Australia

After centuries of habitation by Aboriginal settlers from southeast Asia, Australia, which lies between the Indian and South Pacific Oceans, was claimed by the British in 1770. The six states created over the following centuries formed the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. In the early 21st century, almost 90 percent of the population has become urbanized, and per capita income has reached $38,500. Three-fourths of the work force is engaged in service industries. Australia now ranks second in the world on the United Nations Development Programme's list of countries with Very High Human Development. Ninety-two percent of Australia's population is white, and 7 percent is Asian. One percent of the population is either Aborigine or belongs to another ethnic group. Most of the people are either Catholic or Protestant, but many religions are represented in Australia.

Females in Australia experience a high rate of gender empowerment. Almost from the beginning of its history as a commonwealth, Australia granted the vote to white women. In the 1960s, suffrage was extended to Aboriginal women, along with Aboriginal men, through a constitutional amendment. In the 1980s, Australia began passing a series of legislative acts designed to improve the status of women, including the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 and the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act of 1999.

The infant mortality rate is 4.75 deaths per 1,000 live births, and Australia ranks 196th in the world in this area. Female infants (4.4) have an advantage over male infants (5.08). Australia ranks sixth in the world in life expectancy (81.63 years); and in this area also, females (84.14 years) maintain an edge over males (79.25 years). The median age for Australian women is now 38.1 years.

[Page 110]On the average, women currently produce 1.78 children each. In general, Australian women are eligible for one year of unpaid maternity leave. As Australia's population growth rate has continued to decline, the government began debating the advisability of paid maternity leave, with an eye toward encouraging Australians to expand their families. Conservatives bewailed the fact that women were too often choosing careers over families, and Liberals argued that more should be done to support working mothers.

Since 2001, Australia has provided a Baby Bonus, which applies to all children under the age of five, to all individuals who have children either by birth or adoption or who have legal responsibility for eligible children. This bonus is claimed each year when taxes are filed. Ninety-nine percent of the population over the age of 15 is literate, and there are no differences in male and female literacy. Between 1993 and 2003, the percentage of females obtaining undergraduate degrees rose from 55.9 to 57.3 percent, and the percentage of females pursuing postgraduate degrees rose from 50 to 51.5 percent. During that same period, female participation in the labor force also continued to climb.

In the 1990s, women averaged an 18 percent participation rate in the Australian Parliament. By 2003, women comprised 26.5 percent of Australia's parliament and a third of positions on Commonwealth government boards. Five years later, women held 67 seats in the 226-member Parliament, and four of 20 Cabinet ministers were female. One state premier was female, and two women sat on Australia's High Court. The first female to hold the position of governor-general also took office in 2008. The previous year, an Aboriginal female had become the highest-ranking Aboriginal of either sex in the national government.

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