Women in Australia
Women in Australia refers to women's demographic and cultural presence in Australia. Australian women have contributed greatly to the country's development, in many areas. Historically, a masculine bias has dominated Australian culture. Since 1984, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) has prohibited sex discrimination throughout Australia in a range of areas of public life, including work, accommodation, education, the provision of goods, facilities and services, the activities of clubs and the administration of Commonwealth laws and programs, though some residual inequalities still persist. In 2017, Australia was ranked the world's safest country for women by the New World Wealth research group. History Colonial New South Wales Australia was established in 1788 as a penal colony. The population was predominantly male, with between 1788 and 1792, around 3546 male and 766 female convicts being landed at Sydney. This severe gender imbalance created a lot of social problems. Some of the women engaged in prostitution due to their economic circumstances, and because of the gender imbalance. The colonial administrations were anxious to address the gender imbalance. The first attempt to redress this imbalance was the voyage of the Lady Juliana, a ship chartered to carry only female convicts to New South Wales,