The glass cliff election: women candidates running in unwinnable seats in the 2022 federal election

May 2022

New analysis from the ANU Global Institute for Women’s Leadership (GIWL) examines how many female candidates from both Labor and the Coalition are up for election in safe seats compared to marginal or unwinnable seats across 151 electorates in the House of Representatives.

Key findings:

20% of female candidates in the Coalition are contesting winnable seats. In comparison, 46% of Coalition male candidates are running in winnable seats.

For Labor, 24% of the party’s female candidates were contesting winnable seats, compared to 33% of male candidates.

“Not only are there fewer women contesting seats in this election overall – they’re also less likely to win. This is a big loss for our democracy and for Australia.”
– Professor Michelle Ryan, Director of GIWL

Read the research