ARC Grant Success: Measuring gender equality in Australia

Allison Milner was awarded an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant to develop an innovative, Australian-specific multidimensional measure of gender equality.

Gender equality is a key focus for both government and industry. Currently, there is no agreement as to how gender equality should be either conceptualised or measured in the Australian context. This is a significant barrier to the development, implementation and evaluation of targeted gender equality programs and policies. By partnering with gender equality leaders in government and industry, this project will develop a baseline from which programs and policies can be measured. The project will also provide evidence about the effect of gender equality on social, economic and health outcomes of Australian children, women and men.

Progressing gender equality is recognised as an important political, social, and economic goal in Australia, however, there is currently no way to track the progress of gender equality within an Australian context. Through partnership with government and industry leaders, this project will develop the first Australian-specific multidimensional measure of gender equality. This measure will provide vital means to monitor and track the impact of gender equality campaigns and will ensure that interventions and policies are evidence-based. This project will also establish evidence about the effects of gender equality in relation to economic, social and wellbeing outcomes.

The Researchers, both individually and as a team, have a long history of policy-focused research on gender equality specifically, as well as gender as a social determinant of health. The project leader, Allison Milner, has a background as a quantitative social researcher interested in the effects of gender-related structural determinants of wellbeing and economic outcomes.

Gender equality in Australia: impact on social, economic and health outcomes

Chief Investigators

Dr Allison Milner, Disability and Health Unit
Professor Anne Kavanagh, Disability and Health Unit
Professor Belinda Hewitt, Institute for Social Science Research
A/Professor Rebecca Bentley, Gender and Women's Health
Dr Adrienne O'Neil, Centre for Mental Health
Dr Tania King, Disability and Health
Dr Victor Sojo Monzon, Centre for Workplace Leadership

Partners

Victorian Health Promotion Foundation
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Department of Health and Human Services
Women's Health Victoria
PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Funded by Australian Research Council Linkage Grant 2018 LP180100035