International Women's Day - About

• The theme for IWD 2025 is March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls. The theme commemorates 30 years since 189 Nations adopted the United Nation’s Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for achieving gender equality. See also IWD Key Messages.
• Everyone can be involved in International Women’s Day. The material on our website can be shared by your networks and on social media. The focus is on recognising and responding to the conscious and unconscious gender bias that is still evident in our communities.
• Some women are affected by multiple types of bias or discrimination and face additional challenges or barriers to participation in their communities, workplaces and in leadership roles.
• The Western Australian Government developed Stronger Together: WA’s Plan for Gender Equality as a framework for government, business and the community to take action towards a better, fairer and more equitable community in Western Australia.
• The Department of Communities has been working closely across WA Government agencies and the community to lead change through the implementation of Stronger Together.
• The State Government's second action plan under Stronger Together: WA’s Plan for Gender Equality was launched in 2022 with a related progress report released in 2024, continuing its commitment to create better outcomes for women and girls and achieve positive change for our whole community.   The third action plan is scheduled for release in the second half of 2025.
• An important action has seen the Western Australian Government launch a $3 million TAFE scholarships program for up to 400 women to undertake training in non-traditional trade and technical occupations. The program aims to attract women into occupations that are traditionally male-dominated and provides a one-off $5,000 payment to assist with covering training costs and other associated expenses.
• In addition, the success of the Western Australian Government’s ground breaking 2 year Gender Equality in Procurement Pilot, led to the implementation of a permanent Gender Equality Clause in Gender Procurement.

• If you’re interested in a snapshot of the status of women in WA, the State Government's WA Women Data Insights Platform provides interactive data for key headline indicators, and is updated every six months.
• The Data Platform accompanies the 2022 Women's Report Card, a snapshot that is released every three years and is produced by the Department of Communities. It shows how far Western Australian women have progressed in terms of leadership, economic independence, safety and justice, and health and wellbeing, and also recognises that barriers for women still persist.
• As of May 2024, the Gender Pay Gap in Western Australia was 19.40 per cent based on average full-time earnings [2022 Women's Report Card, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Catalogue 6302.0 Average Weekly Earnings, Full time, ordinary time Australia, Seasonally adjusted data]. Every industry in Australia has a gender pay gap favouring men. Industries where the workforce is predominantly women generally have lower wages, and women are also underrepresented in leadership roles in most industries [What is the gender pay gap? | WGEA].
• It is important to remember that the gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay.
  • The gender pay gap is a measure of how we value the contribution of men and women in the workforce.   Expressed as a percentage or a dollar figure it shows the difference between the earnings of women and men.
  • Equal pay is where employees are paid the same for performing the same work or different work of equal or comparable value.  In Australia, this has been a legal requirement since 1969.
• Closing the gender pay gap is important for Australia's economic future and reflects our aspiration to be an equal and fair society for all.

• International Women’s Day (IWD) is held on 8 March each year, with events and activities taking place across the globe. It celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
• March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls - This theme commemorates 30 years since 189 nations adopted the United Nation’s Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for achieving gender equality.
• International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on the gains we have made toward gender equality – and recognise that major change is still required.
• March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls reminds us that ongoing forward momentum is essential to turn commitments into action and promises into progress.
• This International Women’s Day, we can all play a part in accelerating gender equality and creating a better, fairer and more equitable community in Western Australia.
• Gender equality won’t happen just because we want it to. Changing culture takes time and it is essential that we keep March Forward: For ALL Women and Girls in the right direction.
• We are all responsible for creating positive change and taking a stand for gender equality.

#March Forward

#IWD2025