The Department of Communities (Communities) supports Western Australians to lead their best lives by building on people’s strengths. Everyone has the right to fully participate and succeed in the community.

Although there has been significant progress towards gender equality, women continue to experience barriers and inequalities in many aspects of their lives. For example:

  • Women experience family and domestic violence, as well as sexual violence and assault, at significantly higher rates than men.
  • There is a gap of 21.8 per cent between the average full-time weekly earnings of Western Australian men and women.
  • Women perform more unpaid domestic duties than men, even when they work full-time.
  • Women’s career progression to leadership roles can be adversely affected by workplace practices and attitudes that are biased towards traditional gender roles in families where one parent, usually the mother, provides primary care to children.

Communities partners with community sector organisations to deliver initiatives and programs that contribute to driving gender equality in Western Australia.

Women's Plan

The Women’s Plan: Building a stronger WA together is being developed as a framework for Government, business and the community to take action to create a fairer and more equitable Western Australia.

Women's Report Cards

Women’s Report Cards have been produced since 2004 and provide a statistical snapshot of women in Western Australia across a range of key indicators. The reports are an evidence base to inform policies, services and programs in the public, corporate and community sectors.

Grants for Women

The Grants for Women program makes one-off grants available to community organisations to develop projects under four priority areas:

  • Health and wellbeing
  • Safety and justice
  • Economic independence

Further information and application details, please visit the Grants for Women page.