We won’t stop fighting until we’re where we deserve to be.

Today, tomorrow, and every day, we stand in solidarity with all women and girls experiencing family and gender-based violence, including First Nations women who continue to face violence, racism and marginalisation as the result of ongoing colonisation. We also recognise that migrant and refugee women, women with disabilities, and trans women experience significant and disproportionate levels of violence in their lives. 

We stand in solidarity with women and girls across the globe who experience disproportionate rates of displacement, violence and harm from war and disaster. 

We will continue to fight for all women and girls and their rights to support, safety and a life free from violence – no matter where they live, who they are, or their circumstances. 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of International Women’s Day, with the UN-selected theme for #IWD2025 “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment”. This year also marks 50 years since the release of the landmark report Poverty in Australia and subsequent development of an official poverty line. 

While we’ve come a long way in the fight for gender equality since 1975, we’re still so far from where we should be. Right now, we are in the midst of the worst housing and cost-of-living crisis in decades. While these issues impact all Australians, we know women and girls are disproportionately affected.  

Women continue to face significant economic inequality – remaining disproportionately in lower-paid occupations, in part-time and casual work, and being paid less on average than men for the same full-time roles across every industry and occupation in Australia.¹ New data released by Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that, of eligible private sector employees, almost 3 in 4 employers have a gender pay gap in favour of men.² 

Women – particularly older women – are the fastest rising group to experience homelessness, with family violence now the leading cause of homelessness for women and children in Australia.³ 

And for many Australian women, financial abuse features prominently in their lives, with the ABS reporting that one in six Australian women have experienced financial or economic abuse from a partner.⁴  

A newly published report by Anne Summers, The Cost of Domestic Violence to Women’s Employment and Education, examined ABS data and found that 43.9 per cent of women who experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner in the last five years had cash flow issues, compared with 7.2 per cent of women who have never experienced partner violence or abuse.⁵ 

We know that experiencing family and gender-based violence can worsen women’s economic and housing security, and that rates of family and gender-based violence tend to increase in times of crisis. 

A federal election will be called imminently – a real opportunity for our leaders to create, champion and implement meaningful and lasting change for all women and girls in all their diversity in Australia, especially those experiencing family and gender-based violence.  

Enough is enough. We’re calling for accountability from every party to prioritise the rights, equality and empowerment of all women and girls in Australia. We need significant action now to ensure every victim survivor has access to the fundamental human rights of economic independence, financial stability and safe, long-term housing.  

Current and prospective leaders must go beyond symbolic IWD gestures and announce decisive action. This means keeping domestic violence on the national agenda, investing in frontline specialist services, funding primary prevention and early intervention initiatives and adequately addressing the ongoing housing crisis for victim survivors. 

This #IWD2025, and every day beyond, we will continue to advocate for a world where all women and girls can live safely, free from family and gender-based violence.  

Australia isn’t there yet, and we won’t stop fighting until we’re where we deserve to be. 

1. Workplace Gender Equality Agency 2024, The ABC Data Gender Pay Gap, https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/ABS-gender-pay-gap-data
2. Champions of Change Coalition, 2024 Impact Report, https://championsofchangecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CCI-Impact-Report-2024.pdf
3. Council to Homeless Persons 2022, Homelessness and Domestic and Family Violence, https://chp.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Homelessness-and-Domestic-and-Family-Violence.pdf 
4. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021-22, Personal Safety Australia, https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/1-5-australians-have-experienced-partner-violence-or-abuse
5. Summers, A, Shortridge, T, and Sobeck, K 2025, The Cost of domestic violence to women’s employment and education, University of Technology Sydney.