By Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti
The newly appointed Australian Ambassador for women and girls, Christine Clarke, has marked her debut press conference with a strong message against gender-based violence.
Speaking to Pacific reporters, Ambassador Clarke, said: “every person, every woman, should feel safe at work and if our safety and security protocols are not sufficient for that, then it points to the culture of the organisation.”
Australia is investing significant funds into work to advance the status of women and girls in the Pacific Islands region. Last year, Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women, Marise Payne, announced a A$170 million, five-year commitment to funding Pacific Women Lead. The program builds on the almost decade-long Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) program and has three overarching objectives; (1) women’s leadership promoted, (2) women’s rights realised and (3) Pacific regional partners increase the effectiveness of regional gender equality efforts.
Setting the standard, not the floor
But back at home, Australian leaders are grappling with their own challenges around the status of women. Allegations of sexual assault of women in Parliament House in Canberra led to an Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces. The ‘Jenkins Report’ released last year, quoted one of the 1700+ people it consulted with as saying of parliament, “It is a man’s world and you are reminded of it every day, thanks to the looks up and down you get, to the representation in the parliamentary chambers, to the preferential treatment politicians give senior male journalists.”
One person consulted told the review that reporting offences or bad behaviour did not achieve anything, and in fact, could make things worse, while another said: “This is Parliament. It should set the standard for workplace culture, not the floor of what culture should be.”
The report further observed: “Multiple participants spoke about the lack of women in senior roles, explaining that ‘[B]y crowding out women at the most senior levels … a male-dominated and testosterone-fuelled culture dominates.’ Participants also drew attention to gender segregation in the workplace, including ‘being given tasks on a gendered basis’.”
Receiving the report from Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins on November 30 last year, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated: “Every single Australian has a right to feel and to be safe at work. However, the report highlights that people, particularly women, in Parliamentary workplaces have experienced bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault.
“It is clear that practical and cultural changes are necessary to make our Parliamentary workplaces safer.”
The Jenkins report made 28 recommendations, from implementation of codes of conduct, to alcohol policies and human resource and monitoring processes.
Such issues are not new to Ambassador Clarke, who previously served as Head, Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Office for the Australian Defence Force, and in senior roles in the Royal Australian Navy.
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accepted the recommendation of the Jenkins review,” Ambassador Clarke said. “There is obviously work to be done, there are entrenched behaviours and women should feel safe anywhere, I hope that the work I did at the defence force and with the politicians’ commitment, to bring about change not only for women in parliament house but for women across workplaces everywhere.”
Clarke says her 38-plus years in the Australian navy included many highlights.
“As the head of the Australian Defence Force sexual prevention and response office, some people might question why I consider that to be the highlight of my career. The challenge to bring about serious cultural change in an organisation the size of the Australian Defence Force was an amazing opportunity to change the outcome for women and men in the organisation.
“My career highlight was [as] commanding officer of HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, which is the largest operational navy base on the east coast of Australia. The opportunity to lead our young women and men and show them a different style of leadership, that women can lead and women can lead strongly, was absolutely a career highlight.”
Clarke said, “Gender equality and women’s empowerment are a core part of Australia’s policy, economic diplomacy, and development work. We prioritise enhancing women’s voices in decision making, leadership, and peace building.”
She describes Australia’s approach as a ‘twin-pack,’ that is, “delivery through targeted investment and integration of gender equality consideration across all engagement in the region.”
Pacific Women Lead
Pacific Women Lead, is based at the Pacific Community (SPC) in Fiji but will involve a wide range of women- led civil society organisations (including women’s funds, coalitions and women’s organisations). Its governance board will have two-thirds Pacific regional membership, and strategic and decision-making power.
Ambassador Clarke said, “Pacific Women Lead will focus on Pacific women’s leadership, women’s rights, women’s health (including sexual and reproductive health), safety, economic empowerment, and regional gender equality efforts.”
She said support will prioritise, “women having access to decision making roles, to increase women’s leadership in whichever space. For instance, women need to be in the room at decision-making tables during disaster recovery actions, regardless of whether it is disaster recovery or pandemic recovery.”
The project will be guided by the Pacific Island Forum Leaders’ Gender Equality Declaration.
A Pacific Island Forum Women Leaders meeting is also being planned to consider how more women can be represented in parliament.
