Territory Stories

Report Initiatives for Women in the Northern Territory 1983-1993

Details:

Title

Report Initiatives for Women in the Northern Territory 1983-1993

Other title

Tabled Paper 1888

Collection

Tabled Papers for 6th Assembly 1990 - 1994; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT

Date

1993-12-01

Description

Tabled by Marshall Perron

Notes

Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.

Language

English

Subject

Tabled papers

File type

application/pdf

Use

Copyright

Copyright owner

See publication

License

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2021C00044

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/294052

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/396870

Page content

INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY 1983-1993 INTRODUCTION W om en in the N orthern Territory have played a sign ifican t role in th e developm ent an d stab ilisa tion of the T erritorys econom ic an d social in fra s tru c tu re . As m others, wives an d d au g h te rs , a s h u n te rs an d g a th e re rs , b u s in e ss en trep ren eu rs , s ta tio n m anagers , shop-keepers, n u rse s , teach ers and lawyers, w om en have con tribu ted in a varie ty of w ays to a land w hich is v as t and extrem e. Like o th er A ustra lian w om en, Territory w om en have seen m any changes over th e la s t th ree decades. The em ergence of the m ovem ent for w om ens liberation , m odem contraception , the fight for equal pay an d equal o pp o rtu n ity legislation, refuges th a t allow w om en a dignified escape from dom estic violence, an d a m ore com passionate look a t th e whole issu e of sexual a s sa u lt an d rape hera lded the eno rm ous changes th a t society w as undergoing. At the sam e tim e society w as question ing fam ily values. T eenage ' w as invented , the baby boom ers were having children , an d d rugs, fas t cars, an d changing re la tionsh ips called into question th e values an d a sp ira tio n s of p a s t generations. W om en h ad little say politically, bu reau cra tica lly or in the private sector, even th o u g h they were ha lf the voting population . The Prim e M inister, in recognising th a t th is h ad to change, appo in ted a w om an to advise him on issu e s specific to w om en and o th er S ta te an d T erritory G overnm ents w ere soon to follow. The N orthern T erritory kep t pace w ith an d in som e w ays su rp a sse d the social changes w hich have occurred in o ther p laces. In 1978 it ob tained