This week’s 2021-22 Victorian State Budget is to put women at the heart of the State’s COVID-19 recovery and create thousands of new roles to provide women with job security.
Minister for Women, Gabrielle Williams said the Budget would also support women’s health and wellbeing by rebuilding the State’s mental health system from the ground up.
“This Budget further invests in our commitment to end family violence, not just by improving our response to it, but by actively addressing the gendered factors that drive it,” Ms Williams said.
“It’s why this Budget also delivers funding devoted to advancing gender equality, with dedicated support to improve outcomes for Victorian women,” she said.
“This includes embedding gender impact analysis in the Government’s budget decision-making through a brand new gender responsive budgeting unit – continuing Victoria’s nation-leading approach to advancing gender equality.”
Ms Williams said success would be measured on multiple fronts, from women’s workforce participation to ensuring more women were safe and supported.
She said the Budget would strengthen women’s workforce participation and make the State safer and fairer with universal three and four-year-old kindergartens; professional standard facilities for the Home of the Matildas and a future home for Football Victoria, along with a Rugby Centre of Excellence; free and public in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) services for 4,000 Victorian patients each year; support for women’s participation and gender equality in sport; extension of the Female Friendly Facilities Fund; establishing three new women’s reproductive health hubs; and improving the representation of women in local Government.
“We understand there’s still a long road ahead and plenty of work to do,” she said.
“But this Budget is dedicated to addressing the fundamental issues that matter to women across our State,” Ms Williams said.
The 2021-22 Victorian Budget papers can be accessed at this PS News link.
