Beijing +30: Australian NGO Report 2024
Introduction to the Report
The Beijing +30 Australian NGO Report 2024 is a vital contribution to global gender equality discussions, assessing Australia’s progress over the past five years in implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). This report is authored by leading feminist and women's rights organisations across Australia, working together through the NGO Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Caucus.
As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, this report provides a critical review of Australia’s gender equality landscape, offering insights into progress, persistent challenges, and recommendations for accelerating change. The findings of this report contribute to CSW69 (the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women), where global leaders will review achievements and identify urgent actions needed to advance gender justice.
About CSW69 and the Importance of the Report
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the United Nations’ principal forum dedicated to gender equality and women's empowerment. CSW69 (2025) will evaluate global progress towards gender equality, particularly in light of the commitments made at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.
This Australian NGO Report offers a civil society perspective on gender equality policies and outcomes between 2020 and 2025, examining the impact of government policies, structural reforms, and socio-economic shifts on women in all their diversity. The report also underscores the need for long-term investment, accountability mechanisms, and intersectional strategies to address ongoing inequalities.
What Australia’s Women’s and Gender Equality Caucus say
The Beijing +30 Australian NGO Report 2024 highlights key areas of progress and concern across five critical domains:
- Shared Prosperity and Decent Work
- Despite policy improvements, gender pay gaps, occupational segregation, and workplace discrimination persist.
- Women, especially those facing intersectional disadvantage, continue to experience economic insecurity due to low wages, unpaid care burdens, and barriers to leadership.
- Calls for gender-responsive budgeting, investment in the care economy, and strategies to engage men as allies in workplace gender equality.
- Freedom from Violence
- Gender-based violence (GBV) remains widespread, with rising rates of domestic, family, and sexual violence.
- The report recommends sustained, long-term investment in specialist services, early intervention programs, and legal protections.
- Stronger responses to technology-facilitated abuse (TFA) and systemic reform to support migrant and refugee women are urgently needed.
- Participation, Accountability, and Gender-Responsive Institutions
- Australia has seen increased representation of women in political and corporate leadership, but challenges remain in male-dominated industries.
- The report calls for stronger gender equality targets, corporate accountability measures, and inclusive leadership programs.
- Intersectional approaches must guide future policies, ensuring First Nations women, women with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ communities are included in decision-making.
- Gender, Climate Change, Disasters, and Environmental Management
- Women disproportionately experience the impacts of climate change and environmental disasters, yet their voices remain underrepresented in policymaking.
- The report urges gender-responsive climate policies and the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in adaptation strategies.
- Calls for better protection of women in disaster-prone areas, ensuring their economic security and safety in times of crisis.
- Peaceful and Inclusive Societies
- Rising global conflicts and militarisation threaten gender justice and women's security.
- Australia must strengthen its commitment to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, ensuring gender-responsive peacebuilding efforts.
- Increased investment is needed in social cohesion, diplomacy, and violence prevention, particularly in conflict-affected and refugee communities.
Why This Report Matters
This report provides a roadmap for Australia’s gender equality future, pushing for transformative policies and sustained action beyond electoral cycles. It highlights the urgency of intersectional, feminist-led solutions and emphasizes that gender equality is not a “women’s issue” but a national priority.
As CSW69 approaches, we invite policymakers, activists, and advocates to engage with this report, amplify its findings, and champion its recommendations. Real change requires collective action. Let’s work together to build an Australia that is equitable, inclusive, and just for all women and girls.
CSW69 Youth Statement: Elevating Young Feminist Voices
About the CSW69 Youth Statement
The CSW69 Youth Statement, developed by Girls Run, is a powerful declaration reflecting the voices of young women and gender-diverse people across Australia. Rooted in extensive consultations—including roundtables, focus groups, and a national youth survey—the statement presents urgent priorities for the Australian Government’s advocacy at the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69).
The statement demands structural changes that move beyond tokenistic inclusion and instead ensure young people are recognized as leaders, decision-makers, and co-creators of gender equality policies at national and global levels.
Key Priorities of the Youth Statement
The statement outlines three critical areas that require urgent action:
- Climate Justice: Centring Equity and Indigenous Knowledges
- Equitable access to climate adaptation resources, particularly for refugees, migrants, and historically marginalised communities.
- Dismantling systemic barriers that exclude young, diverse voices from environmental policymaking.
- Policy frameworks that address climate displacement, secure human rights for climate refugees, and integrate Indigenous leadership and knowledge into climate response strategies.
- Inclusion in Leadership: Power, Accountable Decision-Making, and Political Participation
- Genuine youth participation beyond symbolic representation, ensuring young people—especially First Nations women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, and those in rural communities—hold real decision-making power.
- Quota systems and dedicated funding for young feminist leadership across sectors, particularly in traditionally male-dominated areas like finance and peace negotiations.
- Accountability measures and reporting frameworks to track progress and ensure governments fulfill commitments to youth-led leadership.
- Economic Justice and Rights: Social Protection and Decent Work
- Targeted economic policies addressing systemic inequities impacting marginalised young people, particularly youth asylum seekers, refugees, and informal workers.
- Formal consultation mechanisms to ensure young people actively shape economic policies.
- Stronger social protections including wage equity, access to decent work, and safeguarding against exploitative labour conditions.
Key Calls to Action for the Australian Government at CSW69
The CSW69 Youth Statement urges the Australian Government to:
- Advocate for youth leadership recognition in CSW69 negotiations, ensuring commitments to dedicated funding, capacity-building programs, and formal inclusion of young leaders.
- Push for explicit commitments that mandate meaningful engagement of young women and gender-diverse individuals in policy development.
- Ensure intersectionality in all gender equality frameworks by centring Indigenous, migrant, LGBTQIA+, and disability-inclusive perspectives.
- Strengthen protections against digital gender-based violence, ensuring online safety, privacy rights, and digital justice are prioritized in international discussions.
Why This Statement Matters
Young feminists are not just the future—they are the present. Their leadership, advocacy, and vision for change must be embedded in gender equality policies at all levels. This youth statement is a direct call for action: Australia must champion meaningful youth participation, economic justice, and climate equity at CSW69.
By amplifying the perspectives of diverse young people, this statement pushes for a gender-equal future shaped by those most impacted by systemic inequalities. The time for action is now.