A Strategic Briefing by COMPELL | May 2025
Executive Summary
The 2025 federal election is being celebrated for a “record number of women elected.”
But a deeper look reveals a disturbing truth: Culturally and Racially Marginalised (CARM) women are being left behind — again.
COMPELL has tracked every multicultural candidate across Australia and can confirm:
- White women are winning — but only because the system is rigged in their favour.
- CARM women are still excluded from winnable seats, meaningful resources, and elite networks.
- And yet, they’re still running, building momentum, and challenging the political status quo — often without institutional support.
It’s time to stop using white women’s wins as the only yardstick of success. This report reclaims the narrative.
What the Data Shows
Using COMPELL’s proprietary 2025 multicultural election database:
- CARM women remain dramatically underrepresented across all major parties.
- CARM women representation is at 5%, unchanged from the 2022 Federal election numbers. (https://compell.com.au/australian-federal-election-2025-culturally-diverse-candidates/#electedcarmdata)
- Where they were preselected, most were placed in unwinnable or unsafe seats.
- Despite this, several CARM women grew their first-preference vote share more than sitting MPs. Hannah Thomas who ran in Grayndler for instance, recorded a +4 swing towards her, more than the Prime Minister himself. Dilvan who ran in Mitchell has recorded more than a 7% sing towards her, much more than the incumbent.
- Independent CARM women candidates — running without party machines — often performed better than expected, even outperforming minor parties in multicultural seats. For instance, Stella Yee for Menzies who polled at more than 6% at her first try.
But no major party, nor women’s leadership group, has publicly acknowledged these facts.
Media Illusion vs Reality
ABC News and others report a “record number of women elected,” but:
- Who are those women? Mostly white, mostly selected by safe networks.
- Where are the CARM women? In tokenistic placements, or invisible in media coverage.
- Why does this happen? Because elite, white-led organisations gatekeep the very resources needed to level the playing field.
How Elite Feminist Orgs Are Failing Us
Let’s be honest:
- Political training, funding, and board-readiness programs are funnelling resources to the already powerful.
- Public-facing “inclusion” campaigns often use CARM women for optics, but fail to invest in their candidacy meaningfully.
- The result? CARM women are set up to fail — or burn out trying.
“They invite us to the table, but not to eat. Just to decorate it.” — Tharini Rouwette
What COMPELL Is Doing Differently
COMPELL is not a networking group. It is a power-building incubator.
We:
- Run multicultural electoral tracking and data strategy
- Incubate and support emerging CARM political talent with campaign strategy, research, and momentum analysis
- Provide briefings, re-run scorecards, and political redeployment plans based on real data
- Are building a pipeline of CARM leaders who are ready to win — on their terms
This report is just a glimpse into what we’ve built, without institutional support.
The Problem Isn’t Us. It’s You.
The political class keeps asking why more CARM women don’t run.
But here’s the real question:
Why aren’t you funding the ones who already are?
Why are you still measuring success by how many white women win?
What Needs to Happen Next
For Political Parties:
- Preselect CARM women in safe, supported seats — not for optics, but for real wins.
- Fund real campaign infrastructure: strategy, messaging, and protection.
For Women’s Leadership Orgs:
- Step aside. Amplify what’s already working outside your networks.
- Share your funding, press connections, and platform — or stop claiming to lead “for all women.”
For Funders and Allies:
- Invest in COMPELL’s next phase: building Australia’s first CARM candidate school, campaign lab, and redeployment ecosystem.
We’re Done Waiting
This isn’t a complaint. It’s a warning.
The future is already here. It just doesn’t include you yet.
If you want to be part of real progress, you know where to find us.
Prepared by
Tharini Rouwette
Founder, COMPELL — Australia’s first multicultural political incubator
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📬 For political briefings, funding inquiries, or media requests:
info@compell.com.au