Represent Us

Young women and gender-diverse people should grow up believing anything is possible – that they have opportunities in their lives to shape the world they live in.

Sadly, our current national Parliament does not represent the diversity of communities across Australia. Without this representation, valuable perspectives are not being included in decision-making and as we have seen over the last year, a dangerous culture is allowed to run rampant.

In the 2022 federal election, we called on political parties to urgently set targets to ensure our Parliament reflects the diversity of the country we live in, because young women and gender-diverse people deserve a place in our democracy.

Thank you to everyone who joined our call for action from key decision-makers in both major parties.

Represent Us

Represent Us

Women… are not adequately represented in Parliament. And for those that have worked so hard to get there, to take that seat – it’s not even safe.

We surveyed more than 1000 young women aged 18-24 – most of them voting for the first time – and asked them about the key barriers to entering politics. We asked our youth activists why diversity and safety was important to them, and drew on their insights on improving the culture of politics throughout this report.

90% of young women surveyed feel it’s easier for men to succeed in politics than women. 82% supported introducing diversity targets as an intervention to ensure the representation of women and people of different ethnicities. You can review the full findings and insights from young people in the report below.

Read the Report

It’s time to see a Parliament as diverse as its people.

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Our asks

Safety
Safety
All parties commit to implementing all of the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s ‘Set the Standard’ report recommendations in 6-18 months. The report makes clear through its recommendations that driving change in Parliament will require leadership, accountability and a focus on safety and wellbeing, including proactive policies to prevent abuse before it starts.
Targets
Targets
All political parties set targets for the representation of women, if they do not already have them, and targets for people of different ethnicities to ensure that Federal Parliament reflects the diversity of Australia. All parties commit to achieving population parity across gender, ethnicities and backgrounds by 2030.
Accountability
Accountability
All parties commit to introducing mechanisms to report back to survivors on the implementation of the ‘Set the Standard’ recommendations, and that this is reflected as part of the implementation plan.