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Objective 5: Building Communities |
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WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Women should be full and equal participants in the social and economic life of the community. South Australia has some proud historical achievements in this area: it was one of the first places in the world to give women the vote and the first to enable women to enter Parliament. But there is still work to be done – by government, by business and by the community – to increase women’s participation.
T5.1 Boards and committees: increase the number of women on all State Government boards and committees to 50% on average by 2008, and maintain thereafter by ensuring that 50% of women are appointed, on average, each quarter.
T5.2 Chairs of boards and committees: increase the number of women chairing state government boards and committees to 50% by 2010.
T5.3 Members of Parliament: increase the number of women in Parliament to 50% by 2014.
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Participation in the political process reflects the community’s engagement in the decisions that affect us all. An original target was related to the level of informal votes cast in State Government elections. A better measure, which also reflects the engagement of youth, is the number of young people who activate their right to vote by registering as soon as they are eligible at 18 years of age.
T5.4 Enrolment to vote: increase the proportion of eligible young South Australians (18-19 years) enrolled to vote to better the Australian average by 2014.
T5.5 Local government elections: increase voter participation in local government elections in South Australia to 50% by 2014.
VOLUNTEERING
A healthy community relies on its social networks. These connections help to share burdens and build a sense of community trust. In turn, this creates a more efficient society. Strong communities encourage social inclusion, contribute to the state’s overall quality of life and create opportunities for development and growth for every South Australian. The level of volunteering is a good indicator of the cohesion of a community and its active interest in identifying and solving problems.
T5.6 Volunteering: maintain the high level of volunteering in South Australia at 50% participation rate or higher.
ABORIGINAL LEADERSHIP
Strong Aboriginal leadership is a key element for addressing the social, economic, health, housing and educational disadvantages experienced by our Aboriginal population, and in ensuring their full participation in the community and the life of the state.
T5.7 Aboriginal leadership: increase the number of Aboriginal South Australians participating in community leadership and in community leadership development programs.
MULTICULTURALISM
South Australia has a rich mix of culturally and linguistically diverse citizens and residents. Nearly 25% of South Australians were born outside Australia, coming from over 150 countries. South Australia has benefited from this diversity.
A number of measures reflect the value we place on our diversity. These include: the English language proficiency of recently arrived migrants the proportion of school leavers who are proficient in a language other than English the decreasing number of incidents of racial discrimination the proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse South Australians elected to Parliament, local government, and on corporate boards.
T5.8 Multiculturalism: increase the percentage of South Australians who accept cultural diversity as a positive influence in the community.
REGIONAL POPULATION LEVELS Populations in regional areas have traditionally been linked to the success of rural industries, particularly agriculture and mining. When people leave those industries during hard times and move to cities, populations in regional towns can lose critical mass and suffer a decline in community services. However, population can also be a driver for industry growth. The availability of suitably skilled workers is a major factor in decisions on where to build new industry facilities. Addressing the challenges in regional areas needs a number of strategies, including: developing new industries to reduce the reliance of a region on just one key industry reducing the impact of climate change and its effects on agriculture promoting the attractiveness of regional lifestyles ensuring that regional infrastructure, including communications infrastructure, meets the needs of industry, now and in the future using South Australia’s regional status for migration purposes to attract migrants to regional areas.
Many of the plan’s targets will affect regional South Australians, but a specific target for regional population levels is an indicator of the health of regional communities.
T5.9 Regional population levels: maintain regional South Australia’s share of the state’s population (18%). |
