Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli addresses Women’s Conference.

Women have important role in changing political landscape

By Kerri Carr

Women have an important role to play in the upcoming federal election, Federation's Women's Coordinator Siobhan Callan told Women's Conference on May 22.

"Our Women's Conference this year is all about involving women as voters, teachers and activists, in changing the political agenda in Australia that is increasingly conservative and regressive," Ms Callan said.

"Women need to change the agenda on so many issues, such as industrial relations, higher education, reconciliation and the funding of public education."

Ms Callan said the past year had seen a series of attacks on the importance of women and women's issues in Australian society.

"Debates that we thought had been hard-fought and won in the past have been reopened.

"Women's programs are starting to be mainstreamed or disbanded, led by the misguided notion that women have 'come such a long way', that issues for women are no longer of urgent importance."

Keynote speaker Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli from Deakin University spoke about agendas in education that often fail to recognise that access, equity and social justice are crucial issues for students that must be recognised and addressed in schools.

Her speech was entitled "Gender and Education -- It's not just about boys".

Federation President Maree O'Halloran said Federation had reached a stage in a number of campaigns where members needed to be active.

She said teacher unionists needed to be audacious and battles would not be won only with reasoned and sound argument.

"We are not going to be liked in the process," Ms O'Halloran warned.

"The nice things, like the TV ads, are not going to work on their own," she added.

The Conference passed a motion on maternity leave, aimed at making improvements to parental and adoption leave an immediate priority for Federation. Women's Conference recommended the motion to Annual Conference.

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