Women unite for change

This Monday, March 8, marks International Women’s Day.
Women in Australia are still worse off than men. In Victoria, on average, women are still paid 15 percent lower than men. Women still only hold 8.3 per cent of board directorships in the top 200 Australian companies.
In the Victorian Parliament women hold only around 30 percent of seats, despite making up 50.9 percent of the state’s population.
On IWD, Victorian Women’s Affairs Minister, Maxine Morand, will announce inductees to Victoria’s Honour Roll of Women for 2010. Former inductees include lesbian activist Jean Taylor, actor and HIV rights advocate Anne Phelan, artistic director Robyn Archer, former Victorian premier Joan Kirner and former police commissioner Christine Nixon.
IWD began to take hold as a global movement in 1911 when over a million people rallied in Europe to call for the rights to vote, work and hold public office to be extended to women.
The rallies were inspired by earlier protests in New York where women demanded voting rights and better pay.
The first IWD in Australia was held in 1928. The international theme for 2010 is ‘Equal rights, equal opportunity: Progress for all’.
info: For details on IWD activities in Victoria,
visit www.women.vic.gov.au