The government is now operating in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election.
In the main, the Review concluded that the framework of the MoP(S) Act was broadly appropriate, but required some amendments to modernise it, provide greater clarity, and improve transparency. The Review makes 15 recommendations to address gaps in the MoP(S) Act framework including:
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet completed a Review of the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 (MoP(S) Act) to identify legislative, policy or other changes or initiatives to ensure the employment arrangements of parliamentarians and their staff are fit for purpose.
On 7 October 2022, the Report from the Review of the MoP(S) Act was released.
A factsheet is available:
The Department received 47 written submissions on the matters within its Terms of Reference for the Review from 28 February 2022 to 1 July 2022.
The Department is grateful to everyone who assisted with the MoP(S) Act Review.
The Review was recommended by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins in her report Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces and was commissioned by the then Prime Minister in February 2022.
The Terms of Reference for the Review are available. The scope of the Review included:
The Australian Government is committed to supporting the global Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda to ensure empowering outcomes for women and girls in conflict and post-conflict settings, and considered a global leader in this space.
The existing targets for gender balance on government boards are:
The 2023-24 annual report was released on 23 January 2025. As at 30 June 2024 women held:
The Australian Government is committed to advancing women’s economic equality, including leading a national push to help close the gender pay gap.
Economic equality between women and men is essential to achieving gender equality. Women in Australia have lower workforce participation rates and work fewer hours than men. Women face barriers to working the hours and jobs they want. These include:
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Gender-based violence is a critical national issue in Australia and occurs across all, demographic and age groups. While nobody is immune to the risk, there are some social, economic and personal factors that can increase a person's risk.
This Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s (PM&C) , sets out how we intend to deliver on our responsibilities, and addresses our operating environment, our people and capability, our risk management and oversight and our key activities and performance measures.
Our Corporate Plan sets out our agenda to help deliver on our mission – to improve the lives of all Australians.
The Plan outlines our key priorities for the next four years to support growing our economy and creating jobs, vibrant and resilient regions, strengthening families and communities, advancing Australia’s international interests and enhancing national security, governing well and preparing to respond to future critical issues.
The government recognises that gender equality is a global public good and is committed to Australia being a global leader on gender equality.
The government’s objective is to deliver outcomes for all Australians by ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment is at the centre of all policy decisions at home, in our region and around the globe.
The government is committed to international efforts to advance gender equality and ensuring that existing commitments on gender equality are maintained.