COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING WOMEN'S FORUM 2015

That this House commends the historical first meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Women's Forum; notes that there are approximately one billion women and young girls throughout the commonwealth; further notes the statement from the conference that our granddaughters will not achieve wage parity unless there is significant national and international action implemented on equality; recognises the importance of the Bechdel test as a good indication for equal gender representation and notes the benefits of applying it to areas of society other than media; and calls on the Government to establish an independent Technical Working Group of Experts on Gender Equality to enable women's empowerment through transformative systems for education, health and employment opportunities to follow-up on priorities for gender equality and women's empowerment in alignment with the targets for the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and to report progress to subsequent CHOGMs.