Although there has been significant progress towards gender equality, women continue to experience barriers and inequalities in the home, workplace and the community. For example:
- Women experience family and domestic violence, as well as sexual violence and assault, at significantly higher rates than men.
- There is a gap of 21.4 per cent between the average full-time weekly earnings of Western Australian men and women, compared to the national average of 13.0 per cent.
- Women perform more unpaid domestic and caring duties than men, even when they work full-time.
- Women’s career progression to leadership roles can be adversely affected by workplace practices and attitudes that are biased towards traditional gender roles in families where one parent, usually the mother, provides primary care to children.
Communities partners with Government, business, industry and community sector organisations to deliver initiatives and programs that contribute to achieving gender equality in Western Australia.
Our work is underpinned by Stronger Together: WA’s Plan for Gender Equality, which provides a framework with practical steps for a whole-of-community approach to advancing gender equality over the next 10-years.
Other initiatives
Communities supports a range of initiatives that seek to improve social and economic outcomes for women across the State, including:
- Gender equality in procurement pilot
- International Women's Day
- Implementing Respect@Work: WA State Government Progress Report 2022
- Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Program
- Implementing Enough is Enough Recommendations: WA State Government Progress Report 2022
- Supporting development of the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Strategy
- The WA Women's Hall of Fame
Stronger Together: WA's Plan for Gender Equality
Stronger Together: WA's Plan for Gender Equality was released in 2020, as a framework for Government, business and the community to take action to create a fairer and more equitable Western Australia.
Women's Report Card
Women’s Report Cards have been produced since 2004 and provide a statistical snapshot of women in Western Australia across a range of key indicators. The reports are an evidence base to inform policies, services and programs in the public, corporate and community sectors.
Grants for Women
The Women’s Grants for a Stronger Future program aims to support a wider range of initiatives through increased funding for projects and programs that advance gender equality across four priority areas: Safety and Justice; Women's Economic Independence; Health and Wellbeing; Women in Leadership.
Respect in Mining
Respect in Mining is a pilot initiative in small-to-medium mining companies to give organisation leaders the skills to build workers’ relationships that are characterised by non-violence, equality, mutual respect, and trust.
Women's Workplace Safety Information and Resources Hub
The Department of Communities is committed to supporting individuals and organisations to make workplace safe for all women.
Announcements
Grants available for projects to advance gender equality
The Women’s Grants for a Stronger Future Program, administered by Department of Communities, is now open for applications for the 2025–26 funding round, with $585,000 in funding available to support a variety of projects that will advance gender equality.
Wimmin's Work project showcases stories and voices of WA women
A new collection of stories documenting the contributions of 10 Western Australian women.
Creating a bright future for all women
Meet Karina Chicote, Director of Inclusion Policy who oversees Women’s Interests.
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