Christine Holgate, Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins and others form Safety, Respect, Equity alliance

Prominent Australian women have formed a powerful new alliance calling for concrete actions to protect women and children from violence, harassment and to end discrimination.

Prominent Australian women have formed a powerful new alliance calling for concrete actions to protect women and children from violence, harassment and to end discrimination.

The group, called Safety, Respect, Equity, includes Christine Holgate, Brittany Higgins, Grace Tame and Lucy Turnbull, who have penned an open letter to Australians calling for reforms to address a range of issues disproportionately impacting women.

Christine Holgate, Lucy Turnbull, Grace Tame, Michele O'Neil, Brittany Higgins, Yasmine Poole, Goergie Dent, and Julia Banks are among a number of prominent women who have launched an alliance called Safety, Respect Equity to lobby for policy changes to protect women and children from sexual harassment, assault and bullying. Picture: Supplied.

Ms Holgate said women in Australia had been calling for action for generations, but the time for change had finally come after a dramatic increase in public awareness and support for their causes in 2021.

“There have been countless reviews, inquiries, promises, conferences and bodies established to assess and report on the inequity and injustice women face, but there has been no meaningful change,” she said.

“We will not accept this any longer, and we’re asking all Australians to join us in demanding real action.”

Thousands of people attended Women's March 4 Justice rallies around the country in 2021, including at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Former MP Julia Banks, ACTU President Michele O’Neil, businesswoman Wendy McCarthy, consent activist Chanel Contos, Paralympic gold medallist Madison de Rozario, academic Larissa Behrendt, youth advocate Yasmin Poole and The Parenthood executive director Georgie Dent are also in the group.

The women will seek action on critical issues including preventing sexual harassment and bullying, implementing stronger and consistent child sexual assault laws, support for First Nation’s women and people with a disability, expansion of paid parental leave and embedding of respectful relationships and consent educations in schools, universities, workplaces and homes.

Chanel Contos is a consent advocate and has joined the new women’s alliance. Picture: Hollie Adams

Former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate says generations of women have been demanding change. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

Ms Dent said the sense of collective anger and frustration at a lack of progress in improving respect and safety for women had brought the women together across generational, cultural and political lines.

“We are tired of empty promises,” she said.

“Every woman in Australia deserves access to a safe place to work, a safe place to live, fair and equal pay, quality free early learning and care, and a justice system that works for survivors.”

Women chanted ‘enough is enough’ at rallies around Australia. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Ms Poole said the statistics confronting Australian women and girls were disturbing.

“One in five women in Australia will be sexually assaulted or raped in her lifetime, and two in five women have faced sexual harassment in the workplace in the last five years,” she said.

“If you’re a First Nations woman, a woman of colour, have a disability or identify as LGBTIQ+, those statistics are even worse.”

Ms Tame said problems of safety and equity weren’t “just a women’s issue,” but a “human rights issue”.

“We’ve had the reviews, the reports, the talkfests – it’s time for our leaders to get to work, stop the abuse of power and bring about real change,” she said.