For the fourth consecutive year, the pile of budget papers deposited on the desks of journalists this afternoon will contain a booklet dedicated exclusively to women.
Inflation is making everything more expensive, includingessentials women can't avoid buying.
On top of that, on average women areearning less than a man in the same sector and doing more of the work that they don't get paid for at home too.
And that's before you get to facing an increased risk of violenceand chronic shortages of essential products women need.
For women of colour, those with disabilities or from low-income backgrounds, these problems are even greater.
The booklet will detail how the government plans to improve their lives and how particular measures will help 51 per cent of the country's population.
But how much of a difference will that actually make to most women? And what do we know about what's already inside?
Shout-out to the ladies
The Women's Budget Statement, first introduced in the 1980s by the Hawke government, was a longtime fixture of budget day. It was then stopped by the Abbott government, resumed in the last years of the Morrison government, and has been a consistent feature under the Albanese government.
Most budget measures are not specific to women, so the women's budget statement is often used as a place for the government to spruik the ones that stand out as benefiting them, or to reframe general policies in terms of their benefit to women.
For example, the first item mentioned by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in a Mother's Day message about the women's statement was "a bigger tax cut for more than 90 per cent of women", a cut which also applies to men.
But the Albanese government has also used the statements to highlight targeted changes to address economic gender equality.
Super on paid parental leave
As first announced on International Women's Day, the government will pay superannuation on the publicly funded Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme starting in the 2025-26 financial year.
That's a proposal the government says will help close the gender gap in retirement incomes, since the vast majority of the 180,000 who receive the payment every year are women.
Labor first promised the move at the 2019 election, then ditched it at the 2022 election owing to its cost. Previous modelling suggested it would cost about $200 million a year, but the government confirmed on Sunday it would cost $623.1 million a year.
That's in part because the government is in the process of increasing the number of weeks that can be accessed under the scheme, up to 26 by 2026. There will also be incentives for parents to share more leave.
Higher wages in aged care and child care
The budget will also provision a "multi-billion-dollar" amount for higher wages in two female-dominated workforces, aged care and child care.
In both cases, its hand has been forced by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), which approved a pay rise for aged care workers in 2023 and is expected to do the same for childcare workers in June. The government supported both cases before the FWC.
Other female-dominated workforces will get support targeted at the trainee level through the introduction of paid placements in teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work courses, each to the value of $319.50 a week and benefiting an estimated 73,000 students.
But Students Against Placement Poverty has criticised the measure as insufficient, saying the commitment amounts to about $8 an hour for a full work week, and many students will miss out because it's means-tested.
Beyond that, the government has pointed to a range of general measures which will disproportionately benefit women, such as the decision to reduce indexation of HELP debts and other student loans, since 58.5 per cent of outstanding debt is held by women.
Endometriosis funding
The government has already announced that longer specialist consultationsfor women with endometriosis and other complex gynaecological conditions such as chronic pelvic pain and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) will now be covered under Medicare from July next year.
Two new rebates will be added to the Medicare Benefits Schedule, enabling extended consultation times and increased rebates for specialist care.
The $49.1 million investment is expected to provide about 430,000 more services to women across the country.
Including this new funding, the federal government has committed a total of $107 million in endometriosis support for women since coming to government, including by establishing endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics across the country and providing funding for research and awareness.
They've also flagged a scholarship fund to encourage nurses and midwives to get a higher qualification so they have the power to prescribe, order pathology and give their patients referrals.
The Primary Care Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship Program will run for four years, costing the government $50 million.
In May 2023, a Senate inquiry found women around Australia were facing major challenges to accessing abortion, contraception, pregnancy and birth care.
Health Minister Mark Butler and Assistant Health Minister Ged Kearney said a recent Senate inquiry into access to reproductive and sexual healthcare would help inform how those commitments would be reached.
The government's response to the report's recommendations is now nearly a year overdue.
Violence against women and their children
The government has promised additional measures to support women's safety, building on the already-announced $915 million over five years to make permanent a trial program which has seen women fleeing violence paid up to $5,000 in financial support.
But this has been heavily criticised as not going far enough to protect some of those most vulnerable to violence because it only covers violence by an intimate partner — not a carer or family member.
Women with disabilities say they're being left behind, while the federal government says they should approach Centrelink or the NDIS if they're being abused by a carer.
And Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has said the government has no plans to expand that eligibility.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also said there will be "additional steps" on welfare payments, the level of which is often identified as a barrier to women seeking to leave violent relationships.
But it's not clear whether this will include an increase to the JobSeeker unemployment benefit or the Single Parenting Payment.
Instead, the government has hinted it is likely to increase the more narrowly available Commonwealth Rent Assistance payment.
