The 47th Federal Parliament is the most gender-equal and culturally diverse in Australia’s history.
Per Capita has released its analysis of the backgrounds of Australia’s current federal parliamentarians. The Way In: Representation in the 47th Parliament is the third in a series that examines the demographic attributes, education and occupational experience of the people we elect to represent us, comparing the make-up of the federal parliament with that of the Australian population.
The report shows that the 47th Parliament is the most gender-equal in Australia’s history. The number of women in the Federal Parliament has increased by 23% since the 2019 election, with women now making up 52% of the Labor party, 59% of the crossbench and 45% of Parliament as a whole.
This is the first Federal Government with a majority of women in Australia’s history. 30 years after the introduction of “affirmative action” gender quotas for the preselection of candidates by the ALP, the system is a demonstrated success: Labor women now make up the majority of the party in power and represent almost half of the Federal Ministry. In comparison, the Opposition benches remain a male-dominated space: only 29% of Coalition MPs and Senators are women.
The other great representational success of the 47th Parliament is its representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The parliament is more than proportionally representative of Indigenous Australians, with a share of 4.4% compared to a population share of 3.2%.
There was also a significant lift in the number of new MPs from non-European and/or non-English speaking backgrounds, largely thanks to an influx of new Labor MPs in gained, often marginal seats.
Despite this improvement, though, the Australian Parliament continues to fall short of adequately reflecting the changing demographics of our nation. It is notable that cultural diversity is poorly represented on the crossbench, with newly elected members for the Greens and community-based independents coming from white European backgrounds, with the exception of Dai Le in Fowler.
Per Capita’s Executive Director, Emma Dawson, said “A strong and effective parliament does not necessarily rely on perfect proportional representation of the diverse attributes of members of Australian society. But representation matters: diversity of background and experience leads to a deeper understanding of our society and can result in better policy making in the national interest.”
The figures reported in The Way In are not gathered or published by the Parliament. Per Capita recommends that the Parliament adopt diversity reporting, as recommended in the Jenkins Review, to provide transparent insights into the composition and diversity of the Australian Parliament.
This is the third in The Way In series from Per Capita. It follows analyses of the 45th Parliament, published in 2019, and the 46th Parliament, published in 2022.
For further information or comment, please contact Emma Dawson on 0400 372 738 or email info@percapita.org.au