Deputy Mayor Clare Raffan called on the council to write to the State Ministers for Women, Local Government and Multiculturalism, to consult with stakeholders, seeking feedback on the impediments facing women in the local government sector.
Noting research done by Tanya Jakimow, Associate professor of the Australian National University, following the December 2021 Local Government Elections, Cr Raffan said its key finding was that the increase in women’s representation at the local level had benefitted white women only while the percentage of CARM women councillors across the State had remained static.
The report goes on to state that CARM women remain grossly underrepresented relative to their size in the population making up only 5.8 per cent of councillors in greater Sydney and 1.4 per cent in rural/regional NSW. The biggest concern is this underrepresentation of CARM women, who comprise 13.1 per cent of the population, but with only 5.8 per cent of councillors, this is an underrepresentation of 7.3 per cent points, with the results a reflection of global trends.
Cr Raffan said that while Canterbury Bankstown could be proud of what it had achieved, it “still has far to go to reflect the population of the society we govern”.
“When I look at our council since its formation in 2017, it’s good to see that all our wards, except one, have had female representatives,” she said.
“My Canterbury ward has led the way with five out of the six councillors being women. Our council had the first woman elected to wear a hijab in Cr Nadia Saleh, the first Cr of Nepalese heritage in Cr Bhadra Waiba and the first woman of Bangladeshi heritage in Cr Zazeda Akter.”
