Women tend to be less wealthy than men, according to a report discussed at the Commonwealth/State Ministers for the Status of Women conference, held in Perth.

Broadly, in Australia the wealth of women is 84% of that of men in Australia and 86% in New Zealand.

However, women’s wealth may be affected by transfer of ownership for tax minimisation or business and professional liability issues by their husbands and therefore may not reflect real ownership.

One of the largest differences in wealth was in superannuation holdings with the value of superannuation held by women about one-third of that held by men.

Women also own less unincorporated business assets: about 40% of the business assets of men in Australia and 20% in New Zealand.

The greatest wealth disparity was between male and female sole parents with female sole parents having approximately one third the mean wealth holdings of male sole parents.

The report also showed the varying wealth of women over their lifetimes.

Early in life, women have around 90% of male wealth holdings, but from the age of 30 onwards the relativity in wealth holdings of women to men declines to around 70% in the 40–49 age group. However, from the age of 50 onwards, because of the increasing number of widows this trend is reversed. In the 60-plus age group, the average wealth of women is 96% of that of men.

During the conference, the Attorney-General, Jan Wade, called on the Commonwealth Government and Australian Film Commission to retain financial support for its Women in Film and Television program.

"A survey in 1985-86 showed that women comprise 7% of feature film directors, 24% of producers and 19% of screenwriters. Estimates by the industry today suggest that only 20% of directors, 17% of producers and 17% of screenwriters are women," she said.

Mrs Wade said until women were better represented in the film and television industry professions it was important financial support continue to be provided.

(News Release, Office of the Minister for Women's Affairs, May 21, 1999)