“If you believe, as I do, that merit is equally distributed between the sexes, then any result that isn’t around half and half should be troubling.” – Hon. Julia Gilliard, Australia’s first female Prime Minister.

Introduction

Women in Australia make up just over half of the Australian population (statista.com) and 47.9% of all employed persons (Workplace Gender Equality Agency WGEA, 2022) yet leadership, decision-making and priority setting has largely been in the hands of men. Any democratic framework needs to take into consideration gendered perspectives and equal representation of both women and men (Ballington and Karam, 2005).

Research shows that increased female political representation leads to positive outcomes such as budgetary and financial stability, keeping within the legal debit limit in councils and the acceptance of more rigorous climate change policies across countries in national Parliaments (Balaguer-Coll and Ivanova-Toneva, 2021; Mavisakalyan and Tarverdi, 2019).

Countries led by women were better at controlling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic due to a high level of trust and credibility given to these leaders, often based on their caring and nurturing style of leadership (Maity and Barlashar, 2022; Bruce et al, 2022). Women Parliamentarians bring a distinctive leadership to Parliament that is having a positive impact on our political process and outcomes. As Gilligan (1982) puts it, women “construe social reality differently” which leads to a distinctive female voice that embraces ideals of responsibility, caring and interconnectedness (p. 171). Bullough et al (2012) found when there is a higher representation of female political leaders there is more likely to be support for upward mobility, equality and sharing information.

While over the past 25 years women’s representation in the Australian Federal Parliament has grown at a quicker pace than in any other country in the Pacific region (according to Interparliamentary Union (IPU) data, 2020) gender gaps persist as do significant barriers and hurdles faced by women in getting elected and pursuing a career in politics.

Female representation in the Australian Federal Parliament was ranked 26th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index in 2023. While this is an increase from 43rd in 2022, it is still lower than the 15th place for Australia in 2006. Australia is also ranked 31st for Women in Parliaments which is an increase from 44th place in 2022. (World Economic Forum, 2023).

Total female representation in the Australian Federal Parliament is 45%, in State and Territory Parliaments it is 44% (Australian Federal Parliament, Gender composition of Australian Parliaments by party: Table 1 as at 23 January 2024) and it ranges from 43.8% to 31% in local councils across Australia (Pathways to Politics for Women data).

This article is based on a presentation that I delivered at the 40th CPA Australia and Pacific Regional Conference held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia which outlined the importance of building capacity among women to stand for election and how the Pathways to Politics for Women supports women to overcome the barriers to entering politics in Australia.

Pathways to Politics for Women
Established by founding partners the Trawalla Foundation, the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia and the University of Melbourne, and inspired by the Harvard Kennedy School’s “From Harvard Square to the Oval Office”, the Pathways to Politics for Women (pathwaystopolitics.org.au) aims to redress the underrepresentation of women in Australian politics. Carol Schwartz, AO, Chair of the Trawalla Foundation, whose vision initiated the programme in Australia believes that women have a valuable contribution to make to politics and that a positive outcome for our country is to ensure that both men and women share power,
leadership and decision making.

The foundational programme was launched in 2016 at the University of Melbourne and as from 2024, there is now a national network with programmes offered in every state and territory in Australia through the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Charles Darwin University (CDU), the University of Adelaide, the University of Canberra (UC), the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the University of Tasmania (UTAS).

Participants are selected on a competitive basis, with those who demonstrate a commitment to seeking elected office, leadership experience, professional and life experience, political and community engagement and an ability to tell their story in a compelling way amongst those who are chosen.

To be eligible for the programme applicants need to be an Australian citizen/Australian permanent resident/holder of a permanent Humanitarian Visa and identify as a woman. Pathways to Politics for Women embraces an inclusive definition of ‘women’, acknowledging the diversity of women that the programme works with and aims to support, including cisgender and transgender women, and non-binary people. To increase diverse female representation applicants are encouraged who identify with equity criteria: Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander; LGBTQIA+; previous status as a refugee or current holder of a humanitarian visa; regional, rural or isolated background; disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances; person with a disability and/or chronic medical condition; or person from a culturally and linguistically diverse background.

 Aim and ethos of the programme
The programme aims to support women from diverse backgrounds to overcome the barriers to reach elected office at all three levels of government. The ethos of the programme is non-partisan and is about creating a safe space under Chatham House rules and a Code of Conduct so participants can learn and connect with each other and with experienced politicians who share their stories and their expertise.

“I got to network with women who have experienced similar things, so I got to confirm that the things I was thinking weren’t just in my head. They were real. I got to meet a lot of other women in the same situation” (QUT Pathways to Politics for Women alumni).

A significant barrier to entering politics highlighted in a recent survey of alumni from the QUT Pathways to Politics for Women was having the required knowledge, skills, support and network to enable them to be elected. The programme provides women with a deep understanding of what it means to be a female politician and how to navigate the political workplace.

“It humanised the prospect of being a politician through candid conversations with current and past female politicians.” (QUT Pathways to Politics for Women alumni).

QUT Pathways to Politics for Women
The QUT Pathways to Politics for Women (https://www.qut.edu.au/study/professional-and-executive-education/pathways-topolitics-for-women) is an example of one of the programmes delivered as part of the national network. Delivered since 2020, the programme offers three face to face weekend workshops across three consecutive months as well as online sessions, coaching and resources to build the participants’ capacity to take on political leadership roles and build their political career.

Topics that are covered in ‘Workshop 1: Building your political career’ include sessions on making the decision to run, exploring why participants wish to enter politics, navigating the parliamentary workplace culture and understanding the party machine and preselection process.

In ‘Workshop 2: Becoming the strongest candidate’, participants learn about campaigning and fundraising, policy and how to conduct media interviews.

The final ‘Workshop 3: Being a political leader’ focuses participants on their political leadership and handling ethical dilemmas. Throughout the programme, participants develop their speech writing and presentation skills delivering a short ‘stump’ speech (campaign speech) in the Queensland State Parliament on the final day of Workshop 3.

Coaching is also incorporated into the programme to support women to build their self-confidence, to manage their wellbeing and competing roles and to set career goals to take forward after completing the programme.

Research conducted by Spark, Cox and Corbett (2019) reinforces the importance of the knowledge and skills women learn in this programme. They found that successful women politicians developed strategies which included investing in their education, developing strategies for working in a male-dominated environment, building strategic networks and managing their work life balance so as not to spend too much time away from home.

The impact of the Pathways to Politics for Women

Workshop participants begin with ‘Building your base’. From left to right politicians Deb Frecklington, Nicole Johnstone, and Penny
Allman-Payne.
Image credits: QUT Pathways to Politics for Women.

The programmes offered nationwide have had a profound impact on female representation in politics in Australia and are building the confidence amongst aspiring female politicians to stand for election. “After completing the QUT programme, I know I have a future in politics and now feel confident to step up into leadership roles in my party.” (QUT Pathways to Politics for Women alumni).

Nationally, the programme now has 450 alumni with a projected 1,000 alumni by 2026. Since 2016, 47 alumni from the programme have been elected from all sides of politics and all levels of government, including 13 alumni in the recent Queensland local elections held in March 2024.

In addition to the programmes offered by each state, support and ongoing development is provided for the alumni through state and territory-based mentoring programmes, alumni events and masterclasses. Both alumni from the programme and any women interested in entering politics have access to a rich selection of resources and research through the Knowledge Hub provided on the national programme site.

Conclusion
As female representation increases in Parliament though the impact of programmes like the Pathways to Politics for Women, so women and girls are more likely to participate and consider politics as a positive and viable career (Wolbrecht and Campbell, 2007).

To sustain the momentum to increase female representation at all levels of politics in Australia, it requires the implementation of strategies to overcome knowledge and information barriers, social and cultural barriers and structural and institutional barriers (Maguire, 2018).

The Pathways to Politics for Women builds women’s self confidence, knowledge and skills and access to supportive networks recognising and honouring the ‘female style’ of leadership and the distinct contribution that women can make to the political process and outcomes. At a structural and institutional level, the programme is creating an awareness of the systemic barriers faced by women entering politics through research and advocacy.

It would be fitting to leave the last word to one of our QUT Pathways to Politics for Women alumni who has recently been elected to her local council. “The QUT Pathways to Politics Programme changed my life. Being able to live my truth and express myself with like-minded women only furthered my passion and aspirations to run for public office. The programme honours the ‘female style’ of leadership and value that this type of leadership makes to politics.”

QUT Pathways to Politics for Women – As the only programme of its kind in Queensland, QUT’s Pathway to Politics for Women is a national, non-partisan initiative that seeks to increase female participation at all levels of government by equipping women with the skills to succeed in being elected to public office, and to thrive as political leaders. https://pathwaystopolitics.org.au/.

This article is based on a presentation given by Professor Vicky Browning at the 40th CPA Australia and Pacific Regional Conference in Queensland in November 2023 on the theme of
‘Representation for the Future: Young People and Parliaments’. It was first published in pages 178-180 of ‘The Parliamentarian’, 2024: Issue Two. 

Professor Vicky Browning is qualified organisational psychologist and executive coach specialising in leadership and human resource development and with extensive experience in programme design and leadership in higher education. She is currently the Programme Director for the QUT Pathways to Politics for Women at the Queensland University of Technology. In 2020, the programme under her leadership received a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence for Inclusion and Diversity. She is also the Chair of the University Equity Committee. Her current research focuses on exploring female political leadership and the enablers and barriers for women to enter politics and to exercise their leadership to make a difference for Australian communities.