Outdated gender norms and concepts of merit are holding Australia back, with the sex discrimination commissioner calling on families, governments, employers and the media to centre gender equality in all aspects of life.
In her first speech to the National Press Club, Dr Anna Cody on Wednesday outlined the structural change needed to ensure equal treatment of all genders.
She specifically referenced parental leave policies and the need to create an Australia where care giving is seen as a shared responsibility.
"We must change the narrative that taking parental leave is only for one parent. It's time to recognise that being both a worker and a carer at the same time is the reality for most of us," she told the press club.
"When leave is automatically available and parents have to opt out rather than opt in, it sends a strong message: that care giving is valued, expected and supported."
Two years into a five-year term as commissioner, Dr Cody's focus has been efforts to stamp out workplace sexual harassment with a landmark project spotlighting the voices of people with lived experience.
Centring lived experience and diverse voices was vital to understanding what gender equality truly means, she said.
"It's not just about the concept of fairness. It's about building policies and laws that reflect the full spectrum of human experience," Dr Cody said.
While Australia has made great strides in discrimination law, fair work rules and tracking the gender pay gap, there is still more to be done.
Moves overseas, specifically in the United States, to wind back women's rights and gender equality measures could have impacts in Australia.
"There is certainly a greater sensitivity around talking about women's equality and gender issues within Australia, but there's also a sense of pride about what we have achieved and the way that we can show some of the success measures to the rest of the world," Dr Cody said.
The media also had an important role to play in rejecting gendered stereotypes within their reporting on women in leadership positions.
Comparing recent commentary on former Australian National University vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell and chancellor Julie Bishop to University of Technology Sydney vice-chancellor Andrew Parfitt, who is also implementing staff-cutting measures, Dr Cody said there was an additional level of scrutiny on women.
"It's irrelevant what someone wears, whether they fidget under the spotlight, whether they're wearing make-up and what their size is, that's not a requirement for good leadership," she said.
"I absolutely ask, request, that media stop asking questions, or commenting on, or including in their articles questions about a woman's appearance, her size and shape."
The scourge of domestic and family violence in Australia has also shaped Dr Cody's experience as commissioner, and she called for a community-led approach that prioritises prevention, accountability and safety to end violence against women.
"Since the day I started as Australia's sex discrimination commissioner, 136 women have been killed in this country because of gendered violence," she said.
"These numbers are real women, living their ordinary lives, killed. We cannot accept this and we must do better."
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