Background
In 2000, the Australian Bishops used the annual Social Justice Statement to respond to major research on women’s participation in the Catholic Church (Woman and Man: One in Christ Jesus, 1999). Their decisions and proposals were published as Woman and Man: The Bishops Respond.
The research and response have had a lasting national impact. Initially led by the ACBC, its commissions, advisory bodies and national staff, local initiatives extended their reach. Plenary Council Decree Four, Article 3 later called for fuller implementation of the statement’s undertakings.
DOWNLOAD THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Evaluation Research
In 2023, the Commission approved research evaluating the implementation of Woman and Man: The Bishops Respond. Marking 25 years since its release, the project supports the Plenary Council decrees and provides current insights into women’s inclusion and support in the Church.
The National Centre for Pastoral Research (NCPR), supported by the National Centre for Evangelisation (NCE), conducted the research in 2024–2025. The Commission received the final report in May 2026 and reviewed it with bishops, advisers and staff. The 196-page report and 12-page Executive Summary are available from the NCPR and NCE websites.
The evaluation highlights women’s increased education and professional roles, the impact of women-led initiatives, improved collaboration and new approaches to inclusion and contemporary challenges.
It also identifies enduring barriers: restructuring, lost institutional memory, limited funding and networks, poor sharing of experience, clericalism, stereotypes and gendered expectations.
Commission Chair Archbishop Prowse said the report was a timely reminder for the Church in Australia.
"As we become a more synodal Church, this research shows our gains and the work still ahead," he said.
"The Commission will establish a group to advise on supporting women and guiding future initiatives."
Archbishop Prowse also highlighted Bishop Micheal Morrissy’s 2026 Pastoral Letter on International Women’s Day and Pope Leo’s recent words to women at the Vatican:
"The presence of women is a wealth that must be recognized and valued more and more. In addition to a particular sensitivity towards people and relationships, they also bring all the human, professional and intellectual talents proper to female experience and thought. Their competence, capacity for discernment, creativity and concreteness increase the life of the institutions and contribute to acquiring a broader view of the reality and problems encountered."
(Pope Leo XVI to the Association of Women in the Vatican, 5 October 2026)
The evaluation report is available from the websites of the National Centre for Pastoral Research and the National Centre for Evangelisation.