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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-26 Daily Xml
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Premier's Council for Women

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:47): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding the government's support for women. Can the minister please provide an update to the council about the Premier's Council for Women and how this will support all South Australian women?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest in this area. The Premier's Council for Women is a very important role supporting and providing advice to the government, both to the Premier and to myself as minister for women, and indeed across government.

The Premier's Council for Women was established in December 2002 and has provided leadership and advice to the South Australian government on the needs and interests of women through the provision of well-informed and strategic advice on policies, programs and matters of significance to women. Secretarial support is provided through the Office for Women.

The existing Premier's Council for Women was in place during the COVID period and raised a number of issues, including women's economic security, particularly considering the COVID-19 recovery. We thank the members who have served on the committee. As I have spoken about I think previously in this place, the government has also, as part of our election commitments, committed to develop an economic security and leadership strategy, which we have been consulting on. This is certainly going to be very important through the recovery phase.

We know that we have had some difficult times during COVID, particularly the unemployment rate but, as my colleague the Minister for Innovation and Skills has outlined, the April ABS data has demonstrated that employment has been bouncing back in South Australia. In terms of some 15,300 new jobs, 7,300 of those were employing women and 77 per cent were full-time roles. In South Australia we have the second highest level of women employed ever.

As well as thanking the outgoing members I would like, to congratulate the new members of the Premier's Council for Women who we have selected. Some names would be familiar to people. The chair is Ms Fiona Dorman, who is currently the president of the National Council of Women and deputy chair of the Australia Day Council. She has a science background and also has numerous successful South Australian businesses. Isobel Marshall is the 2021 Young South Australian of the Year. As well as being a tertiary student, Isobel is the co-founder and managing director of TABOO, a South Australian social enterprise that has the aim of eradicating period poverty.

Marli Smith heads procurement at the ASC, which is our largest locally-owned defence prime contractor. Kelly Baker Jamieson, who started Edible Blooms as a small startup in 2005, has been a Telstra Small Businesswoman of the Year. Karen Briggs, who is a Yorta Yorta woman, has a Bachelor of Design and has her own business, KLB Creative. Kirsty Mundy, who has over 25 years experience in the information technology industry, has worked in a number of global roles. They join Ms Maria Hagias, Jane Danvers, Shingi Mapuvire, Nerida Saunders and Michelle Veitch.

As we know, COVID has impacted a number of people differently. While a number of feminised sectors, such as education and health, have needed to continue employment, there are areas such as the event and tourism sectors that have been disproportionately impacted, so we are very keen in South Australia to drill down into the details of how we may improve the situation for working women going forward, and we look forward to releasing our economic security and leadership strategy in due course.

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