A CALL for more women to be elected as councillors is a good idea but difficult to achieve in a democratic society according to Frankston Council.
The Labor state government marked International Women’s Day last Tuesday (8 March) by demanding “greater gender diversity in local government” and noted just 34.9 per cent of councillors across Victoria are female and only 16.5 per cent of council chief executive officers are women equating to 13 CEOs across 79 councils.
There are currently three female and six male councillors at Frankston Council and the next council election to elect councillors will be held in October this year.
“It’s unacceptable that in 2016 women still only make up around a third of all councillors and that they still don’t reach the senior management levels within their organisations,” Ms Hutchins said.
“Improving the representation of women at the senior level in both the public and private sectors is a key priority for the Labor government and one we work tirelessly to achieve.”
Ms Hutchins has written to council CEOs across the state to ask for support to encourage more female candidates to stand at this year’s council elections.
Frankston mayor Cr James Dooley said council shares the government’s desire for equality in local government but notes councillors are democratically elected by ratepayers.
“Council will be hosting a number of information sessions for community members who may be interested in running as candidates in the next council election, including one tailor-made for women. This is not new – we have run these information sessions ahead of the last two public council elections,” he said.
“It is important to note that the councillors chosen to represent our city are decided by the community through a democratic and transparent process.”
The state government will direct $50,000 in funding to the Victorian Local Governance Association’s GoWomenLG 2016 project. The project aims to increase the number of female candidates in council elections across the state.
