise wages substantially in industries like Aged Care and Childcare. Unions used to have to bargain separately with different private providers in these ‘market driven’ services.

Increases in the minimum wage determined by the Fair Work Commission and supported by the Federal Government have particularly advantaged women workers under awards.

One ongoing legacy of their leadership for millions of working women is the extension of paid parental leave to 26 weeks with super.

We are delighted that the new National Secretary of the ACTU Melissa Donnelly comes to the job with a strong record of leading the Community and Public Sector Union in successful campaigns supporting working parents including workplace flexibility and extended periods of parental leave. We anticipate the coming ACTU campaign for 12 months paid parental leave, which is the OECD standard.

ENDING VIOLENCE AGINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN - SECOND ACTION PLAN

WEL has made a submission as part of the consultation on the Federal Government’s Second Action Plan in support of its National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.

We set out WEL’s priorities to strengthen the Plan, with an emphasis on preventing harm before it occurs, improving system coordination, and ensuring long‑term recovery and healing for victim‑survivors. Our submission includes measures for success in each priority area.

Some of the main points we raise in relation to the Second Plan are:

• It should be intersectional, evidence‑informed and measurable.
• Primary prevention must address gender inequality as a fundamental driver of violence.
• Prevention programs need to ensure men and boys are constructively engaged.
• There needs to be a ‘no wrong door’ service system that reduces fragmentation and improves safety and continuity of care.
• A dedicated focus on children and young people is essential.
• Accountability and earlier intervention for people who use violence must be strengthened in ways that centre victim/survivor safety.
• Victim/survivor recovery and healing require long‑term, integrated support, especially in relation to housing and economic security.
• Funding by federal, state and territory governments for key programs and services needs to be allocated in their forward budget estimates.

COMBATTING ATTEMPTS TO RECRIMINALISE ABORTION

Since May this year there have been three attempts to partially recriminalise abortion at the state/territory level - in South Australia, Queensland and NSW. These initiatives seem to be part of a concerted national approach by well-funded religious and political groups, drawing from North American conservative playbooks, to erode hard gained rights incrementally through multiple legislative initiatives eg establishing foetal personhood, ’born-alive’ bills, sex selection etc.

Those in South Australia and Queensland failed, although former One Nation, Family First and now ‘Fair Go’ party member Sarah Game’s Bill passed the SA upper house and was supported by the Premier in the lower house.  

Following the increase in One Nation’s representation in the South Australian parliament it is likely that there will be further attempts to undermine reproductive rights in that state. If One Nation gains representatives following the November Victorian election and the March 2027 NSW Election we can expect assaults in those states as well.

The Abortion Law Amendment (Sex Selection) Bill remains on the agenda of the NSW Legislative Council. WEL has worked with our allies to counter progress with this Bill, which will likely return for further debate on 16 September. One Nation’s decision to make opposition to abortion and sex-based selection a flagship policy appears to be weakening opposition to the Bill amongst some previously pro-choice rural and regionally based Legislative Council members.

ADVANCING RURAL, REGIONAL AND REMOTE ACCESS TO ABORTION SERVICES

Inequitable access to reproductive health services is a key impediment to women’s equality.  NSW, Western Australia, South Australia, parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory have markedly limited rural, regionally based and remote access, with NSW amongst the worst. See Guardian article. 

Shamefully, Australia has the least accessible/most expensive abortion services amongst comparable countries, with abortion care cost free in New Zealand, Canada, the UK and Sweden. See a summary of the research by SPHERE here.  

Efforts by state and territory governments to address this serious inequity have been piecemeal, with Victoria and the ACT as the only state and territory where access has improved and costs have diminished. Abortion care is free in the ACT.

WEL policy is clear: abortion care should be free and universally accessible.

Federal government leadership for abortion services

A national approach with federal government leadership is needed to harmonise abortion legislation and achieve universal access.

Leading up to the 2025 Federal Election the Albanese Government announced a groundbreaking series of access and funding initiatives to support women’s reproductive health including adding new contraceptives (including LARC) to the PBS, increases in consultation time covered by Medicare for complex gynaecological conditions, the roll out of treatments, GP training and clinics for Endometriosis, menopause and perimenopause. 

To achieve the National Women’s Health Strategy aim of universal access, WEL and our allies will be advocating for a new national approach for abortion care. This could seek to standardise abortion legislation across Australia, integrate Medicare coverage of the components of abortion care (blood tests, ultrasounds, follow up treatments) with federal and state/territory collaboration to support training and provision at the local level, including GP networks.

SUPPORTING HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION

WEL has made a submission to the current NSW parliamentary inquiry into the Human Rights Bill 2025, a private bill presented by Greens MP Jenny Leong which ‘proposes to establish a statutory human rights framework for NSW and impose measures to support the protection of these rights’.

While submissions closed on July 3rd the inquiry has yet to publish these or initiate hearings. Less than three months remain until the end of the current parliament, with the NSW election scheduled for March 2027.

WEL believes that, while Australia’s patchwork system of state and federal anti-discrimination legislation is currently necessary, it is increasingly ill-equipped to protect or promote women’s progress to equality.

Read more about why human rights legislation is so critical in supporting women’s rights.

Click through to this article.

TAKE ACTION ON HOMELESSNESS

Women are particularly impacted by housing insecurity and homelessness due to the effects of family and domestic violence, the leading cause of homelessness, combined with economic and other disadvantage.

Homelessness Week, which aims each year to build community support and government commitment to end homelessness, provides an important opportunity to put pressure on government to make change. It has just ended but one way you can still take action is to sign the petition from the Everybody’s Home campaign. WEL has long advocated for the need to significantly increase Australia’s social housing and works in partnership with Everybody’s Home. We suggest you share the petition with others, too!

INTRODUCING OUR NEW WEL COORDINATOR

WEL is pleased to welcome Vanessa Mai as our new part-time WEL Coordinator who joined us late in July. Vanessa comes to WEL with strong policy, advocacy and stakeholder engagement experience and we look forward to working with her to further build WEL’s advocacy capacity.

You can read more about her on the WEL website and she can be contacted at: [email protected]. 

WEL would like to express its deepest appreciation to Amanda Keeling who has served as WEL Coordinator for many years. In our transition to a national organisation, Amanda supported our membership engagement and enabled our national communications and social media voice, particularly during our national election campaigns. Many, many thanks Amanda. WEL wishes you all the best for the future. 

WEL LEGEND – JOAN BIELSKI AO

Joan Bielski became a foundation member of Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) in 1972 and continued her active involvement in WEL throughout her life. WEL became the major organisation through which she channelled her political energies.

Read Jozefa Sobski’s heartfelt tribute to this great activist who worked tirelessly to advocate for women’s rights, particularly in the areas of education, employment and anti-discrimination.

Click through to this article.

SUPPORT WEL's WORK TODAY

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WEL acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.