Government policies, programs and services affect people in different ways due to gender. There are still gender gaps in many areas. These include:
- health and wellbeing
- pay
- workforce participation
- care responsibilities
- leadership
- representation
- experiences of gendered violence.
Through this strategy, we will continue to consider the lived experiences of women and gender diverse people in legislation, policies, programs and government spending.
Victoria is the first Australian state to implement gender responsive budgeting. We are proud to join other leading international jurisdictions using gender responsive budgeting to deliver real-life benefits.
Gender responsive budgeting tools have been trialled or adopted by nearly half of all OECD countries, including 5 of the 7 largest economies in the world: Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Not only has gender responsive budgeting helped to make governments’ expenditure more transparent and accountable, it has also enabled governments to adapt policies and investment to better address gender inequity.
In Austria, it has enabled landmark tax system reform to provide greater incentives for women to participate in the workforce. In Mexico, it has led to investment in programs for health conditions more likely to affect women, which aims to increase women’s life expectancy.
Victoria will continue to draw on international evidence to strengthen gender responsive budgeting practices and ensure fairer outcomes for every Victorian. The next step is to secure this approach in law, so it remains a part of Victorian budgets for generations to come.
We will also improve our data to better understand how gender-based discrimination intersects with other social attributes. Better data collection and use in line with the principles of Aboriginal data sovereignty is a priority in this strategy. It will enable us to build a thorough evidence base and develop appropriate, inclusive and effective policies.
Explainer: what is a gender impact assessment?
Under the Gender Equality Act 2020, defined entities must conduct a gender impact assessment (GIA) on any new policies, programs and services that have a direct and significant impact on the public, or those up for review.
GIAs are important planning tools that help us to think about how our policies, programs and services might meet the different needs of women, men and gender diverse people so we can develop solutions that benefit everyone.
Applying a gender lens to policy helps us to think from different perspectives and identify gendered impacts that may not be obvious to everyone. When we design something that will apply to everyone in the same way, this may seem fair – but it may have an unfair effect on particular groups of people, including people of different genders.
Without considering the perspectives of people of different genders, we risk contributing to existing inequalities – or worse, creating new ones.
For example, a local council is developing a new community space.
Alan is developing the project plan and thinks they should build the community space close to a popular freeway exit for ease of access and next to an existing skate park. Alan thinks the space should include a park with a playground, a community garden, a market zone for local vendors to hire stalls, some parking spaces, and some male, female and accessible bathrooms.
Alan is very proud of the space he has designed and invites his co-workers to have a look.
Bea notices that the proposed location of the community space is far from public transport options. She also notices that the park and market garden area don’t seem to have much lighting, or any emergency call buttons or phone boxes to call security officers. Cal notices that the space does not have any ‘all gender’ bathrooms. And Dejan notices that there are no baby change facilities in the male bathrooms and no pram access to the market zone.
Alan planned the space with the benefit of his experience, knowledge and reality (that is, his lens). His colleagues noticed other issues and opportunities for the community space because they have different lenses.
People of different genders may have different experiences due to other aspects of their identity, such as their cultural and religious background, age or disability. By including these lenses too, we can add more layers and perspectives to design.
Like Alan, we each have our own unique lens. This is why it is important to undertake a GIA – to make sure we look at a policy, program or service through different lenses, including the lenses of men, women and gender diverse people, as well as the lenses of people with different experiences of advantage and disadvantage, privilege and discrimination.
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