Gender equality will become central to Australia's foreign policy, diplomacy, trade and aid programmers under a new international strategy, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday in Canberra.
Gender equality is a "stronger predictor of peace than a nation's wealth or political system", Wong said in a speech at a U.N. Women event at parliament house.
Australia's new International Gender Equality Strategy aims to protect women's sexual and reproductive health rights and increase the security and financial inclusion of women.
"Across the world, women are facing more sexual and gender-based violence, and less access to sexual and reproductive health services," Wong said in announcing the new strategy.
Two in three women experience physical or sexual violence in the Pacific region, she added.
Globally, 380 million women and girls live in extreme poverty and 2.4 billion women do not have equal economic opportunities.
"Some will try to delegitimise this strategy as being about a 'special interest'... Gender equality is a matter of national interest," she added.
The United States, the biggest aid donor globally, has frozen aid funding, which includes women's reproductive health, and has criticized clean energy projects for women in the Pacific, as the Trump Administration overhauls foreign assistance.
Australia provides 40% of aid to the Pacific Islands region and already has a policy which requires gender equality goals in new aid projects of A$3 million or more.
Under the new strategy Australia will spend A$30 million to provide more assistance to aid groups to include gender and social inclusion targets in programmers, the foreign affairs department said.
© Thomson Reuters 2025.
20 Comments
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JJE
It's a bit rich coming from a country with an ingrained problem of women being killed in DV situations.
GuruMick
JJE...nonsensical comments...doing "something " 'better than nothing...and it is Australian men who need to look at themselves re DV
Mr Kipling
Let's see if they hold the Muslim countries to this policy?
WoodyLee
"" Let's see if they hold the Muslim countries to this policy? "" it wont work with these nations not because of their faith BUT BECAUSE of FEAR and Insecurity.
All faiths give women equal rights regardless, only those who fear women and their ability to take on all tasks are blocking and degrading them.
Jay
Ah yes, Penny Wong's WOKE grand theory of geopolitics: just slap a few diversity quotas on a country and - poof! - world peace! Never mind that some of the most peaceful, prosperous nations in history were built by MEN who had never even heard the term "gender equality." But no, apparently we need to pretend that putting more activists in power is the key to stopping wars, rather than, say, strong leadership, economic stability, and a competent military. Clown-level incompetence from this woman.
Zaphod
Mr Kipling
Yes, that will be interesting. Lets see if there is "religious freedom" exception.
Zaphod
WoodyLee
Nope, "fear and insecurity" has nothing do with that. Read what the Koran and clerics say about women.
Mr Kipling
WoodyLee..
No they don't, and one in particular, you know the one, has issues about women that really go against modern Western ideology.
GuruMick
Mr. Kipling...thats why Trump says "just grab em on the you know what "
Google higher education rates for subjects like engineering , in say, Iran for women
Higher than Europe ...WAY higher than USA.
Prejudice ALWAYS born of ignorance.
Underworld
Mr Kipling
All faiths give women equal rights regardless,
Then they don't get aid. Is that so difficult?
garymalmgren
RE: Two in three women experience physical or sexual violence in the Pacific region, she added.
And what would halting or reducing aid do to stop that?
Mr Kipling
Iran also has more female politicians than the US which is great but also irrelevant.
Divorce rules? Dress rules, inheritance rules? And equally important, the cultural norms in (many )Muslim countries.
Forced marriages? Honor killings?
iron man
hang on guys this is Aussie woke, a representative of 25mln persons (did I get that right?) going to change indonesia (a 280mln Islamic race). I'ain't sure honour killings are all Islamic. Physical and sexual violence against women, charge every man on the planet at a higher tax rate? $$ will not fix that brain aberration.
Gareth Myles
JJE Exactly the point that I was going to make. Australia is far from a shining example of good treatment of women. A very poor record on DV coupled with family courts that seemingly perpetuate the abuse of women. Shared custody of children with DV perpetrators including forced handovers at dangerous times and places? Travel restrictions on women? Passports held by courts? Legal aid for unemployed druggy perpetrators while the abused working woman is bled dry by legal fees? Australia has it all. Penny Wong's time would be better spent sorting the issues at home.
Geeter Mckluskie
Great strategy Ms. Wong. Deny aid to those who need it most because of the reason they need it most.
WatanabeBuddha
It's an indirect way to be racist against Asian countries.
JJE
Gareth - thanks. (my comments were branded "nonsensical").
Shocking stuff - imagine being lectured or woke-virtue signalled upon by a government with those DV issues.
Not surprising though, as Canberra often has feels obliged to hop upon it's moralistic human rights high horse, petulantly lecturing others while ignoring its own extensive abuses.
Canberra loves patting itself on the back. Now it has gone one step further by turbocharging it with a woke social agenda.
Pukey2
More virtue signalling from the usual US vassal states.
kiwiboy
But there's more men in jail than woman? Better lock up more woman.
There's more male soldiers than woman. Better sign up more young girls to go to war.
There's more male murderers than woman. Better get more woman to kill?
Gender equality as measured by having equal numbers of men/woman doing the same things is stupid. There will always be differences.
Woman should have the same opportunities as men - ie, if they want to to pursue the same things, they can. But FORCING a 50/50 split across society is stupid. It's natural for different genders to, on average, want different things.
TokyoLiving
Careful Australia..
Trumpyclown can punish you with sanctions, and an invasion for that..
Seriously, with that psycho in chief everything is possible..