Young UN Women Australia Perth • June-July 2012Photo by: Jessica Lockhart

Young UN Women Australia Perth

Runway for a Reason/Robert FoltzImage Courtesy of Christopher Herwig

From the YUNWA Perth Committee Chair|Chair’s Report

Welcome to our last zine for the 2011-2012 year! In addition to our recent events - the High Tea, the UWA Subcommittee’s Wine and Cheese night, and Women Leaders in the Green Economy – we have been busy reinvigorating the Policy & Education team. This zine contains a number of fantastic pieces by mem-bers of that team on a wide range of topics pertain-ing to gender equality. You might remember Tammy Solonec’s article which was published in our February zine, “Supporting our women to lead”. We were de-

lighted to see that Tam-my has recently gone on to win the WA Jun-ior Women Lawyer of the Year Award and also the Law Society of WA Young Lawyer of the Year award during Law Week in May – well done, Tammy!

The past two months have also seen commit-tee members represent-ing Young UN Women

Australia Perth at a number of community events. I attended the Zonta Club of Perth’s 40th birthday cel-ebration at Council House, together with members of the UN Women Australia Perth Chapter, and the launch of Impact 100, a new initiative by GivingWest, at Government House on behalf of the organisation. Martina Ucnikova and Athanae Lucev also represented YUNWA Perth at a Women in Engineering event.

Winter brings a new focus for UN Women Australia and its subcommittees. Our vision is of a world where all women have equal access to opportunities and to positions of leadership, so this season we are focusing on greater community recognition of the importance of women’s participation in the workplace, family, politics and community. Throughout winter, we will be promoting the Women’s Empowerment Princi-ples (“WEPs”) to Western Australian businesses. The WEPs act as a platform for establishing a community and a workplace which promotes gender equality and female empowerment.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles

1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality. 2. Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination. 3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers. 4. Promote education, training and professional de-velopment for women. 5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women. 6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy. 7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

We encourage businesses to take responsibility for driving social change around gender roles, and to role-model best practice.

If you run, or know of a local WA business which would be interested in signing up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, please contact us at perthy-outh@unwomen.org.au - we’d love to hear from you. You’ll be hearing more about our WEP drive over the next few months and there will be a call-out for vol-unteers to assist us.

Finally, it has been a pleasure to write these Chair’s Reports in our bi-monthly zines over 2011-2012. It is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our activities every two months and connect with our membership. Thank you in particular to Sandra De Witt Hemala, our Marketing Coordinator, for her hard work on these zines, and to every other member of the Com-mittee and our teams who has contributed.

And finally, thank you to you – our readers. We are truly grateful for your support and enthusiasm.

Anna JohnsonChairYoung UN Women Australia Perth Committee

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TABLE OF CONTENTs

2 ................... Chair’s Report: Anna Johnson4............................................Event:High Tea6.................... Political Parity: Jen Rumbles 8...................... UWA Wine and Cheese Night 10........................................Review:The Lady11..........Event: Women in a Green Economy12...............Spotlight on Waste: Erin Fuery14........Human Rights: Tiffany Henderson17..............................Profile: Anna Johnson18............................ Profile: Athanae Lucev19..................... Profile: Martina Ucnikova20....Event:YoungWomen’sLeadershipForum

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Photos by Jarrad Seng Photography / www.jarradseng.com

EVENT UN WomeN AUstrAliA HigH teA

The Young UN Women Australia Perth Committee joined forces with the UN Women Australia Perth Chapter to put on a special high tea on mother-hood, the changing roles of mothers in today’s so-ciety and in the workforce, and female leadership.

The event, which sold out a week beforehand - a new record for YUNWA Perth - was to raise funds to aid victims of the Fiji floods. The UN Women Fiji Markets Recovery Project works to help female market vendors and their families rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the recent floods.

Four speakers brought a variety of perspectives and inspirational personal stories to the afternoon event:

Dr Anne Aly, Curtin University counter-terrorism expert

Mary Anne Bath, disability advocate and academic

Tanya Dupagne, General Manager of the Global Good Foundation and Kwinana Councillor

Judith Uren, Director, BG & E Engineers

Held at the picturesque Royal Perth Yacht Club in Crawley, an animated and interesting Q&A discus-sion was followed with a few lucky attendees pick-ing up door and raffle prizes.

Each attendee received a special gift bag including a discount voucher to The Beauty Studio, a packet of seedlings from Bunnings Homebase, the autumn edition of Box Magazine and many more items.

This event would not have been possible without the support of the Royal Perth Yacht Club and our many local sponsors, The Beauty Studio, Bunnings Homebase, Manic Botanic, Remedy Fremantle, Fancy Pantry, Swan Valley Wines, Twin Hill Wines, Box Magazine, volunteers and our MC, committee Secretary Jennifer Mitchell.

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|by Alice Farley

Photos by Jarrad Seng Photography / www.jarradseng.com

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Photos by Jarrad Seng Photography / www.jarradseng.com

It is becoming increasingly difficult to disassociate the term “quotas” from discussions around the stark un-der-representation of women in our political institu-tions. As such, well-intentioned, constructive debate on the issue is often abandoned before it has begun, with both men and women ensconced at either side of the “quotas fence”.

At this juncture I feel that I should declare which side of the fence I’m on. Nearly five years ago I claimed in my University dissertation that as much as I hated the idea of positive discrimination, and being employed or elected for my gender, I recognised that it was a means to an end. In my own dissertation I used the term catalyst, while others use the term instrument, necessary to reach a point where men and women are viewed as equal and debates around gender equality become defunct.

Here in Australia the notion of quotas is equally un-popular and continues to divide many through the assumption that quotas are inherently discriminatory

and in contravention of the main tenements of feminism itself. These discussions are not uncommon, indeed in many countries they are old news, with some feminists in France de-bating this very issue as early as 1982 when they tried to introduce a quota of 25% for city council election lists across the country. At the time the concept was dismissed by the Consti-tutional Council as being against the principles of the Fifth Republic although the topic was now high on the political agenda.

French political activists from across the politi-cal spectrum became mobilised, not in favour of quotas per se, but in favour of parity, where-by there would be equal representation of men and women in political institutions; a shift in terminology that was quite significant. By the mid to late 1990s specialist parliamentary com-mittees had been established to investigate parity in France, advocating for constitutional change to bring about an environment of po-litical equality. The changes included financial incentives and legislative changes requiring an equal number of male and female candidates on nearly all election ballots, announced in 1999 and 2000.

Admittedly things didn’t change overnight... The pitfalls of the policy were clear and the French political system, often seen as out of touch with the wider population, was accused of paying lip service to the parity advocates rather than implementing real change. A clear step forward was in 2007 when Ségolène Royal reached the second round of the Presidential elections representing the French Socialist par-ty against Nicolas Sarkozy’s right wing UMP party. Although Royal was defeated by Sarkozy, the announcement of Sarkozy’s government a few weeks after the election signalled the es-tablishment’s recognition that France wanted a government representative of its population.

The obligatory photocall on the day the Sarkozy-Fillon government was announced in-cluded a surprisingly high number of women

|by Jen Rumbles

POLiTiCAL PARiTY à la française

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Image Courtesy of Jen Rumbles

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and people from different ethnic backgrounds. Some Mesdames les Ministres were clearly suitably qualified and experienced, notably Mme Christine Lagarde who navigated France through the ef-fects of the GFC with such acumen that following the recent scandal of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Sarkozy supported her successful application to become the head of the IMF in 2011. However, both Rama Yade and Rachida Dati, the latter be-ing the former Minister for Justice, were soon sur-rounded by scandal, further purporting the notion held by many that the quasi-parity government was once again merely assigning token women to these roles.

In contrast, the parity debate has been awakened once again in French political circles as François Hollande was recently elected the first social-ist President in France since François Mitterand nearly three decades ago. The month before the election, Hollande had secured the support of prominent French feminists by promising a parity government, which many believed to be a distant dream, myself included.

I’m happy to say that I was wrong, and on 16 May 2012, the first parity government in France’s histo-ry was announced, boasting 17 men and 17 wom-en. Understandably there has been some comment from men and women on both sides of the “quota fence”, many believing that it is once again a token gesture from the French political class. However, on closer examination all the women appointed to these roles are well-experienced experts in their own fields, including the newly-appointed Min-ister for Justice, Christiane Taubira, an MP from French Guiana who gave her name to a law that recognised the trans-Atlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity. Admittedly not all female minis-ters have been assigned high profile portfolios, but at the same time it is clearly not just a case of as-signing a women the ‘women’s interests’ portfolio, which has frequently been the case in France and across the world.

The question remains then, how to achieve this parity on a global scale and learn from the French experience? Perhaps some short term measures to act as a catalyst are needed, but at least the recent events in France have proved that political parity is an achievable dream, whichever side of the “quo-tas fence” you’re on.

Chair’s Note – UN Women Australia’s Position on Quotas

It is important to understand all of the key terms in this debate.

Quotas are legislated, so they are determined by government and there are penalties for non-com-pliance.

Targets are aspirational, so they are determined by leadership teams.

Temporary Special Measures are legislated, but not meant to be permanent and meant to exist long enough to create change.

UN Women Australia supports temporary special measures because setting goals and targets is the most effective driver of change. For example, in the business sphere, we want to see support for a temporary special measure requiring 30% of ASX 200 board members to be women by 2014. Tem-porary special measures can also be very successful in the political sphere.

The main objection to temporary special measures is usually based on concerns about “merit”. But:

•Men do not necessarily get positions on boards just because of merit.

•There are many women with the qualifications and experiences required.

•We cannot perpetuate the myth that women do not have the necessary skills, knowledge and attrib-utes of strong leaders.

Image Courtesy of James Cook

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On May 10 the UWA subcommittee of Young UN Women Australia Perth held its first event for the year. The new committee for 2012 worked tirelessly to pull together a wine and cheese night in support of the UN Women Australia Fiji Floods Appeal. In April of this year a cyclone and series of floods devastated Fiji and undid much of the crucial work of the UN Women “Partners Improving Markets” program. The floods de-stroyed many of the market places in Fiji and thousands of market vendors, 75% of whom are women, have subsequently lost their livelihoods. The UWA subcom-mittee raised approximately $500 towards the recovery program, and the money will go towards agricultural re-covery and providing paid work for urban women trad-ers.

The wine and cheese mingle was held at St Catherine’s College, and the theme was “Women in Leadership and Participation.” The event was a good opportunity for like-minded people to come together and enjoy the wine and cheese on offer and engage in thought-pro-voking conversation. The UWA committee was lucky enough to have the hands on support of chef, Mrs Am-arjit Kaur, who put together some amazing platters for the evening.

The guest speaker was Jenni Hill, Partner at the interna-tional law firm Norton Rose, and currently the only fe-male head of office in an Australian law firm. Jenni cap-tured the attention of the audience, speaking about her experiences and the path she took to become a strong leader in her profession. Jenni encouraged the aspiring leaders in the room to build a network of “mentors, promoters and people in whom they can trust.” Her an-ecdotes and advice were well received and appreciated by everyone in attendance.

The evening was finished off with the drawing of the raffle, and former treasurer of the UWA Committee, Davina Hunter was lucky enough to win the prize, which the committee had compiled from various spon-sors and supporters of the event.

The UWA committee did a fabulous job of running an

event with good food, good wine and good compa-ny. However, the success of the mingle would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors: St Catherine’s College, the Wine and Truffle Company, Swanbourne Cellars, John and Helen Dalton from Broadway News, Michael Knox from University Cameras and Juliet Johnson. From everyone at Young UN Women Australia Perth, your support and help makes the world of differ-ence!

Keep an eye out for what the UWA club have in store for next semester!

EVENT UWA WiNe ANd CHeese NigHt

|by Emma Tormey

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ThANkYOUVOLUNTEERs

On behalf of all the members of the 2011/2012 Young UN Women Australia Perth Committee, I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who volunteered with us during the year. We are so proud of the events we put on this year and the funds we raised for vital UN Women projects, and this would not have been possible without your time and efforts. An organisation such as ours is completely reliant on volunteers, and we are so lucky to have had such passionate and dedicated volunteers to work with. We hope you enjoyed your time volunteering with us, and we would love to work with you again in the 2012/2013 year!

|Anna Larson

The Lady is the personal story of the remarkable Aung San Suu Kyi and her journey from being an Oxford housewife who had never spoken in public to the symbol of democratic freedom in Burma. Following the death of her father and namesake, Aung San, thought by many to be the father of modern Burma, to the modern day, it is a moving depiction of a woman who spent 15 years under house arrest. Alongside her rise to leadership is the story of her love for Michael Aris, a humbling tale of two people torn apart by political oppression. Aung San Suu Kyi and Michael Aris are vividly brought to life by Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and David Thewlis (Warhorse, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas). Their chemistry captures the mature, uncondi-tional love between this couple and their shared passion for Burma’s future.

The Burmese authority’s reaction to this film has not been positive. During filming in 2011, Yeoh attempted to enter Burma but was deported soon after she arrived at Rangoon’s airport as she is on a blacklist, according to an unnamed Burmese official. Much of the film is set against spectacular landscape scenes which were filmed in nearby Thailand.

The differences between the snow covered university buildings of Oxford and sweeping shots of beautiful winding rivers and tigers roaming through the jungles of

Southern Asia truly reflects the separation of the lives of Aris and Aung San Suu Kyi This film is worth seeing if only for the scenery - one of the most beautiful of the locations is the setting for Aung San Suu Kyi’s dilapidated lakeside home.

Director Luc Besson, best known for his action films, is a strange choice for this biopic. Under his direction the film is well acted and beautifully filmed, yet it lacks the substance I was expecting from a 2 ½ hour film about the life of one of the world’s most inspirational leaders. The interplay between the military rule and Aung San Suu Kyi in this film is captivating, since the relationship is played out as the classic good vs. evil, the aggressive and superstitious military against the serene Lady of the people. I was left wondering as to the motivation of the soldiers due to their simplistic portrayal. Indeed, more time is spent lingering on the impact Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation has on her family, friends and supporters, with Aris receiving more screen time than any other character. Thewlis does perfectly portray the unassuming, yet cou-rageous Professor Aris, however I would like to have seen more of Aung San Suu Kyi’s inner turmoil than his. Nonetheless the gentle humour and humility they share is very moving and retains the realism that I was search-ing for.

I recommend this film to anyone who wants a good un-derstanding of Aung San Suu Kyi’s life and impact on modern day Burma or to those who enjoy stories that are beautifully told and warm the heart. To leave the cinema inspired is an optional extra.

Language Note: Burma or Myanmar?

In 1989 the name of Burma was changed to Myanmar by the military junta. This and other name changes were recognized by several countries and the United Nations. Many countries including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia still refer to Burma rather than Myanmar. Burma’s democracy movement does not recognize the authority of the military junta to change the country’s name.

Emma McCormack is an honours student in Actuarial Science at Curtin University. In her spare time she enjoys learning languages, volunteering with Girl Guides Australia and being involved with Young UN Women Australia Perth.

|by Emma McCormack

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Image Courtesy of Emma McCormack

REViEW tHe lAdy

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This event was a unique collaboration between YUNWA Perth, the United Nations Association of Australia WA Division (“UNAAWA”) and the City of Perth. To celebrate World Environment Day on June 5, we decided to hold an informs ses-sion featuring four female leaders in the environ-ment and sustainability sector:

- Belinda Bastow of Anglo-Gold Ashanti

- Kim Holland of Organic Waste Solutions

- Jenny Campbell of Encycle Consulting

- Donna Pershke of URS Australia Pty Ltd

5 June 2012 was the 40th anniversary of World Environment Day - 40 years since the first Earth Summit in 1972 in Stockholm, which founded the UN Environment Program (“UNEP”).

This year Brazil is hosting the WED theme of “The Green Economy: Does it include you?” in the lead up to the Rio+20 conference. The UNEP defines a green economy as an economic environ-ment that achieves low carbon emissions and re-source efficiency whilst being socially inclusive.

The UNEP celebrates World Environment Day as a mechanism to enable everyone to realize not only their responsibility, but also their power to become agents for change in support of sustainable and equitable development.

On the night, guests heard from four inspiring women who are realizing their power to effect change within their respective sectors of the econ-omy – whether it be in compliance at a mining com-pany, consulting, or waste management. We were inspired by the stories from these women leaders in the green economy – each completely different. The speakers were followed by a networking ses-sion where guests, speakers, and members of the YUNWA Perth and UNAAWA committee min-gled. It was a new theme for YUNWA Perth but we were delighted to attract about 60 people, and many of our guests were new to YUNWA Perth. We hope to see them at our future events now, too!

All funds raised on the night – approximately $950 – went to the UN Women Australia Fiji Floods Appeal, providing emergency cash for work sup-port to women market vendors who have lost their source of income in the recent floods.

The event was made possible by the generous sup-port of local sponsors the City of Perth and Cen-tral Park Theatrette. The City of Perth provided fantastic catering for the networking session, and Central Park kindly allowed us to use their excel-lent venue, complete with AV and use of the foyer and bar area.

Thank you to everyone who attended, and thank you of course to our four fantastic speakers, who made the night. Special thanks to Alexandra Scott from the City of Perth, and Amanda Joseph and Neesha Seth from UNAAWA.

|by Anna Johnson

WomeN leAders iN tHe greeN eCoNomyEVENT

Image Courtesy of Erin Fuery

So, you’ve decided to read on despite the generally un-appealing topic. Good for you! Because waste is an area that impacts on many aspects of our lives, and is an industry that wants you to know the good that it’s doing.

No longer just about emptying your wheelie bins and throwing your rubbish in a hole in the ground, local, state and federal governments, regional councils, and private industry are attempting to increase recycling rates, find new ways to turn rubbish into resources (think compost), and to use gas emitted from landfills as energy. In addition, the introduction of the carbon price will see waste in the news more often, as landfill gas emissions are set to be the only emissions that will ‘directly’ impact on local governments – resulting in an increase in rates. Renewed interest in waste to en-ergy (read: incineration), and the recent closure (and re-opening) of the alternative waste treatment facility in Canning Vale, will also keep waste on the public’s lips – a slightly disturbing thought you might say.

The thing is, waste is an issue, and it will only continue to be as our population increases, our reliance on the mining boom continues, and rampant consumerism is encouraged. The best outcome, of course, would be if everyone avoided creating the waste in the first place; but with virgin resources cheaper than recycled materials, and repairing an item more expensive than buying a new one, we shouldn’t hold our breath for that to happen.

Women in Waste

Waste is an industry that intersects with many others: construction, logistics, engineering and local govern-ment; sectors and professions where women have been traditionally underrepresented. The Electrical Utilities and Public Administration (EUPA) Training Council 2010 report ‘Waste Industry Workforce De-velopment Plan’ identified that:

The Waste Services Industry predominantly employs male full time workers (73.8% of all those employed nationally). Female employment, both full and part time is well below the average for all industries.

In Western Australia it’s not all bad on the waste front: we have female rubbish truck drivers, and in Perth

one local government landfill is managed by a wom-an. There are also a large number of female Envi-ronmental Health Officers scattered across the State, tackling waste management along with environmental monitoring (noise, water and air), auditing food safety standards, and mitigating the outbreak of infectious diseases. Women in these roles, however, are still very much in the minority.

There are some areas where women dominate: waste education and environmental conservation. Also, in the policy arena, the position of Manager of Waste & Recycling at the WA Local Government Association (WALGA), has been held by a woman for five years, and the past two General Managers of the Office of the Waste Authority have also been women.

How are women faring in decision-making roles, you may ask? The answer is not an inspiring one: The Mu-nicipal Waste Advisory Council (MWAC), the council established by WALGA to consider waste-specific is-sues, has only three (out of thirteen) female represent-atives, while the Forum of Regional Councils (FORC), made up of the CEOs and Presidents of each metro-politan regional council, has none. The state govern-ment has a better track record, with two of the five members of the Waste Authority being women.

Why are these leadership positions dominated by men? Is it because local government and regional council CEOs tend to come from the engineering ranks? Is it because there are still more male local government elected members than women? Is it because men find waste more interesting?

What can be done to increase female participation in the waste industry, and keep women in the industry once they get there?

A workshop was held at the 2011 Waste & Recycle Conference with an aim to answering these questions. Identified inhibitors to increasing participation in the industry included: the negative image of waste and careers in waste; waste is not seen as an ‘environmen-tal career’; women traditionally take on administrative roles rather than operational ones; waste usually sits within traditionally ‘male professions’; limited net-working opportunities for women; and, lack of visible

|by Erin Fuery

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FEATURE

spotligHt oN... WomeN iN WAste

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women in the industry.

A small informal committee has been formed, made up of like-minded women from private con-sultancy and state and local government, to work on addressing these questions, and to develop a support network for women in the industry. A number of networking events have been held in 2011/12, and presentations from recognisable ‘women in waste’ have been organised – City of Vincent Mayor Hon. Alannah MacTiernan (and MWAC representative), Heidi Dauth (former Director of All Earth), Jenny Campbell (Direc-tor, Encycle Consulting), Dr. Hon. Sally Talbot (Shadow Environment Minister), Joanne Abbiss (Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale CEO, and former Environmental Healthy), and Jill Lethlean (Project Manager, Department of Environment and Con-servation, Waste Branch).

…and our future leaders?

Ultimately, raising the profile of waste in the com-munity will encourage involvement and long-term participation in the industry. A career in waste management does not mean you will need to know how to drive a truck – although the option is avail-able if you so desire. Are you interested in reducing litter on our beaches and in our rivers? Are you concerned about used televisions and computers being dumped in landfills and on verges en-masse? Are you interested in finding or encouraging new innovative ways to reuse materials? Are you pas-sionate about educating kids about recycling or composting at home? Would you like to see a con-tainer deposit scheme (10c on beverage containers like in South Australia) in Western Australia? Waste holds something for everyone!

Unfortunately, there are no waste management-specific tertiary courses in Western Australia. While Environmental Science or Engineering degrees can lead to a career in waste, waste management is not the focus of any course (please, contradict me if I am wrong). Even the Environmental Health Officer program at Curtin University, a profession from where many of our leaders are emerging, has stopped their undergraduate course.

Where will our future leaders come from? Perhaps we will see a move away from an industry dominat-ed by engineers to graduates with a background in sustainability, such as that which is taught through Murdoch University or Curtin University’s Sustain-

ability Policy Institute (or CUSP). What influence will this have on the waste industry?

One thing I will take away from my experience in the waste industry is the passion that waste inspires. And despite a disappointing lack of conviction to bring about significant change at the state govern-ment level (for example, the recent back-flip over using recycled construction materials in road-base, or the five years it took to release a State Waste Strategy), there are still dedicated people at all lev-els committed to making a difference, and unwill-ing to give in.

I believe that is it possible to achieve a ‘zero waste future’ in Western Australia, where producers are ultimately responsible for the disposal of their products, where consumers are motivated to make more sustainable purchasing decisions, and where landfill or littering is no longer seen as the most de-sirable disposal option. To kick it off, what we need are leaders who are willing to bring about change, and are also committed to inspiring others to do the same. There is certainly a role for women – and young women – in making a difference in the waste space. Are you up for the challenge?

Erin Fuery has worked on the policy side of waste for al-most three years, and is a member of the ‘Women in Waste’ committee.

Image Courtesy of Erin Fuery

Over the past year and a half, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (‘ALHR’) has contributed to the nation-al consultation process to develop a National Human Rights Action Plan for Australia (or ‘NHRAP’ for those who love acronyms).1 One of the issues that ALHR fo-cussed on for inclusion and emphasis in the NHRAP is women’s rights. National human rights action plans are an UN-endorsed mechanism (or ‘plan of action’) that, in Australia’s case, outlines future action for the promo-tion and protection of human rights at a federal, state and territorial level.2

The concept of a NHRAP, now implemented by many countries worldwide, is in fact Australia’s brainchild that emerged as an endorsed mechanism from the 1993 Vi-enna World Conference on Human Rights.3 Australia was also the first country in the world to elaborate on a national human rights action plan, and a second action

1 You can access ALHR’s submissions to the NHRAP by searching “NHRAP” via the ALHR website: http://alhr.asn.au/activities.html?date=month&subject=&type= (accessed 4 June 2012).

2 The UN ‘Handbook on National Human Rights Plans of Action’ provides an excellent overview and history of the mechanism: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN ‘Handbook on National Human Rights Plans of Action’ http://www.ohchr.org/Docu-ments/Publications/training10en.pdf (accessed on 4 June 2012).

3 Interestingly, it was also at this same conference that the post of the UN Special Rapporteur on Women’s Rights was created. See Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Conference on Hu-man Rights, 14-25 June 1993, Vienna, Austria, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ABOUTUS/Pages/ViennaWC.aspx (accessed on 4 June 2012).

plan was developed in Australia in 2004. While both NHRAP’s emphasised Australia’s commitment to hu-man rights, both lacked comprehensive consultation and clear actions to address many of Australia’s human rights issues.4

Australia is now in the process of developing its third NHRAP, thanks to a chief recommendation from the 2008 National Human Rights Consultation. The Con-sultation report, headed by Father Frank Brennan, rec-ommended that the Federal Government develop a na-tional plan to implement a comprehensive framework and that the Government should collaborate with civil society and the private sector in developing and imple-menting its national plan. The Federal Government committed itself to this recommendation in its 2010 National Human Rights Framework.5

The key difference between this process and the pre-vious two NHRAP’s is Australia’s development of a “Baseline Study”, a study in excess of 90 pages, which takes stock of Australia’s human rights issues to inform what ‘actions’ to include in the NHRAP.6 The Baseline Study also becomes an important tool to measure the extent to which the Government is meeting the targets set out in its final NHRAP. The draft NHRAP released by the Federal Government last year contains 219 ‘ac-tions’ to improve human rights standards and protec-tions in Australia.

The Baseline Study and subsequent draft NHRAP are, overall, a good first attempt by the Federal Govern-ment to address a spectrum of human rights issues in Australia. ALHR was, however, disappointed that many 4 For a critique on Australia’s past NHRAP’s see eg. Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Making Rights Real: A National Human Rights Action Plan for Australia Submission to the Attorney-General’s Department on the development of a National Human Rights Action Plan (February 2011), http://www.hrlrc.org.au/files/National-Human-Rights-Action-Plan-for-Australia-HRLRC-Submission.pdf (accessed 4 June 2012); see also Law Council of Australia, National Human Rights Action Plan Background Paper, http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=931A392C-DF82-8211-600A-F5D70667761F&siteName=lca (accessed 4 June 2012).

5 See Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, 2010 Human Rights Framework, http://www.ag.gov.au/Humanrightsan-dantidiscrimination/Australiashumanrightsframework/Pages/default.aspx (accessed 4 June 2012).

6 For a copy of the Baseline Study and draft NHRAP, see Australia Government Attorney-General’s Department, National Human Rights Action Plan, http://www.ag.gov.au/Humanrightsandantidiscrimi-nation/Australiashumanrightsframework/Pages/NationalHumanRights-ActionPlan.aspx (accessed 4 June 2012).

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Image Courtesy of Tiffany Henderson

|by Tiffany henderson

FEATURE WomeN’s HUmAN rigHts iN AUstrAliA’s

NAtioNAl HUmAN rigHts ACtioN plAN

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significant human rights issues were absent from the plan, for example, the rights of intersex people and the matter of child prostitution. It is important to note that women’s rights featured (necessarily so) among the select human rights issues to be included in both the baseline study and draft NHRAP. However, ALHR was dissatisfied with the manner in which these human rights were dealt in the NHRAP. While the Baseline Study could not feasibly cover all human rights issues, ALHR expected the NHRAP to comprehensively out-line actions, at the minimum, for protection of com-monly recognised human rights issues. Obviously, women’s rights must be included in this grouping, given that women constitute over half of Australia’s population and women’s human rights continue to be breached on a daily basis.7

As a result, ALHR found both the draft Baseline Study and the Draft Action Plan to have some significant gaps when it came to addressing human rights, includ-ing women’s rights, issues. Over fifty individuals and organisations that provided feedback to the Federal Government during the NHRAP consultation process echoed this concern.8

These difficulties were reinforced at a WA Work-shop on the draft Baseline Study, attended by ALHR, at which many organisations present noted that they found the discussion of human rights issues being led by the Federal Government to be confusing and inade-quate.9 For example, participants at the WA Workshop identified sexual and reproductive rights of women as a significant omission in the Baseline Study. Partici-pants discussed the challenges faced by many Aborigi-nal and Torres Strait Islander mothers who must travel away from their families, community and country to an urban location to give birth without support, due to the lack of services in remote and regional locations in Western Australia. Unfortunately, this issue was not addressed in the subsequent draft NHRAP.

The Baseline Study and draft NHRAP focus broadly on three women’s rights issues: freedom from violence,

7 eg. in relation to equality, pay equity, freedom from dis-crimination and freedom from violence: see ALHR’s submission to the NHRAP (footnote 1 above), [74]-[89].

8 To see these submissions go to Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, Public Submissions on the Draft National Human Rights Action Plan, http://www.ag.gov.au/Human-rightsandantidiscrimination/Australiashumanrightsframework/Pages/Public-Submissions-on-draft-National-Human-Rights-Action-Plan.aspx (accessed 4 June 2012).

9 You can access a copy of the workshop report from Hu-man Rights Law Resource Centre’s website (who hosted the national workshops) on the National Human Rights Action Plan at http://www.humanrightsactionplan.org.au/nhrap/events (accessed 4 June 2012).

gender equality and freedom from discrimination. ALHR was disappointed that actions set out in the CE-DAW Action Plan for Australian Women were not fully incorporated into the baseline study and draft NHRAP. The CEDAW Action Plan was prepared on behalf of a broad coalition of Australian NGOs and sets out what the Commonwealth and State and Territory Govern-ments should do to implement the CEDAW Commit-tee’s 2010 recommendations on women’s human rights in Australia.

ALHR was also disappointed that many of the wom-en’s rights recommendations accepted by Australia at its 2011 UN Universal Periodic Review (‘UPR’)10 were not incorporated into the draft NHRAP. For example, UPR recommendation 86.52 called for the strengthening of the Federal Sex Discrimination Act and for considera-tion to be given to the adoption of temporary special measures as recommended by CEDAW. The 2010 CE-DAW Concluding Comments called for temporary spe-cial measures particularly to increase participation of women in political and public life, including Indigenous women and women from ethnic minorities.11

ALHR encouraged the Government to incorporate these recommendations into the final NHRAP by im-plementing the CEDAW Action for Australia Women initiatives targeted at achieving gender equality in pub-lic life. For example, one initiative requires the Federal Government to allocate funding to the Australian In-stitute for Company Directors to meet at least 25% of demand for training and to establish within this process targets for scholarships to support training for Aborigi-nal and Torres Strait Islander women, women with dis-abilities, and culturally and linguistically diverse women, to improve their representation on public and private boards.12

ALHR was also disappointed that while the Australian Government accepted in part UPR recommendation 86.99, which relates to pay equity and comprehensive child care policy, there were no action items relating to this in the draft NHRAP. ALHR directed the Govern-ment to the recent decision Equal Remuneration Case [2012] FWAFB 1000 (1 February 2012), which found in favour of equal remuneration in the social, community

10 The Universal Periodic Review is a procedure in the United Nations in which every country’s human rights progress is examined every four years. Australia was assessed and reported on in 2011.

11 CEDAW Concluding Comments 2010 at paragraph 27.

12 CEDAW Action Plan, Action Plan Point 3, p 6. You can access a copy of the CEDAW Action Plan at: YWCA Australia, Our CEDAW Work, http://www.ywca.org.au/advocacy-policy/our-united-nations-work/cedaw (accessed 4 June 2012).

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and disability services industry and strongly recom-mended that indicators for the implementation of this decision be included in the NHRAP.

ALHR’s other significant criticism of the draft NHRAP was its frequent use of ‘ongoing’ as a performance indicator for many of its 219 actions. Without a NHRAP that contains specific, measur-able and achievable goals with clear timelines in which to achieve practical actions, the utility and relevance of the NHRAP itself becomes endan-gered. For example, Action 101 holds that “States and Territories will retain legislation to criminalise violent conduct and sexual assault together with mechanisms to prosecute and punish perpetrators” with “ongoing” marked as the performance indica-tor. Unfortunately, without clear timelines and an indicator in which to achieve this practical action, there is no proper measure by which to hold the Federal Government accountable.

The final version of the NHRAP is due out later this year. It is unclear yet to what extent the Federal Government has taken on board civil society’s rec-ommendations for improving the NHRAP. What-ever the final version may be, there is no doubt that it will provide some tangible measure of the Fed-eral Government’s commitment to improving and protecting human rights, including women’s rights, in Australia. Its success will be built not only upon the way in which it implements its plan, but also on whether the Government has properly identi-fied clear, concise actions to address many of the human rights issues that exist in Australia.

Tiffany Henderson, WA Co-Convenor, ALHR.*(wa@alhr.asn.au).

*ALHR is a network of Australian law students and lawyers active in practising and promoting aware-ness of international human rights. ALHR has a na-tional membership of over 2000 people, with active National, State and Territory committees (includ-ing in WA). You can find out more about ALHR at www.alhr.asn.au.

|by Athanae LucevPROFiLE ANNA JoHNsoN

Lawyer, advocate for women’s rights and jus-tice, board member and book club convener: the Young UN Women Australia Perth Committee for 2011-12 and now also 2012-13, Anna John-son is a busy woman!Anna is an ‘elder’ of the YUNWA Perth Com-mittee, having been involved since Beth Shaw, a former United Nations Youth Ambassador and Executive Director of the United Nations Asso-ciation of Australia, founded the Perth chapter of the group three years ago.As chair of the committee, Anna is responsible for strategic planning, governance, oversight, and re-porting to the UN Women Australia national office. Anna said being a part of the committee was ‘in-credibly stimulating’.‘We don’t always agree on everything but we challenge each other and have worked together re-ally well,’ she said. ‘Most of all I love our events and seeing guests come along and enjoy themselves, feel part of a community of people who care about gender equality, and learn something.’Although she is interested in many aspects of social justice and human rights issues, and helped to re-start the Amnesty International club at the University of Western Australia while she was a student there, Anna said her real passion is in gender equality. ‘I’ve been interested in gender issues since I was in high school’ she said. ‘When Beth told me about UNIFEM, I was immediately interested. I believe gender equality is a key component of development and human rights, so I like the fact that UN Women both campaigns for social change, and runs projects in developing coun-tries which empower women in a tangible way.’

In her ‘day job’ as a solicitor at the State So-licitor’s Office, Anna provides legal advice to State Government departments and also rep-resents them in litigation. Anna said her job is constantly challenging, full of variety.Anna is a graduate of the University of West-ern Australia with bachelors degrees in arts and laws, both with honours. She wrote her English thesis on the novels of Canadian writer, critic, and environmental activist Margaret Atwood.

Anna’s keenness for literature has seen her take up the role as convenor of

the Young UN Women Australia Perth feminist book club, and

she would one day love to pursue postgraduate study.Anna said at its essence, gender equality was an is-sue of justice. ‘I believe men and wom-en should have equal rights and opportunities to pursue their happi-ness, to support them-selves, and to lead others,’

she said.And for her, convincing men

that gender equality should be on the agenda was one of the

most important elements in creating change. ‘I believe my generation of men

is, in general, a lot more progressive,’ Anna said. ‘Most of my male friends can see that a world in which we have gender equality means a bet-ter world for everyone - both women and men. But there are still a lot of entrenched attitudes about gender that we need to work to displace.’When Anna’s not working or volunteering, she enjoys reading, cooking, going to the ballet, theatre and films, and spending time with her partner Tim. She sits on the board of South Coastal Wom-en’s Health Services in Rockingham, a not-for-profit organisation.

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|by Martina UcnikovaAtHANAe lUCev PROFiLE

Working on media and public relations for the Young UN Women Australia Perth Commit-tee has given Athanae Lucev the privilege of giving back in two areas of professional and personal interest – gender equality; and media, marketing and branding. Athanae joined the committee in September 2010, working as a media team member under then-Marking and Communications Coordi-nator Martina Ucnikova. In 2011-2012, Atha-nae stepped up to take on the role of Media Coordinator. Athanae has been working for over a year as an adviser to Senator Michaelia Cash, who holds responsibility for the Status of Women portfolio for the Federal Coalition. Prior to that she was a journalist at The West Australian. ‘It’s been a really great intersection between my day-to-day work, where I work both in media relations and on women’s policy work with stakeholders and politi-cians, and my interest in vol-unteering and raising the pro-file of gender equality in a way that people can relate to, as well as of course raising the profile of Young UN Women and helping shape the way people see the fund-raising and other activities we undertake in the community,’ she said. ‘I think one aspect that has worked really well is social media – through engaging in discussion and sharing information on Twitter and Facebook you can really create a dialogue and help people ques-tion their own thoughts and ideas and how they approach gender equity in a subtle and non-confrontational way.’ Athanae said the first time she considered the role of women in society seriously was when she travelled overseas.

‘Seeing things in a different context always makes you think harder about the status quo both there and where you come from,’ she said. ‘While in developing countries basic is-sues like where your next meal is coming from and whether you can afford to educate your children persist, it’s important to remember that although we are relatively in a much bet-ter position in Australia that the recorded sta-tistics on issues like personal violence here are horrific. We also need to think hard about

things like how to apply effective and sustainable diversity strategies in

the corporate world and how we can help create a genu-

ine pipeline of ‘board-ready’ women and then get those women into the boardroom. I think mentorship is one of the keys to this.’ Athanae also believes that engaging men in gender equality issues is vital.

‘One of my favourite quotes is this: ‘All wom-

en’s issues are to some degree men’s issues, and

all men’s issues are to some degree women’s issues, because

when either sex wins unilaterally both sexes lose.’Last year Athanae completed a graduate cer-tificate in International Relations at UWA and she has just started a Masters in Public Pol-icy and Management through the University of London. Her undergraduate degree was a Bachelor of Arts at UWA.Athanae said she has enjoyed her time on the committee because of the varying perspec-tives of the members. ‘There hasn’t been any sort of ‘group think’ – we really do challenge each other!’ she said. ‘Serving on this commit-tee has been a fabulous experience for me and I would recommend it to anyone.’

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|by Athanae LucevmArtiNA UCNikovA PROFiLE

Since 2010 Martina Ucnikova has been en-gaged in helping to advance gender equal-ity through volunteering on the Young UN Women Perth Committee.A graduate of the University of Notre Dame with Bachelor’s degrees in marketing and pub-lic relations, and politics and international re-lations. Martina is now pursuing a Masters in International Relations at the University of Western Australia. Martina grew up in Mar-tin, in the Slovak Republic, and graduated from high school there before moving to Australia to pursue her tertiary education. Having worked in public relations for retailer Pigeonhole, Martina now works as a producer and creative consultant with clients in Korea and Australia, allowing her to travel and tailor her work around her uni-versity and volunteer-ing commitments. She speaks fluent German as well as English and Slovak.Martina was originally at-tracted to applying for the committee because of her in-terest and passion for making lives better for women both in Australia and overseas.‘I wanted to be a part of an inspiring commu-nity of people, empowering young women to excel in their chosen fields,’ she said.In her first year on the committee Martina held the position of Marketing and Commu-nications Coordinator, and on the 2011-2012 committee she took on the role of Ordinary Committee Member. Martina was MC at the sell-out ‘Informs’ ses-sion on Women in Diplomacy at Freehills this year. She has assisted with organising events, has contributed to the zine and has been able to draw on a huge network of contacts to

increase the profile and calibre of those at-tending, supporting and guest-speaking at the committee’s events throughout the year.The committee has been very lucky able to take advantage of Martina’s depth and breadth of skills in marketing, media, public relations, promotions and event management; but more importantly, her drive to make a dif-ference through education and empowerment. Not one to shy away from a challenge, she is known as someone who will get the job done!

‘What I have enjoyed most about the committee is knowing that we are

helping gender issues become part of the conversation

in society – these are not just ‘women’s issues’,’ she said.Martina’s interest in gender equality is part of a broader passion she has for interna-tional relations and diplomacy. She also sits on the Austral-

ian Institute of Interna-tional Relations Western

Australian Committee and has organised events for the

committee like the recent visit by Professor Kenneth Mayer from

the University of Wisconsin-Madison.‘I am passionate about gender equality because I care about equality in society more broadly,’ Martina said. ‘I believe everyone should have the chance to have an education, to grow up free from issues like having to worry about where their next meal is coming from or where they are going to sleep that night. We know that in developing countries women invest a far higher proportion of the income they make in their childrens’ education and their future than men. So it seems right to centre our efforts on equipping women to enter the workplace and earn an income.’

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EVENT roCkiNgHAm yoUNg WomeN’s leAdersHip ForUm

On Friday 22 June, the Young UN Women Aus-tralia Perth Policy & Education team, supported by a generous grant from the City of Rockingham, led an IGNITE! Young Women’s Leadership Forum in Rockingham.

About 40 local students attended, all in years 10-11, from schools such as Rockingham Senior High, Kolbe Catholic College, Warnbro Senior High, Rockingham Montessori, Comet Bay College, Tranby College and Marantha Christian College - plus six teachers. The forum was coordinated by local young leader and former YUNWA Perth Committee member Sally Lewis. She was assist-ed by five YUNWA Perth facilitators: Erin Fuery, Emma Tormey, Anna Johnson, Bec Biltsouris and Grace Williamson. Sessions included an introduc-tion to UN Women Australia; advocacy, fundrais-ing and public speaking skills stations; and group discussion on gender & development, the qualities of a leader, and the importance of community par-ticipation.

The feedback from the participants and teachers at Rockingham was overwhelmingly positive, with some students telling us that the forum “helped me learn qualities about a leader that I can use and de-velop” and that they most enjoyed hearing from “inspirational people that talked about their lives” and “the group work and meeting new people.” Another said “this has brought more confidence to myself.”

YUNWA Perth would like to thank Natasha Hazell and the City of Rockingham, and Murdoch Univer-sity Rockingham campus, for their support of this forum. We would also like to thank our fantastic keynote speaker, Tanya Dupagne from the Global Good Foundation, who delivered an uplifting and inspiring presentation to start the day.

Similar IGNITE! forums are currently being rolled out by YUNWA committees across Australia, sup-

ported by UN Women Australia platinum part-ner Westpac, and YUNWA Perth plans to hold another forum in Albany in August. Let us know if you’re interested in helping out!

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|by Anna Johnson

tHe NeW 2012-2013

YUNWA PertH Committee

Image Courtesy of Bec Bromead

These are some of the new committee members who took up their roles on 1 July 2012. They can’t wait to get started on the committee’s activities for 2012-2013!

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CONTRiBUTORs

YoUNg UN WomeN pertH @yoUNgUNWomeNper

Alice FarleyAnna Johnson

Anna larsonAthanae Lucev

Emma McCormackEmma Tormey

Erin FueryJen Rumbles

Martina UcnikovaSandra De Witt Hemala

Tiffany Henderson

Events CoordinatorChairMembership & Volunteers Coordinator & Treasurer Communications & Media CoordinatorGuest WriterCampus Ambassador CoordinatorGuest Writer Guest WriterOrdinary Committee MemberMarketing Coordinator & Zine DesignerGuest Writer

Credit: Jessica Lockhart

PHOTO UN Women Catianne Tilerina