Gender equality is a key priority for the Australia Government, domestically and internationally. It is a central pillar of our foreign policy and our aid program.
And, at the heart of my international advocacy as Australia's Ambassador for Women and Girls, is the simple, indisputable message that global prosperity and gender equality are inextricably linked.
Australia is pleased to have been a founding member of the Equal Futures Partnership to Expand Women's Political and Economic Participation.
The arguments for women's leadership, our active participation in public life, our equal role in our economies and at all levels of corporate representation are familiar to all of us and, of course, not in dispute here.
Women's participation in leadership, decision-making and in the economy results in better policy making, greater productivity, improved efforts to address violence against women, and increased potential for conflict prevention and resolution and durable peace.
As an Equal Futures partner, Australia is actively supporting the empowerment of women politically and economically through legislation and a comprehensive range of targeted policies, strategies and programs.
We have implemented a number of successful projects to achieve the aims of the Equal Futures Partnership.
Recognising the link between gender inequality and violence against women, we have established a National Centre of Excellence to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children, (ANROWS) which serves as a research hub for policy makers, practitioners and researchers and a place for strategic partnerships to be developed in Australia and overseas.
Our Government is working with the Australian Human Rights Commission to boost women's leadership in male-dominated industries, and through the Australian Defence Force to increase women's representation in the military.
We look forward to continuing to work side by side with our Equal Futures partners to extend this important work and to draw from and build on each other's initiatives.
To mix maths metaphors, where the sum of our joint efforts is greater than the parts, the future will indeed be equal.