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Advocacy

Economic Justice

Everyone should have equal access to opportunities in life. Instead, women are often overlooked for secure, well-paid jobs, and women’s work is undervalued and underfunded. Our vision is for a future in which women have equal access to economic resources.

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Young Women & COVID project

In 2020, we ran a project investigating the disproportionate impacts of COVID on young women. We found that:

  • Many women under 30 had lost work due to COVID. Sectors where many young women work, like retail, hospitality, tourism and the arts, faced shutdowns and huge job losses. 
  • Other young women worked on the frontlines of COVID, in sectors like health and community services where the majority of the workforce is female. This meant that they have faced the burdens of increased work pressure, COVID risk and customer or client aggression.
  • Many young women experienced financial hardship. Some had to make the difficult choice to withdraw money from their Super, which meant that the retirement savings gap between young women and young men widened.

 

Project report and outcomes

We released a report to elevate the voices of young women and bring information to decision-makers, to ensure young women were factored into the COVID recovery.

Read the report!

The Working Women's Centre has heard from hundreds of young women about their experiences during the pandemic. We came up with four key recommendations for how to factor young women into the COVID-19 recovery.

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Insecure work & gendered violence

Economic justice is connected to safety. Job security can be protective against violence.

Gendered violence is very common. About 1 in 3 Australian women have experienced violence perpetrated by a man since the age of 15.* 1 in 3 people in Australia have experienced sexual harassment at work in the last 5 years.*  

Insecure work is work where there is a level of uncertainty about hours, income or whether the work will continue long-term. This can look like casual work or short-term contracts rather than permanent contracts. Job insecurity creates an unequal power dynamic that is linked to violence against women. 

You can find more information about these links in our report.

*References: ABS Personal Safety Survey & the Fifth National Survey.

Read the report

Find out more in our report about the Protective Power of Job Security.

How to get involved

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Keep in touch about events and campaigns for gender equity.

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Fight together for improved pay and conditions in your workplace.

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Our workshops help challenge outdated gender stereotypes and prevent sexual harassment.

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Latest updates

24 Mar 2025

Gender Pay Gap in South Australia

The gender pay gap remains an obstacle to economic equality in South Australia. Women continue to earn less than men, affecting their financial security, career opportunities, and long-term well-being....

Read more

03 Mar 2025

2025 International Women’s Day March

Join us to march together on International Women’s Day for safety, equality and respect, in our workplaces, communities and families. IWD is a day for working women and all...

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Webinar

Young Women &
COVID19 Webinar

This webinar from 2020 discusses the impacts of COVID19 on young women, what needs to happen to stop us from being left behind, and how to turn our anger into action. Several powerful young women joined us to share their thoughts and experiences.

Watch
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