Women's Economic Outcomes and Gender Equality

The NSW Government is committed to ensuring that our State remains the best place for people to live, work and fulfill their potential, regardless of their gender.

NSW Treasury is implementing a range of gender responsive budgeting tools and practices to ensure gender equality considerations are embedded into government decision-making and resource allocation processes. We are working to embed Gender Impact Assessments on all new policy proposals, as well as publishing a Gender Equality Budget Statement alongside the annual NSW Budget.

Explore these tools, practices and other resources below.

Gender Equality Budget Statement

A Gender Equality Budget Statement is an important component of Gender Responsive Budgeting. It is a public document that outlines the impacts of the annual budget on gender equality. In New South Wales, the Gender Equality Budget Statement is published alongside the state Budget. It examines the key issues relating to gender inequality across NSW and highlights the budget measures that seek to address these challenges.

2024-25 Gender Equality Budget Statement

The 2024 Gender Equality Budget Statement was published alongside the 2024-25 NSW Budget. Analysis and budget measures included in the Statement are organised under the three pillars of the NSW Women’s Strategy: health and wellbeing, economic opportunity and advancement, and participation and empowerment. This Budget initiates implementation of gender responsive budgeting through the phased rollout of gender impact assessments, which enables gender equality considerations to be embedded into policy design and resource allocation.

2023-24 Gender Equality Budget Statement

The 2023 Gender Equality Budget Statement was published alongside the 2023-24 NSW Budget. Analysis and budget measures included in the Statement are organised under the three pillars of the NSW Women’s Strategy: economic opportunity and advancement, health and wellbeing, and participation and empowerment.

Gender Impact Assessment

Gender Impact Assessments (GIAs) consider how a proposed policy, program or project may have different impacts on people based on their gender; this includes women, men and gender diverse people.

All government agencies are required to prepare GIAs for new policy proposals.

Gender Responsive Procurement

Gender Responsive Procurement leverages the NSW Government’s buying power, where possible, to encourage gender equality in our supply chains.

For more information email NSW Procurement.

Women's Economic Opportunities Review

The NSW Government established the Women’s Economic Opportunities Review (WEO Review) in February 2022 to identify barriers to women’s economic participation and reform opportunities. The WEO Review was supported by an expert reference panel, chaired by Sam Mostyn AO.

As part of the WEO Review, NSW Treasury published a Technical Paper led by the Structural Analysis and Modelling team which identified the key drivers of unequal outcomes between women and men in the NSW labour market, as well as estimating the impact of measures that increase the affordability, availability and quality of early childhood education and care.

The WEO Review’s findings informed the 2022-23 NSW Budget, with reforms to improve women’s economic opportunities outlined in the Women’s Opportunity Statement, published alongside the 2022-23 NSW Budget. This was followed by the First Nations Women’s Economic Participation Review, overseen by NSW Treasury’s First Nations Expert Advisory Panel.

Childcare is a key lever for improving women’s economic opportunity

The most common reason reported by Australian women who are not available to start a job or work more hours is that they are caring for children, which disproportionately impacts employment opportunities for women more than men. This is reflected in women’s workforce participation rates, where women’s participation rates drop and remain below men’s from their late twenties, around the age they begin to have children.

Universal, affordable and accessible childcare and early childhood education is an important lever available to make sure women with young children do not have to choose between having a family, having a career or having both.

View NSW Treasury's technical paper for more detail on the research underpinning the modelling assumptions.

The NSW Government has established the Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund to deliver new early childhood initiatives that directly support those who need it most - children, families and the workforce.

Technical Paper: Workforce Gender Segregation in Australia

Industry and occupation gender segregation remains entrenched in the Australian workforce.

NSW Treasury has worked with Treasury representatives from all jurisdictions to prepare a technical paper: Workforce Gender Segregation in Australia. The paper provides an overview of gender segregation in Australian workforces, identifies underlying drivers of gender segregation and summarises key actions underway across jurisdictions aimed at supporting improved gender equality across Australian workforces.

This technical paper has been prepared by the interjurisdictional Women's Economic Outcomes Senior Officials Working Group (WEO-SOWG) of the Council on Federal Financial Relations to assist in informing policy efforts to address gender segregation in Australian workforces. The WEO-SOWG includes Treasury representatives from the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments.

Read the Background Papers Analysis of Supply-Side Drivers using HILDA data and Key Findings from Expert Consultations.

Resources

In February 2024, the NSW Secretaries Board came together and committed to advancing gender equality within the NSW Government and broader community through the implementation of Gender Equality Action Plans.

Government resources

Other NSW Treasury initiatives to support gender equality include:

Gender Equality Action Plan 2024-28

The NSW Government is committed to promoting gender equality through various initiatives including:

The Australian Government is supporting gender equality through initiatives including: