Women's Rights in Australian Context - Assignment Example

The 1970s and 1980s and some part of 1960s saw a second wave which was fundamentally directed at earning women rights equal to those enjoyed by men in Australia (skwirk.com.au, 2011). Importance of women’s rights in context of Australian politics: Women’s contribution can be seen as an integral part of almost all aspects of development in Australia. Despite their dedication and devotion for the development of Australian economy, culture and society, women in Australia had to overcome numerous social as well as institutional barriers in order to have their footprint marked on the Australian history.

On the road to equality, Australian women have conventionally experienced tremendous setbacks along with some successes. This can be estimated from the fact that Australia was among the very first countries that provided women with the opportunity to be in the parliament and the right to vote. Yet, it is unfortunate that Australia did not appoint any female federal Cabinet-level minister until 1949 and the government required the female workers of the federal public service to resign upon marriage till the year 1966.

Women experienced a tremendous social change in Australia in the two decades of 1970s and 1980s. “This period saw the emergence of articulate, politically focused women who campaigned in an organised way for equal pay, equal opportunity in education and the workplace, safe contraception, planned parenthood and adequate child-care facilities” (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2011). This period significantly improved the women’s status in Australia in comparison to men and the federal legislation had to put a ban on sex discrimination in 1984.

Development of such reforms as pensions from the government for single mothers and childcare facilities followed. With the right to sit in the parliament and cast the vote, women’s rights are of huge significance to Australian politics. Besides, the way women have showed up their strength in the 1970s and 1980s contains a lot of lessons for the political authorities in Australia. Current state of debate in Australia regarding women’s rights: People hold varying opinions regarding the influence of the women’s liberation movement upon the socioeconomic and political scenario of Australia.

Although violence against women has gained increased recognition in Australia, yet women’s rights have still not fully been acknowledged. Today, Australian women have much more freedom of choice for reproduction unlike 1960s. Many women have gained important positions in both business and politics, though to achieve them, women still have to encounter much more challenges than men do. Women’s movement has done much to make most of the people acknowledge the equality of rights of men and women in Australia, but still little was done to alter the conventional roles of men and women in home.

Women have much more opportunities today than they have had at any point in time in the past, yet women are still largely denied access to powerful positions in the organizations. More than 50 per cent of contemporary Australian population is women. Accordingly, more and more women have started to receive higher education. “In 2006, women accounted for 54.8 per cent of all tertiary education students and 47.5 per cent of all students enrolled in vocational education and training courses” (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2011).

Most of the female students are studying food, management, nursing and commerce. Their representation in the engineering or building courses is not well up to the mark, with only 4.6 per cent of women entering these professions. Therefore, contemporary agencies are aware that not much