Women’s Electoral Lobby welcomes election of a second Albanese Government.

WEL congratulates Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese and his parliamentary team on Labor’s resounding victory in the 2025 Federal Election. We are excited and optimistic, following the decisive mandate which the Government won from the Australian people. That more than 55% of Labor MP’s and senators are women, with 12 women and 11 men in the Cabinet fuels our optimism.

We anticipate that the new Government will vigorously pursue initiatives already underway from their first term and set priorities, develop policy and fund measures to achieve their clear objective of gender equality.

WEL campaigned for priorities articulated in our 2025 Federal Election Policy Platform.

The Platform lists clear actions that the Government must take to deliver real equality for women, covering ten key areas.

In an atmosphere of global backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion, we remind the incoming Australian Government that any gains made by women, not only need defending, but also strengthening if we are to achieve genuine gender equality and social justice for women.

WEL’s policy priorities incorporate a set of recommended actions to achieve the necessary transformation to end inequality in a range of areas.

These include, but are not limited to, pressing issues affecting women of all backgrounds, with a program of action on the following top priorities: Eliminating all Forms of Violence against Women, Income Adequacy, Housing and Homelessness, Health and Reproductive Rights, Early Childhood Education and Care.

WEL’s platform also includes recommended actions on: a gendered approach to Climate Change, Vocational Education and Training, Human Rights Act for Australia, Representation and Leadership and Gender Responsive Budgeting as part of the Charter of Budget Honesty Act.

WEL places a high priority on the climate and environmental crisis which has specific gendered impacts and is deeply concerning for women. Women play a critical role in community preparation and response to environmental disasters. WEL expects the Government to develop and apply an intersectional gender lens on all its climate and environment-related policy.

We will be calling the Government to account on their implementation of ‘Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality’, the ‘National Women’s Health Strategy’, the Action Plans under the ‘National Plan to end Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032’, and the Report of the ‘Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches- Unlocking the Prevention Potential: Accelerating action to end Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence’, August, 2024.

An Australian Human Rights Act is now urgent if we are to legislatively secure gender equality and defend rights and protections in other critically important areas which are under attack internationally and from some institutions in Australia.

WEL will be looking for real changes to income support payments and the removal of arbitrary conditions and compliance mechanisms, as well as some investigation of the feasibility of a minimum income scheme.

In Health, WEL is asking for Federal Government leadership in guaranteeing universal, free access to reproductive health services and contraception and abortion as a first priority. This second term for the Government provides an opportunity to harmonise Australia’s abortion laws and regulations. 

We expect a long overdue implementation plan, with funding, to implement the priority areas of the National Women’s Health Strategy 2019-2030.

We welcomed the 2022 establishment of the National Women’s Health Advisory Council and request that it continue to provide essential guidance to the Minister and Assistant Ministers for Health.

We acknowledge the Government’s efforts on Housing and Homelessness, but are looking for a real increase in public and community housing so that it reaches 10% of all housing stock by 2050. WEL will monitor the construction targets under the various housing funds so that the Labor promise of 55,000 social and affordable homes is met. We note the specific targets for the allocation of homes to women fleeing domestic violence.

The housing crisis be-devilling most advanced economies can be ameliorated with an expansion of construction. This, however, requires skilled labour. WEL’s Vocational Education and Training priorities ask that we unlock the potential of women to train in trade areas critical to the construction and green energy industries and advanced technology with a priority on STEM.

WEL is delighted that Early Childhood Education and Care is now legislated to guarantee at least three days a week capped with a flat fee subsidy. WEL sees the future in this sector as universal access on the condition that this implied expansion is in the not-for-profit or public sector and is overseen and directed by the Commonwealth, working closely with the states and territories.  

WEL views the 2025 re-election of the ALP Government, underpinned by women’s strong electoral support and excellent women candidates, as a turning point in Australia’s progress towards gender equality. We trust and hope that our ambition for major reform will be matched by Government action and funding.

Members and supporters fund and drive WEL’s ambitious 2025 election effort.

We are very proud of our 2025 Federal election effort. In the great WEL tradition, launched in 1972, we strengthened women’s voices and helped elect candidates strongly committed to a gender equal Australia.

A huge thanks to the donors who responded so generously to our call outs. Your donations made our campaign possible. In particular they helped us pay for more social media design expertise and the work of our young team to build and greatly increase the reach of our messaging.

We acknowledge WEL members and allied experts who contributed thousands of volunteer/feminist activist hours to draft, design and produce the platform, the scorecard and campaign messaging.

 Our campaign team coordinated and produced:

• A policy platform for women’s equality. The detailed demands are based on research based rationales with five top priority policies:
  • eliminating all forms of violence against women;
  • health and reproductive rights;
  • housing and homelessness;
  • early childhood education and care;
  • income adequacy and equality for women.
    
    
• A detailed assessment of each major Party’s policies measured against our policy priorities, available to read or download HERE.
  
  
• The WEL 2025 Federal Election Scorecard.
  
  
• An intensive Instagram and Facebook based social media campaign to disseminate our policy priorities and scorecard.

WEL is non-party political

We summed up our message on party policies in a final mail out to members and supporters on the eve of election day. 

Sadly our message on the Coalition had to be that their ‘disconnect with the lives of working women and men is indicated by its apparent miscalculations in policies relating to parents' capacity to juggle work, commuting and children’ 

‘The LNP’s glacial progress on equal representation for women candidates and MPs suggests a low commitment to gender equality in their own ranks, despite the efforts of Liberal Party women’s networking groups.’

Nevertheless there is a glimmer of hope in the election of Sussan Ley, the first woman to lead the Coalition (now the Liberal Party). We will be writing to congratulate her and wish her well. We will also be writing to congratulate the new Greens Leader, Senator Larissa Waters.

We are setting out our expectations and demands for the next term in letters to the Prime Minister, the Minister for Women and other portfolio Ministers responsible for areas covered by our policies. See the new Ministry HERE.