Financial Inclusion Action Plan

WIRE’s vision is for a society where women are safe, respected, valued, informed, empowered and free to make genuine choices in their lives. But this vision is sadly not reflected in the current society in which we live.

This is why WIRE is so proud to join the Financial Inclusion Action Plan (FIAP) program as a trailblazer. The statistics paint the picture of how financial disempowerment affects the daily lives of women in Australia:

• 2 million Australians struggle to pay basic bills and over half these people are women
• Women earn on average 16% less than men based on full time average weekly earnings
• Women are more likely to work in feminised professions with low paying jobs
• 90% of women will retire with inadequate savings to fund a comfortable lifestyle
• 15% of all women will experience financial abuse.
• 1 in 5 women will experience family violence in their life time

The ongoing barriers women face to achieve financial inclusion are especially compounded for women who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, who live with a disability or who come from a culturally and linguistically diverse background.

We work with women every day who have overcome these barriers and enormous challenges through their own strength and resilience. But it shouldn’t have to be up to individual efforts alone – as a society, we need to have the systems and support that provides the platform for all to achieve their potential.

WIRE will use the opportunity of being a FIAP trailblazer to increase our impact and be an agent for positive change by capitalising more fully on our status as a leading expert in women’s financial resilience and capability. As a FIAP trailblazer we will form partnerships and work strategically to maximise financial inclusion for women and ensure that the voices of women – that often go unheard – resonate in everything that we do. We will also lead by example, examining our internal policies and practices to ensure that we are giving staff and volunteers every opportunity to enhance their own financial inclusion and empowerment. WIRE’s vision is for a society where women are safe, respected, valued, informed, empowered and free to make genuine choices in their lives.

Julie Kun
Chief Executive Officer

You can read the full report here.