Gender inequality is the situation when men and women are not equal for living rights. Both men and women should have equal opportunities for their life experience, however, the reality makes women should struggle to get the same position as men. That is so sad, inequality gender happened in Australia. Around 150 years ago, Australian women have to face inequality rights such as; education, work, and politic. Now, they are stood up and make a movement to show up how strong they are.
In the past, Australian women have to struggle because they were actively discouraged as being useless people. From that, their absence gave new significance to the Australian mateship concept. Mateship is the idiom that means embody equality, friendship, and loyalty. However, that concept is for men only, as Russel Ward in The Australian Legend assumes it is centered around masculinity that reeks womanlessness. In the education aspect, women were not allowed to study. At that time, only men could get higher education and become educated. In the work aspect, also men could get good works while women were not allowed to go to work. That was completely not fair until women did not have political rights. However, the situation bit by bit changed. In 1882, New South Wales passed the 1882 Public School Act which provided opportunities for women to get an education. In addition, the university was generally available for women in the 1890s. The situation in 1880 also changed when women could start to work even though they were still low paid. The percentages were raised from 12,5% to about 29% of females workers in New South Wales around 1890-1910. Moreover, the equality of political rights was changed in 1902 when the first Commonwealth Franchise Act was allowed all citizens both men and women over the age of 21 in 1902.
At the present, Australia women get maternity leave. The government provides some programs such as funding of child-care centers, anti-discrimination, and affirmative action laws. Now, women could get the same education as men, women are allowed to go to work, and have the same political rights. However, family-effect is affected women’s education in Australia. According to Anh T. Le & Paul W. Miller’s article on The Rising Education Levels of Females in Australia, they wrote the results reveal that family-related characteristics play a major role in the education decision. In addition, there is evidence of cohort effects in the process of determining female educational attainment. Moreover, women still get discrimination from their profession. The gender pay gap is different between women’s and men’s average weekly full-time equivalent earnings, and women still paid less than men. According to Lyons, women’s average full-time base salary is 16.2% less than men, and women’s average full-time remuneration is 21.% less than men. In political rights, women have participated in government in Australia since the 20th century. In South Australia and Western Australia women have vote legislation before the federation, and in New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland, and Victoria passed the legislation for women to participate in the government of the state and locals following the federation.
To get equality living rights for Australian women is not easy as they have to against inequality treatments. Australia women have a lot of milestones about their effort to get what should be theirs. The first milestone is about the first female trade union when Australia’s first female trade union (The Tailoresses’ Association of Melbourne) was established at a meeting held in Trades Hall on 15 December 1882. In 1891, the vote’s right encouraged women to fight for it, Monster petition for the women’s vote is dedicated to women who took to the streets on foot. They collected signatures for a petition to present to the Parliament of Victoria seeking the right to vote. Moreover, In the education aspect, blind girls and boys were able to receive education in 1894 when The Elementary Education Amendment Act made the education of blind and deaf children. From that milestones, Australia women could get the same rights as men even though sometimes they get discrimination in their professions.
To sum up everything, Australia women did not get equality living rights like men in the past. They were not allowed to get an education, were not allowed to go to work, and did not have the same political rights as men. However, they against those inequality treatments to show up that they could be in the same position as men. In the author’s opinion, both men and women should have the same opportunities for life experience, health service, and laws. No discrimination, no inequality treatments, they could be independent and grow up their country. They also could be teamwork and share ideas with each other for good work. In the end, women’s and men’s existence raises a colorful life.
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