Aust ratifies UN protocol on discrimination

Australia has signed a UN convention to provide Australian women with international legal protection for their human rights.

The Federal Government has ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

The Minister for Women, Tanya Plibersek, says women now have the option of making a sex discrimination complaint to the United Nations after exhausting all legal channels in Australia.

"I think it's a very important thing for men and women that Australia says internationally, that equality between men and women is important in this country and that we're prepared to be judged by international standards," she said.

"We live in a region where a number of countries have very high rates of domestic violence and sexual assault and as we campaign in Australia to reduce domestic violence and sexual assault, as we try and help our neighbouring countries, it's very important to say that we are prepared to be judged by the same standards."

Quote: The problem with this though is that Australia doesn't uphold its UN protocol's on anything so in reality this is just a worthless piece of propaganda by the Australain Government and the alleged United Nations. All people are discriminated against in this country all the time. It's one thing to state these protocols but another to uphold them. Shame on Australia.

Vic Parliament passes abortion bill

The Upper House debated the bill for four consecutive days and nights, and last night a final vote was counted. It passed 23 votes to 17.

All amendments were rejected, including a proposal to exempt doctors who object to abortions from having to refer their patients onwards.

Abortion will now be removed from the Crimes Act and a woman can freely choose to terminate a pregnancy up to 24 weeks gestation. Late term abortions will require the consent of two doctors.

Women's Affairs Minister Maxine Morand says it is an historic moment.

"We now have clarity and certainty for women and health practitioners in Victoria and that is fundamentally and incredibly important," she said.

She says the lengthy parliamentary debate may be the longest in history.

"It'd be hard to find a bill that has been debated as long as this in the history of the Victorian Parliament," she said.

"I might even have a look at what we can compare it with, but it's certainly a unique moment in time."

Liberal MP Wendy Lovell says she is relieved abortion is no longer a crime.

"It's actually historic that it's happened in October 2008, because it was October 1908 that women were given the vote," she said.

"So 100 years later, women have again won the right to be in control of their own bodies."

Both sides of the parliamentary debate praised the respect and restraint shown by the other side.

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Alcohol-related hospital visits rise

Alcohol-related hospital visits rocket, with young women the worst

DRUNKEN female party animals are inundating NSW hospital emergency departments in record numbers.

NSW Health has released new figures which show an overall 59 per cent increase in alcohol-related emergency department cases from 2000 to 2007.

The biggest increase in hospital visits was among young women - the 18- to 24-year-old group of females with a thirst for grog to match their male rivals - whose numbers increased by 200 per cent.

The numbers were drawn from a sample of NSW hospital emergency departments with the number of females increasing from 412 to 1233 patients a year.

Alcohol-related illnesses and injuries are taking a huge toll on the NSW health system.

Yesterday NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca said he was so concerned about the level of these hospitalisations - particularly among young people - he would use the health ministers' round-table meeting in November to call for a ban on alcohol advertising.

Mr Della Bosca said the time had come to address the issue, with more than 40,000 drinkers being admitted to NSW hospitals each year.

Excessive alcohol consumption is associated with cirrhosis of the liver, mental illness, several types of cancer, pancreatitis, fetal growth retardation, aggressive behaviour, family disruption and accidents.

He said all options should be considered, including warning labels on alcohol, no alcohol ads to be screened on television before 9pm or a complete advertising ban.

"Binge drinking is caused by a number of factors but advertising does not help," Mr Della Bosca said. "The power of persuasion of alcohol advertising is the most sophisticated and seductive I have seen. As a student of the art of persuasion for electioneering, the alcohol industry is almost unbeatable."

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon yesterday said the alcohol-related hospitalisation figures were a cause for concern. She did not rule out toughening advertising laws, saying: "We need to have a comprehensive response to tackle binge drinking in Australia."

A $1.5 million trial of specialist nurses in six hospital emergency departments to deal with drunk or drugged patients is being rolled out by the Rees Government. The nurses will work at the Campbelltown, Liverpool, Royal Prince Alfred, Concord and John Hunter hospitals and The Children's Hospital at Westmead to deal with emergency department patients suffering behavioural disturbances due to drug or alcohol use.

"The hospitals have been chosen because they have access to psychiatric emergency care centres and in-patient detoxification units," Mr Della Bosca said. "This will alleviate the pressure on emergency department staff who experience an increase in alcohol and drug-affected patients.

"At the request of Council of Australian Governments, the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy also has agreed to progress the Federal Government's $53.5 million National Binge Drinking Strategy, including community level initiatives.

"This national approach aims to reduce the incidence of alcohol-related violence and the impact of alcohol abuse on individuals, the community and the health system.

"There was also agreement to assess late-night lockouts for licensed premises based on analysis across the nation of existing and trial lockouts to recommend a preferred framework."

Mr Della Bosca's comments came as police investigated a brawl near a Parramatta hotel yesterday.

An 18-year-old man was struck in the head with a beer bottle during the incident, about 12.40am in Horwood Place. He underwent surgery at Westmead Hospital.

Social commentator Neer Korn said trying to change young Australians' love of binge drinking would require more than changing taxes for alco-pops.

Mr Korn, director of Heartbeat Trends, said the number of young people visiting hospitals for alcohol-related problems came as no surprise.

"We have been tracking 18- to 24-year-olds for at least a decade, talking with them three to four times a year, and we have increasingly seen them engage with alcohol," Mr Korn said. "They want to have a great life with extreme experiences. They have this philosophy of compensation where they beat up their body to the nth degree on a binge, but then take a vitamin pill, go for a swim or do yoga the next day to make up for the punishment. They view bingeing as being functional. Someone who drinks every day in the morning or lies in the gutter is dysfunctional in their minds."

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Women's battle for equal pay continues

ALMOST 40 years after it became unlawful to pay women less than men for equal work of equal value, women are still earning on average $196 a week less than men.

"To match the average wage a man earns in 12 months in the financial year working full time ordinary hours, a woman has to work an extra 54 days, or a total of 14 weeks, to earn the same,'' Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency director Anna McPhee said.

Today, 54 days after the end of the financial year, has been declared Equal Pay Day by those fighting to end pay inequity.

Ms McPhee's agency is calling on employers to mark the day by holding a pay audit in their workplaces.

She wants employers to ensure they have transparent pay scales and promotion criteria, a meaningful work valuation assessment and flexible work practices for all staff.

The Federal Government has established a parliamentary inquiry into pay equity, which is due to begin soon, and the ACTU is calling for annual reporting of gender pay data by all employers.

Ms McPhee said the 15.6 per cent gender wage gap reveals the systemic discrimination and under-valuation of women's work and believes the inequity hurts not just women but their families and society as a whole.

Discrimination laws should better protect men: commissioner

The Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner wants the law strengthened to better protect men who want to spend more time at home with their families.

Elizabeth Broderick will today launch the findings of a year-long national tour, during which she heard people's experience of discrimination.

Among the recommendations is a call for a review of sexual discrimination laws, with particular attention to the discrimination experienced by men with family commitments.

Ms Broderick says protection for men under the act is quite limited.

"I think we need to strengthen those laws and we need to look at a different model of success as well," she said.

"Not just the always-present, 24/7, traditional, male model of success."

Report calls for Welfare to Work policy overhaul

A new report into welfare to work is calling on the Federal Government to make urgent changes to the policy in the May Budget.

The report was funded by the New South Wales Department for Women and looks at 70 single parent mothers and how they coped with the introduction of the policy in 2006 and 2007.

It found women were being forced to leave their careers and move into low-paid, unskilled work to meet the policy's requirement of working 15 hours a week, or having welfare payments cut off.

One of the report's author's, Eva Cox, says the Federal Government needs to make core changes to the system.

"I think what we should be looking at is not a 'one size fits all', not a rigidity - about 15 hours - but looking at people who can earn a reasonable amount of money in the time they're working, regardless of whether that's 10 hours or 15, or even eight in some cases," she said.

Rally marks International Women's Day

A rally to celebrate International Women's Day is taking place in Sydney's Hyde Park.

The gathering commemorates 100 years since women first marched in the streets of New York, calling for better working conditions and equal opportunities.

Today's events aim to recognise the continuing struggle of women for equal pay and paid maternity leave, as well as highlighting the contribution made by women in volunteer and unpaid work.

New South Wales Minister for Women Verity Firth says while there are still issues that need to be addressed, it's also important for women to celebrate.

"It really is just I suppose a way of expressing solidarity of the sisterhood, a way of getting together and saying we've come a long way, there's still more things to do," she said.

"It's a celebration essentially of the talents, generosity and achievements of women in our state."