Download Our Pre-Election Briefing for Women in Business Here

As the federal election campaign reaches fever pitch, we’ve been flooded with information about interest rates, Work Choices and economic management – but very little about the issues identified by the ABN community as critical to small business survival, including:

• the red tape burden on small business
• the future of the childcare situation in Australia
• the glass ceiling
• provision of government support for women in business and
• the discrepancy in male/female superannuation balances and its effect on women’s retirement lifestyle

To fill the information gap and help you make an informed choice on election day, we took those issues to senior female members of the Coalition, Labor, Democrats and Greens parties in a series of targeted questions.

We also asked two open questions, the first relating to each party’s perspective on the key issues facing women in business; and the second about their priority plans to address the public policy needs of Australian women in business.

Click here to download our report.

We hope you find our brief interesting and informative and invite comment via policy@abn.org.au, by commenting on this blog post, or direct to Susan McGrath, ABN National Special Projects Manager (Advocacy and Lobbying) on 0439 908 108.

Polls and Surveys

We are currently setting up a number of relevant surveys and polls.

Take part in our Pre Election Snap Poll now.

Download and return this form to tell us what you think!

When is a promise not a promise?

Please note, as the ABN is a politically neutral organisation, the following blog does not represent an endorsement – or otherwise – of any political party.

On news.com.au this morning, I read a story about rising interest rates. Read the story here.

In it, the reporter quoted Prime Minister Howard as saying “Voters don’t hold politicians to promises”. Mr Howard’s point was that voters go for the “aggregate result”, rather than holding politicians to individual commitments.

I thought Mr Howard raised an interesting point. What do you think? When is a promise not a promise? What’s more important – a politician delivering on individual promises, or providing a good overall result for their country?

Indirect discrimination strikes again!

In its recent report “The Voice of Super”, the Association of Superannuation Funds (ASFA) reported that

• in 2004 women had superannuation balances less than 50% of those of men and estimates that
• in 2006, average superannuation retirement payouts for women were 35% of those of men

These are alarming statistics, and frankly, we believe that it’s not good enough for any party to continue to blame this shameful situation is a result of the differing work patterns of males and females and the resulting income disparities.

We already know what causes it – our point is that something needs to be done about it!

We’ve formally written to all four major parties (Coalition, Labor, Democrats and Greens), to find out what their strategies are to redress the balance and end this indirect discrimination against Australian women.

We’ll keep you posted as responses are received.

Female Entrepreneurs on the Rise

One of my favourite sites is www.smartcompany.com.au. An extract from a recently published article follows:“Where are the women?” is the headline of a story in AFR Boss magazine today. It looks at the abysmal record of large Australian corporates to get women into their boardrooms. It also notes that while women make up half the workforce in these large corporates, they usually only have two female directors on the board.

But if Boss magazine can’t find them, we can! The answer may be that the smart ones are shunning corporate life to run their own businesses.

The SmartCompany50 list of fast growing and innovative companies shows that 20% of the companies have female founders. Kosmas Smyrnios, professor of management at RMIT University, and who studies fast growth companies, points out that this is a big increase on other years.

Other studies on women running fast growth companies show that usually about 5% to 10% are run by females, he says. “So 20% is a great result, and shows that maybe the trend of women to start and run their businesses, which has occurred in the US, is beginning to be happen here.

From my own experience in general management and later as a senior bureaucrat before establishing Susan McGrath Consulting, I think editor Amanda Gome is right on the ball- many women employed at a high level in Australian organisations eventually move on to run their own business.

I don’t think it’s surprising, as the glass ceiling does still exist in Australia, both in the corporate world and in government.

Add to this the qualities of exceptional resilience, tenacity, faith in your own ability and dedication to the job that a woman needs to push aside political and professional barriers at the higher corporate and government levels and you have the perfect entrepreneurial profile.

Calculate your risk of breast cancer

The National Breast Cancer Centre has launched an interactive tool to enable women to calculate their risk of breast cancer. The online risk calculator is supported by information about risk factors for breast cancer and also provides useful information about lifestyle changes women may wish to make to reduce their risk.

The calculator asks a series of questions about a woman’s age, family history of breast and ovarian cancer, genetic factors, height, weight, alcohol intake, menstrual and reproductive history, and previous breast conditions to calculate her risk of developing breast cancer compared to another woman of her age.

It then informs women if they are at ‘low or average risk’, ‘moderately increased risk’ or ‘potentially high risk’ of developing breast cancer and provides details of what has contributed to this risk.

The risk calculator can be accessed at the National Breast Cancer Centre’s website www.nbcc.org.au. The calculator is part of a National Breast Cancer Centre mini-site about breast cancer risk factors that rates the importance of different risk factors, dispels the myths and clarifies the different ways risk can be explained.

Call for Women to Register for Government Board Positions

Women who are keen to contribute their skills and knowledge on Australian Government boards are encouraged to register with the AppointWomen online database. AppointWomen is a free and confidential online registration and search service and part of the National Strategy for the Increased Participation of Women on Boards, which is supported by State and Territory Governments.

Women can register with AppointWomen by visiting Appoint Women and following the instructions to complete the online registration form.

If you’re ready to take on the challenge of serving on a Government Board – and benefit from the excellent professional development and networking opportunities the experience will offer, don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to make your mark on Australia’s future – register now or contact the Office for Women on 1800 808 863 for further information.

The Federal election is coming – are you ready for it?

With the Federal election imminent, this is a great time to contact your local member and state parliamentarian to find out their stance on issues that are important to you. Your lobbying power will never be greater, especially if you live in a marginal electorate!

herVoice has put together a great resource to help you lobby – click here to download your complimentary copy, or call me on 0439 908 108, if you’d like to discuss strategy.

The Australian Electoral Commission website www.aec.gov.au, has a wealth of information about:

• your nearest polling place on Election Day

• which Federal electorate you live in

• a profile and map of your federal electorate and

• the name of your incumbent House of Representatives Member

If you need a hand with navigating the AEC site, call the ABN on 1300 720 120 , or email policy@abn.org.au for a fast response.

Every vote does count, so don’t miss out on this chance to have your say in Australia’s future!

Australia’s Childcare Crisis – where are our leaders when we need them?

Childcare is one of the many public policy issues of concern raised by ABN members. It’s hard to access, hard to afford for many working parents and quality is a concern.

Ratios of carers to children are generally not optimal; many forms of care, such as family day care, are not audited as frequently or carefully as they should be; and both parties are avoiding introducing serious tax incentives to assist with the financial burden of care.

While the government has introduced a maternity payment to help women who choose not to go back to work, so far, neither party has offered paid leave during this election.

In short, Australia is suffering a childcare crisis and no-one is providing the leadership needed to resolve it.

What have been your experiences with childcare? How would you like to see the government address this situation?