Big news for our international gender reputation: Australia will be reviewed by the UN’s division for the Advancement of Women next week in New York, and Elizabeth Broderick says Australia has been doing “exceptionally well” in many areas.

Whilst I’d be amongst the last person to say we’ve done enough lets pack up and go home, we have our first female prime minster, a female Governor General, and a paid parental leave, all firsts for Australia.

So what are we up for? Broderick noted that “others need systemic intervention to turn the picture around…it’s unbelievable that in 2010 men and women are not paid equally for the same work”.

You can get the full SMH article here, but Broderick makes a critical point about the nature of many of the sexual discrimination issues plaguing Australia, especially Australian business “it’s not that we can’t hold bank accounts or become prime minister – it’s systemic discrimination”.

And she’s pushing for her department to be able to launch investigations into sexual discrimination, without  needing an individual complaint initiating the process.