Ok people. We need to do this together otherwise things will never ever change. And we can't wait for the government to do this on our behalf.

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Awards for women in the Australia Day honours have sunk to a shocking 27 per cent - and it turns out, there are more blokes to come. Why does this matter? Because, in the words of an old, dead Victorian government website, recognition matters.

My mum was impressed by the Australian honours system. It was a big deal to her. Back then, sometime between 1975 when the Whitlam government brought them in and 1983 when Mum died, she knew of a couple of people who'd received gongs. She thought they were the bee's knees. I've still got that feeling. I'm usually entranced by the list and read it all the way from the companions to the OAMs. When I see someone I actually know, I always call them. I feel like it's a real, ahem, honour. Of course, it makes mistakes - but usually, sport on.

So why is it so bad this time when it looked like change was on the horizon? In 2024 on Australia Day, the percentage of women getting an award was just over 50 per cent? Momentum! True social change!

In the words of a former prime minister, nope, nope and again nope. Turns out that the former Governor-General David Hurley and the Council of the Order of Australia embarked on making the lists equal. Nothing wrong with that - but it didn't have the intended impact. It didn't inspire people to nominate more women. It didn't even inspire women to nominate more women.

READ MORE: Women underrepresented in Australia Day honours due to 'years-long backlog'

And that process of trying to be a good example - a perfectly honourable project - had one less than desirable outcome. While they were pushing........

© Canberra Times