NSW had the worst gender equity record for local government in Australia and more rural women should consider running for council, Donna Rygate, chief executive of Local Government NSW, says.
Ms Rygate said NSW councils sat at the lowest representation for females - 27 per cent - while other states and territories had almost double that amount, including the Northern Territory at 40pc and South Australia at 30pc as female councillors.
She said the Country Women’s Association was ideally placed to provide the candidates to help re-right the imbalance and urged delegates to consider a local government career.
“The statistics on female participation in local government is nothing to be proud of. It’s deeply disconcerting,” she said.
“We have been at these low levels of participation for almost 30 years. Who could be more able to fill council seats than some of the women sitting here?” she told CWA delegates recently at the Tumbi Umbi Mingara Recreation Club.
“I call on each and every one of you to consider running for council. Think about the things you might do for the land and your community. Running for council is one of the most positive ways to improve the life of your local community. As people say, ‘it’s not all about roads, rates and rubbish’. I really encourage you all to get involved.”
She said of the elected female councillors in NSW, most were aged in their mid 40s to 50s, while for male councillors the average age was 65.
She said women generally in the workplace could be “more pragmatic, more collaborative and have a greater sense of humour” than men. Ms Rygate is herself a Canowindra farmer and CWA member, who has had a distinguished public service career in NSW.
Australian Local Government Women’s Association NSW branch ex-president, Vicki Scott, said it was a great disappointment that there were such few women on country councils. Some councils in NSW are just all males.
Ms Scott, who hailed from Coonabarabran, said it was often women who ran community events, in country towns, but they were not encouraged to run for council.
She said nothing would happen unless the state government stepped in and made reforms to council elections so that female candidates were not put at “four, five or six on the ticket, so they become unelectable”.
She said the major parties had to agree on a “sincere” strategy, as women brought so much to the table when discussing major issues at government level.
“Women are 51pc of the Australian community and to have only 27pc of women in council positions is not acceptable,” she said.
“My mother was one of the women who helped run a country town as a private citizen, but she was not encouraged to take that extra step to council, as many see councils in country areas as a male role. This should not be the case.”