Slow and not so sure progress to equality

New Zealand women have made gains in equality over the past four years but that is no reason for complacency, say women's groups.

They also warn that the high profile of powerful women such as Prime Minister Helen Clark and Chief Justice Sian Elias can create the erroneous perception that equality has been achieved.

The assessment comes on International Women's Day as the Ministry of Women's Affairs and a group of voluntary organisations co-ordinated by the National Council of Women complete their four-yearly reports to the United Nations on how the country is doing against the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. New Zealand accepted it as a guideline for action in 1985.

"We cannot say that we've done it all right and there are no things left to be done," says MWA acting chief executive Carolyn Risk, whose ministry's report relies on Government statistics.

She notes improvements in pay equality, fairer relationship property laws, improvements to childcare and the arrival of paid parental leave, a benefit she would like extended to the self-employed.

But problems persist, and Ms Risk has concerns about slow progress in combating domestic violence and growing disparities between groups of women.

The MWA supports the alternative report, which notes that women's representation in central and local government and on public boards has increased.

But NCW president Christine Low says the attention paid to women in power can obscure the fact that equality has not been achieved.

"People see them in high positions and think gains have been made - but they are not necessarily going to be replaced by another woman."

The burden of student loans on women, the "glass ceiling" and the expectation that women carry domestic and childcare loads remain barriers to genuine equality.