The church, girl guides and government cash
Liberal Senator Jocelyn Newman chose the August 17 launch of Fitting In or Standing Out?, a police force career guide for women produced by the Australian Council of Women in Policing, to announce the Office of the Status of Women's National Women's Funding Program for this financial year.
The (no doubt handy) publication on women in the police force was enabled by a $15,000 grant from last year's OSW program. "The timely and relevant research and services from last year's projects", explained Newman, " clearly demonstrate the positive impact women's organisations can have on mainstream policy and practice".
While 10 of the projects funded for 2000-2001 are wide-ranging in the issues they cover (from sexual violence services for indigenous and non-English speaking background women professional development, support and mentoring of women in the seafood industry), the main beneficiaries of the $560,000 total allocation are three organisations which provide national secretariat services "on behalf of women in Australia". The National Council of Women of Australia, the Young Women's Christian Association and the Australian Federation of Business and Professional Women will each receive $300,000.
Newman announced that three other organisations, the Women's Action Alliance, the Guides of Australia and the Catholic Women's League will receive $30,000 to provide "concentrated capacity building support to assist input into mainstream decision-making processes".
After cutting funding to many of the women's services that emerged from the campaigns of the mass women's liberation movement in the 1970s and '80s, the Coalition government is focussing its financial attention on what it considers "mainstream" women's groups.
Even the small amounts of funding for groups such as Womensport Australia are earmarked for use in a particular way: not to get disadvantaged girls into sport or provide equipment to poor schools; Womensport's $6000 will be for "advancing women in sports leadership and senior management positions".
Newman explains that the purpose of the funding program is "to strengthen the women's sector", but the women's sector the government has in mind has little to do with achieving gender equality, let alone women's liberation.
While the Women's Action Alliance aims to "raise the status of women in the Australian community", it is also anti-abortion (a position at odds with its stated support for women to be able to choose any roles without social or economic pressure).
The Catholic Women's League aims to defend the Christian way of life in Australia and, although it has a commitment to "matters of social justice", its recognition by the Holy See and its relations with seven Vatican departments give indicate the positions it would take on matters of women's control over their lives and bodies.
The September 3 Sun Herald points out that Gracia Baylor, president of the National Council of Women, is a former Victorian Liberal candidate. From this snippet of information (as well as the fact that the organisation's patron is Lady Deane, wife of the governor general), one gets a sense that the NCW will not be particularly critical of government policy on women.
This is precisely the point of the "cash for conservatives" funding. Organisations such as these probably have far more than their share of wealthy women willing to lend financial support, but by providing them with funding, the government is able to deflect criticism of its lack of commitment to the advancement of women. Thus Prime Minister John Howard can argue that there's no need for the Australian government to sign the optional protocol on the UN Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women because it has national programs which ensure women's rights.
Funding women's groups which take an anti-feminist position on many issues is actually a step backwards. By claiming that these organisations represent the "mainstream" in our society, the government can marginalise those organisations that are fighting for real change as radical fringe groups, not groups whose demands and campaigns represent the interests of the majority of women in Australia.
The government must reverse its support for women's groups that are not part of the movement for the betterment of all women. These funds should be used instead to increase and improve services to women who are victims of violence, sexual abuse and the many negative effects of sexism in our society.
BY MARGARET ALLUM