The Albanese government has achieved a striking gender equality milestone following its election for a second term.
Authors
- Elise Stephenson
Deputy Director, Global Institute for Women's Leadership, Australian National University
- Blair Williams
Lecturer in Australian Politics, Monash University
For the first time in Australian history, there will be more women than men in federal cabinet.This comes more than 120 years after women were first allowed to stand for federal parliament, and decades after Labor established its gender quota strategy .
Taking into account the full caucus, women will comprise 56% of the Labor party room , a clear record.
Percentage of ALP women in House of Representatives and Senate
Across all parties and the crossbench, women now make up a record smashing 49.1% of parliament. As recently as 2021, the Inter-Parliamentary Union ranked Australia a lowly 73rd out of 193 countries for women in ministerial positions in national parliaments. The influx of women at this election should see us rise to equal seventh place.
Looking beyond gender, the 48th parliament is shaping up to be more diverse than ever before, driven in large part by the scale of Labor's win at the election.
Women's place
Labor women now easily outnumber the men in both chambers: 54% in the House of Representatives and a likely 63% in the Senate, once results are finalised.
Anthony Albanese's new cabinet - the very top of the decision making process - is made up of 12 women and 11 men.
By contrast, Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott could find space for only one woman - Julie Bishop - in his cabinet in 2013.
The numbers improved under his successors Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison, whose first cabinet comprised 26% women.
Despite the historic number of current women cabinet ministers, the key positions of leader, deputy leader and treasurer are all still men.
Problem solved?
Albanese's new cabinet is certainly a win for women's representation. But have we achieved equality? Can we go home now? In short, no.
That's because the other side of the chamber has a very different record.
Women are critically underrepresented in the parliamentary Liberal and National parties. They make up just 28.5% of the former coalition across both chambers - a slight increase on the previous parliament.
However, women comprise just 21% of Liberal and National MPs in the lower house, a decline of three percentage points. This has sparked renewed calls from some conservative quarters to introduce quotas .
Sussan Ley has made history as the Liberal Party's first female leader. However, there are already indications she has inherited a "glass cliff" position , given she was elevated after a catastrophic failure at the ballot box.
Further, having more women in parliament does not guarantee substantive representative or inclusive policy-making. While some research shows women tend to advocate on female issues, a higher number of women politicians does not automatically mean more feminist policy.
Full ministry
Taking into account other characteristics, Albanese's first ministry was the most diverse in Australia to date. But he hasn't made advances with his second frontbench .
The retirement of Linda Burney cuts the number of First Nations ministers to just one - Malarndirri McCarthy .
The demotion from cabinet of Ed Husic - the first Muslim elected to federal parliament - and Mark Dreyfus , who is Jewish, reduces the cultural and linguistic diversity of ministers.
Penny Wong is still the lone "out" LGBTQIA+ minister and there are currently no openly disabled people in the ministry.
The average age of frontbenchers is 51. Only two ministers are under 40 - Communications Minister Anika Wells and newcomer Sam Rae .
Of the 42 frontbenchers who make up the full ministry, 23 are men and 19 are women.
Across the parliament
Beyond gender, almost one quarter of Labor members in the lower house identify as culturally and linguistically diverse, 1% as LGBTQIA+, 2% with a disability and 2% as First Nations. In the Senate, almost one in seven identify as culturally and linguistically diverse, 6% as LGBTQIA+, 6% as First Nations and none with a disability.
This is the first election where Gen Z and Millennial voters made up a larger share of the electorate than Baby Boomers. Yet only three Labor parliamentarians are younger than 35.
Charlotte Walker is expected to win the third ALP senate spot in South Australia. This would make Walker, who turned 21 on election night, the first federal politician born in the new millennium.
More work to do
Despite the progress, it's clear from a deeper analysis that parliament as a whole still doesn't mirror the people it represents.
Roughly one quarter of Australians are born overseas , yet we're not seeing this same diversity filter through to parliament.
Eight First Nations MPs and senators will sit in parliament, down from 11 in the previous parliament.
People with disability are underrepresented. They comprise over 20% of the population but are not yet elected to parliament in similar numbers.
Pinning all our hopes and dreams for better disability policy on the one or two people with disabilities in politics is unfair.
Diverse candidates
The Global Institute for Women's Leadership assessed the number of candidates from diverse backgrounds - women, self identifying LGBTQIA+, CALD, disability and First Nations - who were preselected by the main parties for the election.
The results were:
- Greens 30%
- Labor 26%
- Coalition 24%
- Others (independents and minor parties) 12%
Parliament falls a long way short of reflecting the diversity of the electorate because not enough diverse candidates are being chosen to run for seats.
But for future elections, inspiration can be taken from Labor's strong gains achieving, and surpassing, gender parity.
Elise Stephenson receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian government. She is a steering committee member of Women in International Security Australia (WIIS-A).
Blair Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
