Australia

Communities across NSW can look forward to better, more representative local government following a dramatic rise in the number of women elected to councils, the sector's peak body said. MidCoast Council has four female councillors including one new councillors.

Earlier this year, following a string of attacks on women in the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, both verbal and physical, a popular female TV host asked rhetorically whether the easiest place in the country to rape a woman is in Parliament House.

A sea of change is washing across New South Wales local government as more women and young people take up seats as councillors. Until recently, 22-year-old Imogen Draisma could not see herself reflected in the local council running her home city of Kiama, in

Forty. That's the number of countries around the world that have chosen a woman to lead since Julia Gillard was ousted on June 27, 2013.

At just 21 years old, Adila Yarmuhammad believes she will be the youngest Muslim woman running in the 2022 federal election. She aims to secure a seat in Australia's parliament, but she knows she's inexperienced.

Australians want to see more women in politics, new research has found.

Female candidates are overrepresented for marginal seats at the next federal election, while safe seats for both major parties remain dominated by males, an analysis by Guardian Australia shows.