Women and Girls Economic Opportunities

The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (12:50:04):

My question is addressed to the Minister for Women. Will the Minister update the House on how the Government has improved the lives of women and girls in New South Wales in 2022?

The Hon. BRONNIE TAYLOR (Minister for Women, Minister for Regional Health, and Minister for Mental Health) (12:50:26):

I thank the honourable member very much for her question. I did say earlier this year that 2022 was going to be the Year of the Woman, and it sure has been. I stand here today a very proud Minister for Women, reflecting on what a big year it has been for women and girls in this great State.

The Hon. Penny Sharpe:

How did pre-selection on the South Coast go? What happened to poor old Jemma?

The Hon. BRONNIE TAYLOR:

Does the Hon. Penny Sharpe not want to hear about what is happening for women? I thought she would be very interested.

The Hon. Penny Sharpe:

I want to know why you didn't preselect a woman on the South Coast.

The Hon. BRONNIE TAYLOR:

Point of order—

The PRESIDENT:

Order! The Minister has the call. Do you want to continue?

The Hon. BRONNIE TAYLOR:

I am trying to continue, Mr President. In February I joined the Premier, the Treasurer and the education Minister in announcing the landmark Women's Economic Opportunities Review led by an expert panel. The panel was chaired by Sam Mostyn, AO, with regional input from Jillian Kilby. The review focused on supporting women to enter, re-enter and stay in the workforce. It informed the inaugural Women's Opportunity Statement, which was published alongside the 2022‑23 budget. The budget provides the biggest blueprint in the State's history to level the playing field for women, investing $16.5 billion over the next 10 years. It includes $1.7 billion towards introducing universal pre‑kindergarten; $1.3 billion in fee relief for preschool; and $32 million to expand the successful Return to Work program, which I note Labor consistently tried to poke holes in. Round one saw 65 per cent of women secure employment.

The budget also includes enhanced paid parental leave for public sector employees; $12 million will go towards the Carla Zampatti venture capital fund for female‑led startups; $80 million will support affordable fertility treatments; and $40.3 million will go towards establishing menopause hubs and a menopause awareness campaign. We continue to build on this momentum. This week we launched the NSW Women's Strategy, providing a whole-of-government approach to improve the economic, social, physical and mental wellbeing of women and girls across New South Wales. It was developed through extensive consultation with more than 2,000 women and girls across metro and regional New South Wales, as well as organisations.

We do not stop there. This Government is focused on unlocking opportunities for women. That is why we acknowledged 31 finalists and winners as part of the Women of the Year Awards in 2022. We celebrated over 83 local women, funded 24 organisations to run events during NSW Women's Week and supported 24 women through the Future Women NSW Rural Scholarship Program. We supported nearly 15,000 women with free access to the TAFE NSW Women in Business program since its inception. We launched a Return to Work Toolkit and a menopause toolkit, bringing together trusted online resources. The Perrottet‑Toole Government has delivered more for women in the past year than Labor ever has and ever will.

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