Kim Rubenstein, Broad Agenda, 28 Feb 2020

Job sharing has worked well in many other areas of employment, so why not consider it for members of parliament? In this 2020 article from Broad Agenda, Professor Kim Rubenstein puts forward the case for shared representation.

“With the specific benefit of facilitating part-time work, shared representation offers a promising additional option for furthering the participation of women and other under-represented groups. A more representative parliament will be better informed and more sensitive to the multiple needs and interests of the public. It will also have greater legitimacy.”

Kim Rubenstein is a professor of law and Co-Director of the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra. She ran as an independent Senate candidate for the Australian Capital Territory in the 2022 federal election.

For in-depth discussion of the topic of job-sharing and shared representation in Australian parliaments, see Kim Rubenstein’s chapter “Returning to ‘Representation/s of Women’: Feminist analysis and job-sharing as core constitutional concerns” from Traversing the Divide: Honouring Deborah Cass’s Contributions to Public and International Law, edited by Kim Rubenstein, published 2021 by ANU Press, The Australian National University, available online here.