Office for Women – Women’s Budget 2018-19 Snapshot

The Office for Women at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has published a snapshot of Budget measures pertaining women in 2018-19; however, a gender-sensitive Women’s Budget Statement was not produced, as has been the case since 2014. The snapshot comprises four factsheets for initiatives in key areas:

  • Improving the lives of Australian women.
  • Women’s economic capability and leadership. The centrepiece of the snapshot, it reports on different Budget initiatives for economic choice, jobs, women in STEM, health, small businesses, women in the workforce, older Australians and retirement. In regards to taxation, it addresses the significance of proposed tax cuts for women, given how by 2015-16 ATO Taxation Statistics, about 86% of female taxpayers had taxable income of $90,000 or less—although women were not mentioned in the Budget speech, the factsheet highlights that that is where tax relief is focused. A level of sex disaggregation is also presented for workforce participation.
  • Women’s health and wellbeing.
  • Women’s safety and welfare.

A Women’s Economic Security Statement is expected to be released by the Minister for Women in spring 2018.

(Source: PM&C | Press Release)

 

ALP – Women’s Budget Statement 2018

The Australian Labor Party has released their Women’s Budget Statement 2018, following 2017 conversations with Australian women for ‘Setting the Agenda: a National Strategy for Gender Equality’.

The statement mentions a lack of measures in the Budget 2018-19 to directly address women’s long-term and structural economic disadvantage, and touches upon the implications for women concerning taxation, changes to social security and family benefits in the Budget, and the importance of gender-responsive budgeting. Regarding revenue and taxation, for instance, it notes that tax concessions show gendered effects, since 115,00 more men claimed negative gearing deductions than women in 2015-16 ($2.7 billion more in claims), due to men making up the majority of high income earners.

(Source: Women’s Budget Statement 2018)

 

NFAW – Gender Lens on the Budget 2018-19

The National Foundation for Australian Women has released their ‘Gender Lens on the Budget 2018-19’. The annual report brings together a gendered analysis of measures in the Budget, alongside recommendations on how to enhance gender awareness and responsiveness in the Budget cycle.

The Foundation considers that the government assessment of how women benefit from this year’s budget is not a gender-based analysis: rather, it is a listing of initiatives that may benefit women, minus any data. In response, Gender Lens on the Budget contains proposals and recommendations for the government, particularly for the future ‘significant funding’ package announced by the Minister for Women, to address the economic disadvantage many Australian women face, to be released in September.

Key findings

  • The report finds that there are some individually beneficial measures, like the changes to superannuation.
  • Other measures have both beneficial and disincentive elements: measures that reduce the tax payable by low income earners will disproportionately benefit women, as 85% of female taxpayers earn less than $90,000 compared to 72% of male taxpayers (ATO 2018). However, the tax offset increases the effective marginal tax rate by 1.5% for taxpayers within the taper zone, which increases work disincentives for women and other low-income taxpayers.
  • The most vulnerable women lose out, since the budget also has consequences for some of the most disadvantaged groups in the community. A few measures will be ‘desperately bad for women’, such as the proposal to garnishee welfare payments of beneficiaries who have unpaid fines, which may impact indigenous women or women with disabilities.

(Source: NFAW | Read the Report| Previous editions)

 

Analyses at the household level

Budget assessments by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, University of Canberra’s NATSEM, and the Grattan Institute model the Budget impacts for different household types and income levels.

 

Upcoming events in Canberra

Women in Economics – 2018 Federal Budget Perspectives Address

Date and time: Wednesday 23 May 2018, 11.30am to 1.30pm

Venue: National Press Club of Australia, 16 National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600

Speakers: Danielle Wood, National Women in Economics Chair & Director of Budget Policy Program at the Grattan Institute; Lynne Pezullo, Lead Partner of Health Economics and Social Policy Deloitte Australia; and Dr Janine Dixon, Senior Research Fellow, Centre of Policy Studies Victoria University, Melbourne Australia.

Tickets are available for purchase here.

Budget and Policy Analysis for Gender Equality

Date and time: Wednesday 23 May 2018, 5.30pm to 6.30pm

Venue: ANU College of Law, 5 Fellows Road, ANU

Speakers: Organised by The Centre for International & Public Law, in association with the Attorney-General’s Department and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Professor Miranda Stewart, Fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Australian National University and a Professor at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne.

For registration, please click here.

 

From the blog

Check our archive on the topic of Gender equality.

Comments are closed.