NSW Women’s Strategy 2024 Report Card

Pillar 3: Participation and empowerment

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A woman is standing in a paddock up against a round bale of hay. She is wearing a light blue shirt, and cream, wide brimmed hat and is smiling.

Initiatives within Pillar 3 seek to ensure women and girls experience equal status with men and boys, are recognised for their leadership, and valued and respected for their diversity.

Improving gender equality is fundamental to improving outcomes for women, which benefits everyone. Challenging gendered norms, roles and expectations is fundamental to driving changes to discriminatory attitudes and beliefs. From leadership in formal decision-making to leadership in the community, more women are being seen and heard. Focus communities are grounded in the strengths that their diverse backgrounds, life stages and cultures offer. We continue to make progress, yet barriers remain to achieving equality for all women and girls.

Outcome indicator

Decrease in gender segregation in NSW education

Women account for only 6.8%, or slightly more than 1 in 20, completed apprenticeships or traineeships in ‘non-traditional’ fields (IT, engineering, agriculture, and architecture) in NSW (2022). ¹
68% of Year 11 girls in NSW are enrolled in 2 or more STEM subjects, compared to 82% of boys (2022). ²

Increase in completion of education and training by girls and women in NSW

Women make up over one third (38.1%) of people completing apprenticeships/traineeships (2022).³
Less than half of people from diverse backgrounds in NSW who complete an apprenticeship or traineeship are women (2022)⁴
- 43.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,
- 40.0% of people with disability,
- 36.7% of people living outside major cities,
- 44.6% of people with a first language other than English.
Girls complete Year 12 at a higher rate than boys (76% compared to 66%).⁵
Completion rates for Year 12 are greater for girls from a high socioeconomic background (83.1%) than from a low socioeconomic background (71.4%).⁶
Year 12 completion rates for girls living in outer regional areas (68.7%) and remote or very remote areas (71.6%) are lower than those of girls in major cities (78.8%) in NSW (2022).⁷

Increase in women in senior leadership in NSW

46% of directors on the boards of NSW State Owned Corporations and Public Financial Corporations are women. This is below the NSW Government’s gender diversity target of 50% (December 2023).⁸
In the NSW public sector, women occupy 53.0% of Grade 11/12 positions and 42.1% of Senior Executive positions (2022).⁹
In the NSW workforce, 40% of managers are women ( 2023).¹⁰

Increase in women’s social connectedness in NSW

More than 4 in 10 women in NSW (45.4%) feel very satisfied that they are part of their local community. This is similar to reports by men (43.2%) and shows that for many in NSW, social connectedness can be improved (2021).¹¹
Women in NSW tend to agree that they have social support in their lives (average agreement of 5.3 points on a scale from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree). Men show a similar level of agreement (5.2)(2021).¹²
More than 4 in 10 (43.5%) women in NSW gather socially with friends or family at least once a week, compared to only 40.2% of men. This suggest women are more socially active (2021).¹³

Case studies

Rural Women’s Network

Founded in 1992, the NSW Rural Women’s Network (RWN) connects and links women living in regional, rural and remote communities to information and services, and creates opportunities that build personal and business resilience. The network also provides an avenue for women to raise issues with the NSW Government. Women in regional, rural and remote communities face different barriers to those who live in urban areas, including less access to services, supports, transport, employment and training opportunities, and higher rates of socio-economic disadvantage.

RWN is managed by Women NSW within the Premier’s Department. In 2023, the network:

published The Rural Women’s Resource, a website including more than 300 resources to support the needs of women and girls living in regional, rural and remote NSW
delivered the Rural Women’s Gathering in Orange, which brought together more than 100 women from across regional, rural and remote NSW to network, be inspired and access information and support
hosted the NSW/ACT AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award State Finalist Announcement and supported the broader AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award, which celebrates the leadership of women in Australia’s rural and emerging industries, businesses and communities
announced the annual Hidden Treasures honour roll, which recognises women volunteers in regional, rural and remote NSW
published regular social media and e-newsletter updates to inform women and girls of events, services and more. The #BeRural campaign invited women and girls to share a selfie and their story of life in rural NSW across RWN social media channels, amplifying the diverse stories of women living and working in regional, rural and remote NSW.

Female-Friendly Community Sport Facilities and Lighting Upgrades Grant Program

In March 2023, the Female Friendly Community Sport Facilities and Lighting Upgrades Grant Program provided funding totalling just under $24.5 million to 93 projects across NSW. All projects are specifically designed to increase women’s and girls’ participation in sport and active recreation by improving or creating new sporting facilities.

The grants were awarded to projects in 91 local government areas across NSW, with an average grant value of just over $260,000. Grant recipients included community-based sporting clubs, councils, state sporting organisations, PCYCs, YMCAs and YWCAs, and private enterprises. Funds were used:

to upgrade or construct new unisex and universally designed changerooms for female participants, coaches and officials
for new and/or improved lockable shower and toilet cubicles
to provide parent and child change spaces
to upgrade or construct new lighting for sports fields, sports courts and playing areas (e.g. bowling greens) to increase potential use
to update or construct new lighting around sport facilities that improves safety for women and girls (e.g. connectivity pathway lighting between fields and clubhouses).

Based on the information from successful projects, it is anticipated that these will increase participation among women and girls at these facilities by an average of 96%.

References

1 National Centre for Vocational Education Research, VOCSTATS, 2022.

2 Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation data, provided by NSW Treasury, 2022.

3 National Centre for Vocational Education Research, VOCSTATS, 2022.

4 Note that for all cohorts, the gender distribution is approximately that of the state population (50.3% female, 49.7% male), except for people living with disability (55.8% female) and people who speak languages other than English (52.8% female). This means that women from these cohorts are even more under-represented in apprenticeship/traineeship completions than their male counterparts. Source: National Centre for Vocational Education Research, VOCSTATS, 2022.

5 Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), Year 12 certification rates, 2022.

6 ACARA, Year 12 certification rates, 2022.

7 ACARA, Year 12 certification rates, 2022.

8 NSW Treasury, Government businesses - board appointments, NSW Treasury website, December 2023.

9 PSC, Workforce Profile Report, 2022.

10 ABS, Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, 2023.

11 HILDA Survey, 2021.

12 HILDA Survey, 2021.

13 HILDA Survey, 2021.

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