Australian Human Rights Commission Information for List of Issues on Australia, 29 September 2017 1 Introduction 1. This submission is made by the Australian Human Rights Commission. The Commission is an ‘A status’ national human rights institution established and operating in full compliance with the Paris Principles. 2. The submission is based on work that has been undertaken by the Commission in accordance with our mandate and functions.1 The material provided here has been publicly reported in Australia and has been brought to the attention of the Australian Government.2 3. The Commission thanks the Committee for the opportunity to provide a written contribution prior to its adoption of the List of Issues (LOI) on Australia. 4. The recommended issues for consideration in the LOI are contained in the body of the submission and compiled in Attachment 1 of the submission. 2 General comments 5. Australia’s record on gender equality is mixed. Despite very high attainment in education, Australia’s overall position on the Global Gender Gap Index is comparatively low at 46th. Economic participation and opportunity is one of the areas where Australia lags most significantly - it is 42nd on the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap index. 6. This picture is reflected in the experiences of Australian women that the Sex Discrimination Commissioner heard from during consultations conducted across the country in 2016.3 Common themes raised throughout these conversations included gender inequality in economic security, low representation of women in leadership, lack of diversity in decision-making, and violence against women. 7. There are a range of gender equality gaps in Australia:  Women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by family and domestic violence.4  The national gender pay gap is currently at 15.3% (based on full time, adult, Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings)5  Australian women continue to be underrepresented in the workforce, with 78.3% of men aged 20–74 participating in work, compared with 65.1% of women.6  Women continue to spend more time on unpaid domestic and care work than men (in the 2016 census, 11.7% of men reported doing 15 or more hours of unpaid domestic work per week, compared to 32.6% women).7  Women retire with significantly less retirement savings than men.8 3