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This course will introduce participants to key concepts and methods for gender analysis of public policy. Participants will develop a good understanding of the differential impact of policy and its funding on men and women and the implications for policy development and implementation.
The Introductory level of this course will provide participants with an understanding of the differential gender impact of various types of public policy, including expenditures and revenue raising, at different scales. It will present key concepts and methods to conduct a gender analysis and will also draw on key learning from international best practice, recently updated by the OECD and IMF.
Cost: $1,350 GST incl; Group discounts applicable.
Course overview
This course introduces gender analysis of policy instruments including taxes, transfers and other policy tools. Government budgets are often presented as gender-neutral. However, men and women are situated in different social, economic and family contexts and as a result, government policies affect men and women differently. This can generate unintended, inefficient and unequal outcomes. A failure to bring a gender lens to policy development and implementation can lead to sub-optimal economic and policy outcomes.
This course will build understanding of the impact of policy on differently situated men and women. The course also presents the international trends and initiatives in this field that are increasingly widespread and are now generally known as gender responsive budgeting initiatives. Without a gender awareness, taxes and expenditures may hinder the delivery of good economic and social policy and the achievement of social and economic equality for women.
Since Australia pioneered gender analysis of the budget in the 1980s, gender responsive budgeting initiatives have extended to every region in the world including the Asia-Pacific region. Gender analysis of public policy has gained broad international support from the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development as a way to achieve gender equality and to improve broad economic and social outcomes of policy.
This one day course draws on international best practice tailored for the Australian context, to challenge assumptions of gender neutrality and identify differential gender impact of formally neutral policies. The course enables participants to actively work on case studies and introduces diverse data sources and analytical approaches to bring visibility to the gender differential impact of policy, expenditure and tax. It also explores practical cases of policy reform to improve the socio-economic status of women.
Course convenor
Professor Miranda Stewart is Director of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University in Canberra and is a Professor at the University of Melbourne Law School. Miranda researches tax law and policy, design and development. Professor Stewart has published widely including on business tax law and policy, tax co-operation and globalization, avoidance and sham, institutions and processes of tax reform. She has previously worked at New York University School of Law in the United States, in major Australian law firms and at the Australian Taxation Office and has consulted for government on various tax and transfer policy issues.
Course presenter(s)
Dr Monica Costa is gender and development researcher with a particular focus on the application of Gender Responsive Budgeting. She has published widely in leading journals and has worked on gender issues in Portugal, Timor Leste, Solomon Islands, and Indonesia. She has worked with a range of partners including the Australian aid program, UN agencies, and International NGOs. In 2008 she was an adviser to the Timor Leste Secretary of State for the Promotion of Equality, and from 2009-11 she convened an ANU Women in Politics course with participants from across Asia-Pacific region.