More women participate in cultural activities, but men are more likely to get paid for their involvement, according to results released from a new survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). In 2010–11, over a quarter (27% or 4.7 million people) of Australians 15 years or older participated in a cultural activity – such as dancing, sculpting, painting, drawing or cartooning.

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Australian women are the most entrepreneurial in the world, new research reveals, but an expert says businesswomen are still underrepresented in growth industries such as finance and IT. The research was compiled by the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship, based at Queensland University of Technology, in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. More than 50 countries took part in the research, which is based on a survey of 2,000 individuals in each country. Out of the 23 developed countries surveyed, the United States emerged as the most entrepreneurial, but ACE associate professor Paul Steffens says Australia wasn’t far behind.

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Australian women are healthier and better educated than their male counterparts, but earn less and are much less likely to hold senior positions in business, politics or law. Figures released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics paint a mixed picture of the fortunes of the sexes. A girl born today is expected to live to almost 84, more than four years longer than a boy. Women are less likely to be overweight, smoke or drink at risky levels or die from heart disease. But more women will experience an anxiety disorder (32 per cent, compared to 20 per cent of men) or a mood disorder such as depression (18 per cent, compared to 12 per cent of men) over their lifetime. Men are more than twice as likely to have a substance abuse problem and more than three times more likely to commit suicide than women.

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PAPUA New Guinea’s only female MP, Queenslander Dame Carol Kidu, has become the leader and the only member of the nation’s opposition. However, Speaker Jeffery Nape has prohibited Prime Minister Peter O’Neill from answering Dame Carol’s first question in the opposition post. Dame Carol was recognised as opposition leader today by Mr Nape, shortly after parliament began. ”I thank you for acknowledging my correspondence yesterday,” she said. ”Being the single member of opposition is an impossible task, so I invite others to join me. ”For six months I wasn’t recognised on the floor … I think the people of PNG welcome an opposing voice.”

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