Wednesday, 18 March 2026

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (10:02): I would like to take this moment to acknowledge International Women’s Day, which was fantastic in my electorate last week, celebrating all the incredible women. I had girls and women attend my morning tea events from schools across the Laverton electorate. I would like to personally thank Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, a great local school, as well as Bemin Secondary College, another great local high school, for hosting us. In particular I would like to give a shout-out to the students from Sunshine College who have advocated to me for sports bras to be included as approved items under the state schools relief program.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day was ‘Balance the scales’, and here in Victoria that is not just a slogan; it is something we are putting into practice, whether it is supporting victim-survivors through restricting NDAs, banning good-character references in sexual assault cases or even simply expanding court services across Victoria, like what we are doing with the Wyndham Law Courts, and we are also making incredible progress in improving access to justice for Victorian women. In areas like women’s health we are making incredible strides to support women with health conditions unique to them, like menopause and endometriosis, which we have done through setting up women’s health hubs and through our landmark inquiry into women’s pain. And of course there is our working-from-home policy, which is in many ways about giving families and particularly women greater flexibility and economic opportunity to be able to juggle the work–life balance that makes life easier. There are so many ways we are acting in this space to not only believe in but advance gender equality in Victoria.