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The Age
12-07-2025
- General
- The Age
The care fracture: how shocking abuse allegations have hit mothers
Writing on the professional women's website Women's Agenda this week, The Parenthood chief executive Georgie Dent also named this mother-blame phenomenon: 'In this moment of national grief and reckoning, the last thing families need is guilt piled on top of their fear and distress,' she wrote. 'And yet, some are using this crisis to argue that parents (but mostly mums) should just stay home – as if that's a real or simple choice for most families.' The blame and shame comments have been posted online on news articles about the abuse allegations, and in parenting forums on social media. On the longstanding parenting site Kidspot, columnist Lauren Robinson said she also uses childcare and noted: 'I'm sick of seeing that decision twisted into some suggestion of parental neglect.' Dr Emily Musgrove, resident psychologist on the hit podcast The Imperfects, on Thursday alluded to the resurfacing of the similarly enduring myth 'that the mum is available and responsible at all times'. 'My sense is we [mothers in this generation] are getting so much more exposed to guilt because we are violating this idealised mother role,' she said. Loading Numbers of women working are at a record high, as are numbers of children in early learning centres, supported by government policies encouraging women back to work. That backward ideas about working mothers have re-emerged following childcare abuse allegations has troubled advocates, especially as policies now exist to also support fathers to participate in childcare. The proportion of Australians grappling with juggling work and family care is not insignificant. In the March quarter of 2025, approximately 1,444,410 children from 1,015,790 families in Australia were using Child Care Subsidy (CCS)-approved care. These children attended an average of 27.5 hours of care per week. Data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that as of the March quarter last year, 48 per cent of one-year-olds were enrolled in CCS-approved childcare services, up from 39 per cent in 2015. 'We are seeing an increasing proportion of new mothers remaining in employment after childbirth, with the proportion of employed mothers of an under-one-year-old increasing from 30 per cent in 1991 to 57 per cent in 2021,' a spokeswoman says. But academics including Melbourne University sociology professor Leah Ruppanner say the psychological burden of the tension between government policies – and economic conditions – that encourage both parents to work soon after having babies is still assigned primarily to mothers. Ruppanner's book, Drained, on women as the disproportionate mental load-bearers of parenting comes out next year. Anxiety triggered by disturbing childcare-abuse news is likely to also be felt by fathers, she said, but social pressure and responsibility for care of young children is still squarely on women. 'Mothers have an incredible amount of guilt, especially around whether they're being 'good' mothers, and now the energy of thinking about safety is just going to add one more layer to the mental load,' she says. 'We've been told women are solely responsible for the future of their children so you'd better not mess it up ... People think [mothers] have these open choices, but they don't. They're constrained economically, attitudinally.' Though she gains great satisfaction from her career as a registered psychologist south-west of Sydney, Alysha-Leigh Femeli says she has felt this tension between leaving young children in care – even during 'a very slow transition' – and the fulfilment of re-engaging in her work. She has treated families in the perinatal period for 13 years and is told by clients that they are so distressed by the recent child abuse allegations they are questioning if they should keep working. It is a sentiment voiced by one distressed mother interviewed on TV as she collected her toddler from Creative Gardens, the childcare centre at which alleged offender Joshua Dale Brown worked in south-western Melbourne. As the Victorian Department of Health prepared to text families of 1200 children aged five months to two years old, urging them to arrange STI tests for their babies and toddlers, the mother said she was questioning whether she should work. Loading Femeli says this is not an uncommon response. 'Women are terrified, really terrified, and I've had people wondering whether they should just pull their kids out of care because they feel so scared – this feels like something they hadn't even anticipated as an option. 'For a lot of women, working is a really important part of caring for their mental health,' she says. To have a break from [constantly caring for young children] can also be 'an important part of making sure they are wonderful mothers,' she says. Even so, 'I found it really hard going back to work, I had families [to see] but I felt heartbroken at the idea I would leave my babies … 'But I would always come back from work feeling really rejuvenated, like I'd gotten to use my brain; it was important for me to do be able to do that.' Femeli, a member of the Australian Association of Psychologists, describes the 'spike of anxiety' mothers may already feel when returning to work, and says it is driven by stubborn gender stereotypes. 'There is still a societal expectation that women will be the primary caregivers regardless of how much they are working: so you are going to 'fail' somewhere, either your employers or your responsibilities as a caregiver,' she says. 'I don't think I have a perinatal client who hasn't come with some level of guilt because they've had to go to work.' Unlike those in some European and Nordic countries, Australian culture expects mothers to take responsibility for childcare even when they are working and the mother's income is vital, she says. Yet mothers tell Femeli their sense is that their employment is considered more 'disposable'. Though the gender equality movement has fought to shift assumptions about parenting and women's right to participate in employment, clients feel the message still received is, 'when a woman comes back to work, it's almost like someone is doing her a favour by letting her come back'. And this is concerning. Femeli is among those calling for better support for mothers and families as they juggle financial imperatives and their need to provide quality care to babies and very young children, as she believes getting women into work has been a higher priority than supporting mothers and children. She urges mothers who may feel consumed with worry or guilt as a result of recent news to realise it is not normal and to speak to their GP rather than decide on changing their work pattern while feeling unsettled. As rates of young mothers working full-time increase, workplace gender equality consultant Prue Gilbert says corporate women are also reporting rising feelings of guilt, more so than in previous years. 'We are hearing in coaching that women are returning to work earlier [after having babies] than they have done in the past, and are more likely to be going back full-time,' says Gilbert, chief executive of the workplace/parents consultancy Grace Papers. On May 15, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data showing women's participation in the workforce had reached a record high of 63.4 per cent. A general rise in employment participation 'was strongest for women workers, increasing by 65,000, including 42,000 full-time jobs'. 'The data indicates the federal government's commitment to Early Childhood Education and Care and working women's rights is helping more women to find and stay in secure jobs,' the bureau stated. Loading Gilbert says feelings of guilt came through as she reviewed coaching insights: 'Guilt kept on coming up in themes. We haven't heard it so strongly in quite a number of years.' She wonders if the earlier work return, driven by economic uncertainty and organisational restructuring, is contributing. Ironically, use-it-or-lose it parental leave policies for fathers, which mean they need to take their entitlement within the first 12 months of the baby's life or forfeit it, are contributing to mothers' earlier return to employment. This phenomenon has also crossed the radar of the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Ged Kearney. 'I went back to work seven weeks after my twins were born – it was a difficult choice, but the right one for me,' Kearney says. 'What made things even harder was the judgment I faced – it's horrible that in the 2020s we're still having this conversation. 'No parent should feel guilty for going or not going back to work and every parent deserves to know their children are safe and cared for.' As her government prepares to bring legislation to parliament to cut off funding to early education centres that put profit over child safety, Georgie Dent continues to put pressure on it to create an independent national early childhood commission, as recommended by the Productivity Commission's landmark review. It would oversee safety, quality, access, workforce and funding, and ensure children are protected and services are accountable – reassurance parents need. Loading 'For so many households with young children, they are having a really hard time: financially, economically ... it's a luxury position to be able to stay afloat on one income,' says Dent. 'I have seen an unprecedented level of anguish and distress among parents … and been thinking about how it's so cruel to add guilt on top of that.'
Sydney Morning Herald
12-07-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
The care fracture: how shocking abuse allegations have hit mothers
Writing on the professional women's website Women's Agenda this week, The Parenthood chief executive Georgie Dent also named this mother-blame phenomenon: 'In this moment of national grief and reckoning, the last thing families need is guilt piled on top of their fear and distress,' she wrote. 'And yet, some are using this crisis to argue that parents (but mostly mums) should just stay home – as if that's a real or simple choice for most families.' The blame and shame comments have been posted online on news articles about the abuse allegations, and in parenting forums on social media. On the longstanding parenting site Kidspot, columnist Lauren Robinson said she also uses childcare and noted: 'I'm sick of seeing that decision twisted into some suggestion of parental neglect.' Dr Emily Musgrove, resident psychologist on the hit podcast The Imperfects, on Thursday alluded to the resurfacing of the similarly enduring myth 'that the mum is available and responsible at all times'. 'My sense is we [mothers in this generation] are getting so much more exposed to guilt because we are violating this idealised mother role,' she said. Loading Numbers of women working are at a record high, as are numbers of children in early learning centres, supported by government policies encouraging women back to work. That backward ideas about working mothers have re-emerged following childcare abuse allegations has troubled advocates, especially as policies now exist to also support fathers to participate in childcare. The proportion of Australians grappling with juggling work and family care is not insignificant. In the March quarter of 2025, approximately 1,444,410 children from 1,015,790 families in Australia were using Child Care Subsidy (CCS)-approved care. These children attended an average of 27.5 hours of care per week. Data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that as of the March quarter last year, 48 per cent of one-year-olds were enrolled in CCS-approved childcare services, up from 39 per cent in 2015. 'We are seeing an increasing proportion of new mothers remaining in employment after childbirth, with the proportion of employed mothers of an under-one-year-old increasing from 30 per cent in 1991 to 57 per cent in 2021,' a spokeswoman says. But academics including Melbourne University sociology professor Leah Ruppanner say the psychological burden of the tension between government policies – and economic conditions – that encourage both parents to work soon after having babies is still assigned primarily to mothers. Ruppanner's book, Drained, on women as the disproportionate mental load-bearers of parenting comes out next year. Anxiety triggered by disturbing childcare-abuse news is likely to also be felt by fathers, she said, but social pressure and responsibility for care of young children is still squarely on women. 'Mothers have an incredible amount of guilt, especially around whether they're being 'good' mothers, and now the energy of thinking about safety is just going to add one more layer to the mental load,' she says. 'We've been told women are solely responsible for the future of their children so you'd better not mess it up ... People think [mothers] have these open choices, but they don't. They're constrained economically, attitudinally.' Though she gains great satisfaction from her career as a registered psychologist south-west of Sydney, Alysha-Leigh Femeli says she has felt this tension between leaving young children in care – even during 'a very slow transition' – and the fulfilment of re-engaging in her work. She has treated families in the perinatal period for 13 years and is told by clients that they are so distressed by the recent child abuse allegations they are questioning if they should keep working. It is a sentiment voiced by one distressed mother interviewed on TV as she collected her toddler from Creative Gardens, the childcare centre at which alleged offender Joshua Dale Brown worked in south-western Melbourne. As the Victorian Department of Health prepared to text families of 1200 children aged five months to two years old, urging them to arrange STI tests for their babies and toddlers, the mother said she was questioning whether she should work. Loading Femeli says this is not an uncommon response. 'Women are terrified, really terrified, and I've had people wondering whether they should just pull their kids out of care because they feel so scared – this feels like something they hadn't even anticipated as an option. 'For a lot of women, working is a really important part of caring for their mental health,' she says. To have a break from [constantly caring for young children] can also be 'an important part of making sure they are wonderful mothers,' she says. Even so, 'I found it really hard going back to work, I had families [to see] but I felt heartbroken at the idea I would leave my babies … 'But I would always come back from work feeling really rejuvenated, like I'd gotten to use my brain; it was important for me to do be able to do that.' Femeli, a member of the Australian Association of Psychologists, describes the 'spike of anxiety' mothers may already feel when returning to work, and says it is driven by stubborn gender stereotypes. 'There is still a societal expectation that women will be the primary caregivers regardless of how much they are working: so you are going to 'fail' somewhere, either your employers or your responsibilities as a caregiver,' she says. 'I don't think I have a perinatal client who hasn't come with some level of guilt because they've had to go to work.' Unlike those in some European and Nordic countries, Australian culture expects mothers to take responsibility for childcare even when they are working and the mother's income is vital, she says. Yet mothers tell Femeli their sense is that their employment is considered more 'disposable'. Though the gender equality movement has fought to shift assumptions about parenting and women's right to participate in employment, clients feel the message still received is, 'when a woman comes back to work, it's almost like someone is doing her a favour by letting her come back'. And this is concerning. Femeli is among those calling for better support for mothers and families as they juggle financial imperatives and their need to provide quality care to babies and very young children, as she believes getting women into work has been a higher priority than supporting mothers and children. She urges mothers who may feel consumed with worry or guilt as a result of recent news to realise it is not normal and to speak to their GP rather than decide on changing their work pattern while feeling unsettled. As rates of young mothers working full-time increase, workplace gender equality consultant Prue Gilbert says corporate women are also reporting rising feelings of guilt, more so than in previous years. 'We are hearing in coaching that women are returning to work earlier [after having babies] than they have done in the past, and are more likely to be going back full-time,' says Gilbert, chief executive of the workplace/parents consultancy Grace Papers. On May 15, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data showing women's participation in the workforce had reached a record high of 63.4 per cent. A general rise in employment participation 'was strongest for women workers, increasing by 65,000, including 42,000 full-time jobs'. 'The data indicates the federal government's commitment to Early Childhood Education and Care and working women's rights is helping more women to find and stay in secure jobs,' the bureau stated. Loading Gilbert says feelings of guilt came through as she reviewed coaching insights: 'Guilt kept on coming up in themes. We haven't heard it so strongly in quite a number of years.' She wonders if the earlier work return, driven by economic uncertainty and organisational restructuring, is contributing. Ironically, use-it-or-lose it parental leave policies for fathers, which mean they need to take their entitlement within the first 12 months of the baby's life or forfeit it, are contributing to mothers' earlier return to employment. This phenomenon has also crossed the radar of the Assistant Minister for Social Services, Ged Kearney. 'I went back to work seven weeks after my twins were born – it was a difficult choice, but the right one for me,' Kearney says. 'What made things even harder was the judgment I faced – it's horrible that in the 2020s we're still having this conversation. 'No parent should feel guilty for going or not going back to work and every parent deserves to know their children are safe and cared for.' As her government prepares to bring legislation to parliament to cut off funding to early education centres that put profit over child safety, Georgie Dent continues to put pressure on it to create an independent national early childhood commission, as recommended by the Productivity Commission's landmark review. It would oversee safety, quality, access, workforce and funding, and ensure children are protected and services are accountable – reassurance parents need. Loading 'For so many households with young children, they are having a really hard time: financially, economically ... it's a luxury position to be able to stay afloat on one income,' says Dent. 'I have seen an unprecedented level of anguish and distress among parents … and been thinking about how it's so cruel to add guilt on top of that.'
News.com.au
27-04-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
‘Deafening': Billion-dollar ‘national emergency' barely worth a mention in election campaign
It's the critical issue that costs Australia an estimated $26 billion a year and rising — and one that, if you've been listening to Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton for the past four of this five-week federal election campaign, has barely crossed the lips of either leader. Already in 2025, an estimated 23 Australian women have lost their lives — the majority allegedly as a result of male violence — according to award-winning journalist and Australian Femicide Watch founder, Sherele Moody. Seven of those have occurred within the last week. 'Each of them was a statistic. Each should still be alive,' National Women's Safety Alliance director, Katherine Berney, wrote in Women's Agenda this week. 'Yet not one question about gender-based violence was raised in the first two leaders' debates … The message from our political class is deafening – tax cuts, defence, and housing are national priorities. But women's lives? Not even worth a mention. 'This silence isn't just disappointing, it's dangerous.' Last year was the worst 12 months on record for men's violence against women in Australia since 2016. That approximately one woman was (allegedly) killed every four days by a current or former partner threw into sharp relief the effectiveness of the response systems – including police and courts – meant to keep them safe, and the dire lack of funding appointed to critical specialist domestic, family and sexual violence response services. Yet the federal budget in March hardly touched the sides of the level of investment needed to meet demand for frontline services, 'let alone allow services to expand and improve their capacity', Monash University's Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon told at the time. Rendering men's violence against women, once again, little more than a political afterthought. Perhaps what best summarises the terrible imbalance of justice when it comes to crimes men perpetrate on women is authorities' response to it versus their swift action in 2014 – when they shut down the night-life of an entire city within months of two young men being murdered in one-punch attacks. The stark comparison has been made time and again as gendered violence in Australia morphed from crisis to epidemic, most recently by founder and CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), Kon Karapanagiotidis. 'Seven women have been killed in the past seven days. Not a word from Albanese or Dutton. Not a word,' he wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that's since gone viral. 'If seven men had been killed by one punch attacks in the last seven days we would have curfews, emergency task forces and billion dollar commitments to stop it. Women get nothing. 'We have a national emergency of male violence against women and no political leadership. 'Both care more about not upsetting male voters by naming this crisis than they do about protecting the human rights of women to live free of the threat of male violence. 'Both have failed women. Send a message with your vote this election.' It has taken both leaders until this week – early voting already open and within spitting distance of election day – to release their party's respective 'commitments' to overcoming the violence that continues to rob women and children of their lives. On Thursday, Mr Dutton announced the Coalition's 14-point plan, which includes expanding the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program and the Leaving Violence Program (which provides one-off funding to help cover the cost of leaving an abusive relationship). As part of the $90 million package, it would also criminalise the use of mobile phones by perpetrators to threaten and track partners, and increase crisis helpline support to ensure victim-survivors 'have their calls answered and get the immediate assistance they require'. 'As a former police officer who attended numerous domestic violence call-outs, I know the lifelong impact of these horrific crimes,' the Opposition Leader said. 'A government I lead will be focused on delivering real change so that families, women and children are safer and we end family and domestic violence.' If elected again on May 3, the Prime Minister vowed to go further in addressing what he last year labelled a national crisis, with a raft of 'innovative' measures to target offenders, including spending $8.6 million for ankle bracelets on those who pose the greatest risk and early intervention programs. Labor's announcement also focused heavily on 'fast growing and insidious' financial abuse. Katy Gallagher, Minister for both Women and Finance, unveiled the plan on Tuesday, telling reporters her party will 'take action to legislate changes in the superannuation, tax and social security systems so they cannot be weaponised by perpetrators'. Can either party really call it a 'commitment', though, if it's taken you four weeks of a campaign to address? It seems much more akin to an afterthought. Neither's plan, Monash's Dr Fitz-Gibbon and Australian National University Research Fellow Dr Hayley Boxall pointed out in a piece for The Conversation, 'represent a commitment to ending gender-based violence'. 'They both propose a patchwork of largely reactive initiatives. These will fail to deliver holistic reform to prevent violence and to intervene early enough to meaningfully reduce it,' they wrote. Neither party proposes any intended action against sexual violence, implementing housing or recovery support beyond emergency accommodation and age-appropriate crisis responses for children, or the need to effectively engage men and boys. 'Finally, there is no discussion of the need for greater monitoring and evaluation efforts. We cannot fix what we do not measure,' Dr's Fitz-Gibbon and Boxall wrote. While both Labor the and Coalition promised in their announcements to build on the National Plan – which aspires to eliminate to eliminate gender-based violence in one generation – three years into its delivery, 'the persistent prevalence of this violence shows we must do more'. 'We need visible, bipartisan leadership that treats this issue with the same gravity we afford to other national emergencies.'
Daily Telegraph
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Telegraph
‘Deafening': Billion-dollar ‘national emergency' barely worth a mention in election campaign
Don't miss out on the headlines from Federal Election. Followed categories will be added to My News. It's the critical issue that costs Australia an estimated $26 billion a year and rising — and one that, if you've been listening to Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton for the past four of this five-week federal election campaign, has barely crossed the lips of either leader. Already in 2025, an estimated 23 Australian women have lost their lives — the majority allegedly as a result of male violence — according to award-winning journalist and Australian Femicide Watch founder, Sherele Moody. Seven of those have occurred within the last week. 'Each of them was a statistic. Each should still be alive,' National Women's Safety Alliance director, Katherine Berney, wrote in Women's Agenda this week. 'Yet not one question about gender-based violence was raised in the first two leaders' debates … The message from our political class is deafening – tax cuts, defence, and housing are national priorities. But women's lives? Not even worth a mention. 'This silence isn't just disappointing, it's dangerous.' Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese during Channel 9's The Great Debate on Tuesday. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen/POOL via NewsWire Last year was the worst 12 months on record for men's violence against women in Australia since 2016. That approximately one woman was (allegedly) killed every four days by a current or former partner threw into sharp relief the effectiveness of the response systems – including police and courts – meant to keep them safe, and the dire lack of funding appointed to critical specialist domestic, family and sexual violence response services. Yet the federal budget in March hardly touched the sides of the level of investment needed to meet demand for frontline services, 'let alone allow services to expand and improve their capacity', Monash University's Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon told at the time. Rendering men's violence against women, once again, little more than a political afterthought. Perhaps what best summarises the terrible imbalance of justice when it comes to crimes men perpetrate on women is authorities' response to it versus their swift action in 2014 – when they shut down the night-life of an entire city within months of two young men being murdered in one-punch attacks. The stark comparison has been made time and again as gendered violence in Australia morphed from crisis to epidemic, most recently by founder and CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), Kon Karapanagiotidis. 'Seven women have been killed in the past seven days. Not a word from Albanese or Dutton. Not a word,' he wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday that's since gone viral. 'If seven men had been killed by one punch attacks in the last seven days we would have curfews, emergency task forces and billion dollar commitments to stop it. Women get nothing. 'We have a national emergency of male violence against women and no political leadership. 'Both care more about not upsetting male voters by naming this crisis than they do about protecting the human rights of women to live free of the threat of male violence. 'Both have failed women. Send a message with your vote this election.' It has taken both leaders until this week – early voting already open and within spitting distance of election day – to release their party's respective 'commitments' to overcoming the violence that continues to rob women and children of their lives. On Thursday, Mr Dutton announced the Coalition's 14-point plan, which includes expanding the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program and the Leaving Violence Program (which provides one-off funding to help cover the cost of leaving an abusive relationship). As part of the $90 million package, it would also criminalise the use of mobile phones by perpetrators to threaten and track partners, and increase crisis helpline support to ensure victim-survivors 'have their calls answered and get the immediate assistance they require'. 'As a former police officer who attended numerous domestic violence call-outs, I know the lifelong impact of these horrific crimes,' the Opposition Leader said. 'A government I lead will be focused on delivering real change so that families, women and children are safer and we end family and domestic violence.' Mr Dutton unveiled the Coalition's intended measures to combat gendered violence on Thursday. Picture: Richard Dobson/NewsWire The Prime Minister announced several more 'practical measures' if elected on May 3. Picture: Mark Stewart/NewsWire If elected again on May 3, the Prime Minister vowed to go further in addressing what he last year labelled a national crisis, with a raft of 'innovative' measures to target offenders, including spending $8.6 million for ankle bracelets on those who pose the greatest risk and early intervention programs. Labor's announcement also focused heavily on 'fast growing and insidious' financial abuse. Katy Gallagher, Minister for both Women and Finance, unveiled the plan on Tuesday, telling reporters her party will 'take action to legislate changes in the superannuation, tax and social security systems so they cannot be weaponised by perpetrators'. Can either party really call it a 'commitment', though, if it's taken you four weeks of a campaign to address? It seems much more akin to an afterthought. A demonstrator at last April's No More! National Rally Against Violence march at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman Neither's plan, Monash's Dr Fitz-Gibbon and Australian National University Research Fellow Dr Hayley Boxall pointed out in a piece for The Conversation, 'represent a commitment to ending gender-based violence'. 'They both propose a patchwork of largely reactive initiatives. These will fail to deliver holistic reform to prevent violence and to intervene early enough to meaningfully reduce it,' they wrote. Neither party proposes any intended action against sexual violence, implementing housing or recovery support beyond emergency accommodation and age-appropriate crisis responses for children, or the need to effectively engage men and boys. 'Finally, there is no discussion of the need for greater monitoring and evaluation efforts. We cannot fix what we do not measure,' Dr's Fitz-Gibbon and Boxall wrote. While both Labor the and Coalition promised in their announcements to build on the National Plan – which aspires to eliminate to eliminate gender-based violence in one generation – three years into its delivery, 'the persistent prevalence of this violence shows we must do more'. 'We need visible, bipartisan leadership that treats this issue with the same gravity we afford to other national emergencies.' Originally published as 'Deafening': Billion-dollar 'national emergency' barely worth a mention in election campaign
Perth Now
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
'More power than you think': MPs court women's votes
Women have much to consider at the upcoming election, with politicians urging them to exercise their power at the ballot box. Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, Greens senator Larissa Waters and independent MP Allegra Spender attended a panel discussion on the key issues impacting women, hosted by news outlet Women's Agenda. Shadow minister for women Sussan Ley declined an invitation to take part in the panel, Women's Agenda said. The wide-ranging discussion ahead of the May 3 election covered childcare, climate change, domestic violence and the growing issue of homelessness among women of retirement age. The Albanese government's priority in its first term had been to drive women's economic security and this would continue if re-elected, Senator Gallagher said. "The biggest thing we can do is to make sure that unpaid care is recognised and valued, and that paid work for women is not undervalued, as it has been for too long," she said. She also committed the government to work towards universal early childhood education and care, but said there were a number of steps to get there. "We have to build the centres and the workforce and make sure that it is affordable, those are the logical steps to universality that we definitely want to get to," she said. Senator Waters pointed out that women's work was too often undervalued, leaving a growing cohort without financial security in retirement. "Women are retiring into poverty after a lifetime of unpaid care," she said. "Older women are also the fastest growing cohort experiencing homelessness." More could be done to encourage women into science, technology, engineering and maths careers which are typically higher paid, Ms Spender said. "Also supporting female entrepreneurs, which is another big gap and a way that women can build that economic empowerment, wealth and prosperity," she said. Ms Spender wanted to remind women that their vote had power at the ballot box. "Be the change you want to see in the world and vote like it ... you've got more power than you think," she said.
