Mrs DRAPER (5:55 PM) —Yesterday was International Women's Day, and I would like to acknowledge the great progress that has been made in the sphere of women's issues over recent years. Prominent author Joyce Stevens explained in her recent work that the history of International Women's Day `has been seen as a time for asserting women's political and social rights, for reviewing the progress that women have made, as a day for celebration'.

In view of the progress that women have made, I would like to mention some of the many initiatives that have occurred under the strong economic management of the Howard government since 1996 which has enabled gains to be made in many areas, such as employment, child care, superannuation, assistance to family and family law. There have been many real changes to the lives of women across the country. The new tax system, income tax cuts and a bonus to family payments will increase the disposable incomes of Australian women and their families. In the area of employment, the participation rate for working women between the ages of 15 to 64 peaked at 66.1 per cent in December 1999, the gap between male and female average weekly earnings is decreasing and the Howard government has committed $24.2 million over four years to a `return to work' initiative for people returning to the work force after they have had a break from paid employment because of parenting or caring responsibilities. This program will commence in South Australia this month and will provide much needed assistance to many working women in my electorate.

The government has also shown its strength of commitment in the area of child care under the new tax system by introducing a new child-care benefit, which will replace current benefits and boost assistance to families by an additional $600 million in the first three years of operation. An ever increasing number of women continue to return to the work force, and this is reflected in the increase in child-care places—from 168,000 in 1991 to 400,000 in 1998. In conjunction with increases in child-care places, government expenditure has also risen from $244 million in 1990-91 to a projected $1.13 billion this financial year. Under the new tax system, women and their families will benefit from around $12 billion in personal income tax reductions from 1 July 2000. There will also be an extra $2.5 billion in assistance as well as a considerable reduction in marginal tax rates. All income support payments will increase by four per cent and rent assistance will increase by seven per cent.

In my electorate, women and their families come to see me about their marriage and relationship problems associated with domestic violence and, sadly, sometimes child abuse. The coalition government has reinforced its commitment to assist in the prevention of marriage and relationship problems by providing a further $6 million over three years for additional marriage and relationship education services and $16 million over three years for additional counselling and mediation services. This will assist families to resolve disputes and to avoid paying costly legal fees and undertaking emotionally debilitating court proceedings. The government has also provided $6 million to increase men's access to relationship support services and will provide $10.5 million over four years to enhance family relationships. The Prime Minister's Partnerships Against Domestic Violence and domestic violence prevention initiatives as part of the National Crime Prevention program indicate the government's strong sense of social responsibility and commitment to women and their families.

At another level, as a former serving member of the Australian Defence Force I am also very pleased with the government's decision to remove restrictions on allowing women to participate in combat related duties. This modification now allows women to perform duties related to armed combat or to participate in combat related duties. Although women will still be excluded from direct combat duties, the government is committed to improving the status of women within the Defence Force and is aware that there are still some areas that need to be addressed before women can achieve full equality.

I could continue at length in this place about the things the government is doing to assist women and families, but time is limited and I would like to quickly take this opportunity to acclaim one of the greatest women in Australian history, Dame Roma Mitchell. There have been many great women in South Australia and Australia of whom we can be very proud, but I believe one of the greatest women was Dame Roma Mitchell, Governor of South Australia and Supreme Court Justice. She was one of the most outstanding female legal figures in Australia since Federation and very quietly became one of the most successful women in history. There are many other notable Australian women: Caroline Chisholm, Catherine Spence, Mary Gilmore, Enid Lyons, Dawn Fraser and Joan Sutherland, to name a few.

Question resolved in the affirmative.