While some progress has been made towards gender equality in Australian elections, women remain underrepresented among candidates in the 2025 federal election. This report shows that there are fewer women than men running in the election and they are more likely to be running in ‘glass cliff’ seats that are hard to win and precarious to hold. 

While women make up more than half (56%) of the candidates being put forward by the Australian Labor Party (ALP), less than a third (32%) of the Coalition’s candidates are women. The report finds there has been a notable increase in women’s representation for Labor this election compared to the last one, when 46% of its candidates were women. 

Of the female Coalition candidates, only one in six (16%) are in safe or fairly safe seats, compared to more than a quarter of men (28%). Half of the women running under Labor this election are contesting safe or fairly safe seats, a significant increase from 24% in 2022, but overall Labor men still have a better shot at winning their seats.

The report also highlights the ongoing issue of diversity in Australian politics. While 21% of candidates in the upcoming election identify as belonging to diverse or underrepresented groups this figure remains lower than current representation in Parliament.