Candidate quotas is a system in which political parties are penalised for not running a certain percentage of women candidates for office. In 2012 legislation was introduced which would have required parties to field at least 30% women candidates at the next election and 40% at the election after that. If a party failed to meet these thresholds they would lose half of their public funding. Women currently make up 24.7% of the lower house and 38.2% in the upper house. Of 189 developed countries Australia currently ranks 46 out of 189. Proponents of quotas argue that they help promote gender diversity in government and are responsible for a 20% increase in the proportion of women in parliaments worldwide.
Statistics are shown for this demographic
Local Government Area
State Electorate
Response rates from 179k Australia voters.
43% Yes |
57% No |
38% Yes |
41% No |
5% Yes, our government should reflect the diversity of our society |
10% No, the most qualified candidate should get the position regardless of gender |
7% No, diversity should be encouraged but not forced |
Trend of support over time for each answer from 179k Australia voters.
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Trend of how important this issue is for 179k Australia voters.
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Unique answers from Australia voters whose views went beyond the provided options.
@4Z95LKV4yrs4Y
Yes & indigenous candidates
@4Z94GH24yrs4Y
no. it is sexist to concentrate on one gender
@8KQTQDK4yrs4Y
It shouldn’t matter the gender as long as there fit for the job
@96JFKYH3yrs3Y
@B4N3NMH4 days4D
our government should focus on all types of diversity not just women to men ratio but also more immigrants, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Disabled people and LGBTQ+ people etc
@B4KYT5J1wk1W
No, it would be wrong to force women to be apart of a political party, there are already laws that prevent discrimination, so if a woman wants to be in a political party, she is welcome to, but she does not have to. Putting this law into place would be a silly way to appear diverse, even though it isn't needed and this law shouldn't just be implemented to look anti-sexist.
@B4BPF7T2wks2W
No, but parties should be allowed to mandate it if they so choose. While we should encourage diversity, we should be wary of having a balance between diversity of ability and merit of ability.
@B4B7PQV3wks3W
Yes, until such time as they aren't rife with corruption and sexism, because the most qualified candidates aren't getting the position regardless of gender
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