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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-06-22 Daily Xml
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PREMIER'S COUNCIL FOR WOMEN

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about the Premier's Council for Women.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: The Premier's Council for Women was established by the Labor government in 2002 and plays the important role of providing leadership and advice to help ensure the interests of women are taken into account in government policies and strategies. The council is co-chaired by the former vice-chancellor of Flinders University, Anne Edwards, and Kate Gould, the Chief Executive Officer of the Adelaide Festival. I understand that its members are influential women with expertise in a range of areas such as health, education and primary industries. My question to the minister is: will the minister provide the council with details on any reports recently prepared by the council?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for Gambling) (15:16): Indeed, the Premier's Council for Women (PCW) is one of the government's key advisory bodies, and it has been actively involved in the review of South Australia's Strategic Plan. The council also has membership on the strategic plan's audit committee and Community Engagement Board. As many members will recall, the council contributed actively to the strategic plan review process by hosting consultation sessions with women across South Australia to listen to what issues are important to them.

The consultations attracted a diverse range of women who generously contributed to discussions on a wide variety of issues and provided strategies for the future of women and their families in South Australia. Information provided at these consultation sessions contributed to the advice the council provided regarding the update of South Australia's Strategic Plan. The council had extensive discussions about the issues women raised during the consultation and they also considered how to use the information received in those consultations. The PCW then developed its own work plan for the next two years.

The Premier's Council for Women has prepared a report on what it heard during the consultations and its resulting two-year work plan. The report Women in South Australia: Thinking about a Better Future has been sent to all consultation invitees and participants and can be found on the Premier's Council for Women website. Thinking about a Better Future outlines the council's focus areas for the next two years, which are: women's health and wellbeing, violence against women and safety, women's employment and economic status (including training, workplace conditions, flexibility, work/life balance and child care), women's leadership in all sectors and also women in disabilities.

The council continues to be committed to redressing inequities between different categories of women and will continue to advocate for consideration of the specific issues faced by women and girls from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds and from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds across all its focus areas.

The outcomes of the PCW consultation sessions were provided to the Community Engagement Board in October 2010. It is the Community Engagement Board's responsibility to manage the broader community consultation process attached to the update of the South Australian Strategic Plan. It recently presented its report to the government, and its recommendations for revisions to the Strategic Plan are now under consideration.

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