Women

Whilst we have seen huge leaps forward in creating better policies for women in Australia over the last few decades – we still have a long way to go.

Pay inequality, worsening rates of homelessness amongst older women, sexual harassment in the workplace, poor health outcomes for indigenous women, a lack of representation of women in parliament and in corporate Australia - the list goes on. There are many areas we need to tackle.

Reason commits to backing any policy, from any government, of any political persuasion that will improve the health and wellbeing of women in Australia. We will pay even greater focus to policies that provide better outcomes for women who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and those at risk of poor health.

At Reason we unashamedly attempt to select strong female candidates for parliament, although the blokes are always welcome too.

The Rainbow Community

Reason is founded in the belief that we should be free to live our best lives without fear of discriminations. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case for our LGBTIQA+ family.

While marriage equality represents a huge step forward, it should not come at the price of laws giving religious organisations the right to discriminate against anyone that doesn’t meet their cookie cutter definition of ‘family’. Reason will work hard to ensure hard-fought equal rights are not overturned by an increasingly conservative, homophobic and authoritarian government.

From Gay Marriage, reduction of workplace discrimination through to Trans Birth Certificate Reform, Reason has stood shoulder to shoulder with the LGBTIQ community since our inception. That will never change.

The right to discriminate should never exist.

First Nations People

The land we call Australia was stolen. It isn’t ours. It belongs to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

While white Australia has prospered, Indigenous communities suffer from poorer health outcomes, poorer education outcomes and the highest incarceration rates on the planet. It is Australia’s greatest shame.

Reason fully supports the Uluru Statement of the heart, including enshrining a first nations voice in the constitution and a Makarrata Commission to oversee an effective treaty.

As well as seeking significant justice reforms to rid us of laws that unfairly criminalise the community, we will advocate self determination and Indigenous led initiatives to close the gap.

Older Australians

There’s something shameful going on in Australia – Older Australians are getting the rough end of the stick.

As the government lifts the retirement age and demands an extra five years out of citizens before they can access some support mechanisms, people are finding it harder on a number of fronts to live comfortably as they get older.

Ageism is a real thing, and Reason wants to see strategies implemented to combat the discrimination that older Australians face, especially in the workplace.

We support aged care diversity action plans to ensure equality in care for elder Australians and seek to: -

• Create age and dementia-friendly environments within our community.
• Ensure transparency and accountability about how aged care providers spend government subsidies.
• Legislate to make it mandatory to report elder abuse.

Young People

We believe that Children are the future – and not just because we’re huge Whitney Huston Fans.

Young people have been shafted. As well as inheriting a dying planet, young people must contend with an increasingly unstable and casualised workforce, stagnated waged growth and skyrocketing house prices that make renting, let alone home ownership, unachievable.

These issues are compounded by government’s short-sighted, 3 year planning cycles, designed to win the next election, not protect the future.

At Reason, every poliy we develop asks the question ‘how will this impact future generations?’ and scrap anything that will have a negative impact. Nothing gained today should come at the cost of the future.