Roadblocks to diversity in Local Government in New South Wales, Australia: changing narratives and confronting absences in diversity strategies

Abstract

The 2021 local government elections in New South Wales (NSW), Australia delivered a record 39.5% female representation, up from 31.2% in the previous election. The increased number of women elected to councils can be read as evidence of the success of a diversity strategy centred on encouraging and equipping women, and other under-represented groups, to stand for election. However, without detracting from the value of these initiatives, their capacity to achieve a councillor body reflective of the general population is limited. People of non-European ancestry, particularly women of ‘colour’ remain grossly underrepresented, while the gains in women’s representation will fail to reach gender parity unless the practices that sustain male overrepresentation, particularly by Anglo and other ‘white’ European men, are challenged. This article draws upon qualitative interviews with councillors to offer fresh readings of conventional explanations for a lack of diversity in Australian local government, while also underscoring the importance of addressing issues that are currently neglected in ‘technical’ approaches.

Understanding Public Support for Policies Aimed at Gender Parity in Politics: A Cross-National Experimental Study

“…Alleviating some of this role strain by implementing resources grounded in gender mainstreaming is another avenue toward attracting and retaining women in local and federal government. Here, we follow gender-mainstreaming literature (Palmieri and Childs, 2020; Palmieri, 2011) and build on others’ calls to investigate how practical and financial supports, identified as critical gender-mainstreaming resources, might incentivize women's political participation (see Jakimow, 2022), such as pay raises, childcare support and more flexible participation in public office. One answer in local government to the enduring problem of women's underrepresentation is to increase councillor compensation so that women (and men) are not compelled to balance political life with other employment.…”

“…However, existing research on women representatives’ experiences at the local level expose competing work and family pressures. Jakimow's (2022) study of local government councillors found some councillors delayed running for office, as “managing a busy household remains a barrier for many women, and some men” (2022: 82). Jakimow found that local government representatives were better able to manage different work and family roles at the same time only when measures such as “caring allowances and the ability to remotely attend council meetings” were in place (82).…”

“…What remains unclear is whether publics are supportive of allocating resources to create more gender-sensitive governments to help women politicians remain in office. Understanding the public's support for smaller incremental resources, such as those noted in Jakimow's (2022) study (that is, caring allowances and virtual meeting options) is critical, given the political fissures over quotas. Here, we focus on four non-quota mechanisms capturing gender mainstreaming: a pay raise, housework allowance, childcare allowance and making available online meetings.…”

“…Reducing these gendered disparities is a central tenet of gender mainstreaming, with the goal to enact policies and resources to support the caregiving demands of women (and men) politicians (Palmieri, 2011). Jakimow (2022) shows policies such as access to childcare resources and remote participation in council meetings were effective resources to support women politicians. Palmieri and Childs (2020) identify equal access to digital literacy, resources and participation as critical to women representatives' inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”