Women’s rights and protections are regressing on the international stage, from the Taliban’s erasure of women from public life to US President Donald Trump’s misogynistic rhetoric and decision to suspend USAID.

Against this backdrop, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has launched its International Gender Equality Strategy. This strategy aims to deepen its partnerships in the Indo Pacific region, with a focus on gender responsive humanitarian and climate aid.

It is led by the notion that gender equality is the key to unlocking economic productivity, poverty reduction, climate action and wellbeing. Its inextricable link to policy outcomes calls for a stronger plan for delivery.

The strategy centres on five priorities:

—Working to end sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and protecting reproductive rights;

—Pursuing gender responsive peace and security efforts;

—Delivering gender equitable climate action and humanitarian assistance;

—Promoting economic equality and inclusive trade; and

—Supporting locally led women’s leadership strategies.

Under its first priority, the strategy estimates the global annual cost of SGBV as US$1.5 trillion. To integrate SGBV protection and international engagement, Australia intends to invest in response services as well as agencies for sexual and reproductive health and rights. The strategy also outlines Pacific partnerships for cervical cancer screening and treatment.

Notably, Australia will hold nations accountable for violating international laws protecting women, such as the action brought against Afghanistan for violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women under the Taliban’s governance. In a welcome development, the strategy also advocates for working with boys and men to change perceptions and reduce incidents of SGBV.

The second priority will be guided by Australia’s second National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security (WPS). This priority focuses on addressing gendered aspects of security and supporting women’s participation in peace processes, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. It includes encouraging women’s mediator networks in the Pacific and working with partners to strengthen legislation designed to prevent gendered crimes.

Under this priority, the strategy also aims to confront new challenges under the WPS agenda. DFAT’s document highlights the increased risk of manipulation, online radicalisation and gender bias caused by a weakening distinction between online and offline worlds. The strategy aims to address these issues by sponsoring women’s participation and training in these spaces, while working to identify further opportunities and solutions.

Priority three highlights the need for equity in climate action and humanitarian responses. DFAT’s 2023 International Development Policy mandated that all investments over $3 million must include a gender equality objective. The strategy’s third priority reinforces the need to consider gender-specific approaches to development and assistance, while outlining the importance of working with diverse Indo-Pacific groups on adaptation and resilience.

The strategy aims to ensure trade benefits flow to all people through priority four, promoting women’s economic equality and inclusive trade. Unpaid care responsibilities exclude 708 million women are excluded from the labour force. Australia is supporting workplace reform and financial inclusion, targeting key indicators of economic equality. The need to reorient the norms and perceptions of women in the economy, however, is not addressed in this strategy.

The strategy highlights that women’s rights movements are the ‘most effective drivers of lasting change’. This motivates its fifth priority: to increase women’s leadership through supporting local women’s rights organisations. The strategy outlines methods such as funding education, professional development and amplifying underrepresented voices. Apart from Pacific Women Lead, details of DFAT’s specific partnerships are excluded. This lack of detail weakens the overall priority.

Five principles underpin DFAT’s practical approach. The first two are supporting local leadership and implementing outcome-based reforms. The third concept accounts for potential resistance against gender equality measures and highlights a commitment to avoiding unintended negative consequences. To do so, DFAT will bolster safeguarding mechanisms, including through reporting and accountability measures, and maintain a zero-tolerance approach.

DFAT’s fourth principle is to pursue both targeted and mainstream strategies. This twin-track approach will ensure that gender-specific issues are addressed, while also incorporating gender into general policies and activities. Under the final principle, DFAT commits to using high-quality evidence-based approaches to create effective responses. It will incorporate individual experiences to evaluate and revise programs.

Accountability on these priorities will be measured by existing mechanisms, namely official development assistance summaries, the Australian Development Cooperation report and the AusDevPortal. The strategy builds on this by establishing thematic evaluations of gender equality initiatives.

In some areas, the document lacks analysis and detail in its reforms. These include the tenuous links between promoting women’s economic equality and establishing policies, as well as a lack of details on how Australia will support local leadership organisations.

Despite this, the International Gender Equality Strategy shows that Australia is pursuing an inclusive liberal democracy in an age where increasingly illiberal policies are gaining traction. The strategy reaffirms ‘the centrality of Australia’s commitment to gender equality’ and provides a framework for advancing the rights and perspectives of women on the global stage.