Engaging UNSCR 1325 through Australia’s National Action Plan

This article examines Australia’s National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) within the context of global debates on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 and its associated resolutions. It demonstrates that Australia has made a strong rhetorical commitment to the United Nations WPS agenda that aligns itself with global feminist goals to enhance the protection and political participation of women in conflict-affected regions. Rhetorically, Australia also supports a broad conceptualisation of global security that challenges the gender relations that create women’s insecurity. However, these words fail the test of practice. The 2012 Australian NAP lacks the architecture to ensure strong, consistent, and comprehensive action on the WPS agenda. This article explores the sites of these failures and argues that addressing these issues is the first necessary step towards reconnecting government rhetoric with WPS outcomes.