Female Councilors More Likely to Recieve Abuse

A review commissioned by the Minister for Local Government found that female councillors are more likely to have negative experiences in local government based on their gender.

Mayor of the City of Greater Bendigo, Andrea Metcalf, said the findings are not surprising.

The study discovered that during election periods and the first year of government, women were more likely to receive negative comments on social media, receive doubts about their qualifications, or be ignored.

The research focused on all 79 of Victoria’s municipalities – women accounted for 43.8 percent of elected councillors in the 2020 municipal elections.

CEO of the Central Goldfields Shire, Lucy Roffee, shared her thoughts on the report with Robbo on the Wake Up Call.