For me, International Human Rights Day was a day of real inspiration. I was struck by the power of women coming together to support each other.  

I brought together a number of extraordinary Indigenous women leaders from communities around Australia, and a small group of women business leaders with the objective sharing knowledge, ideas, and resources for the benefit of both the communities and business.  

We welcomed June Oscar from Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley, Raymattja Marika from Yirrkala in East Arnhemland near Gove, and Bronwyn Penrith from Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women’s Corporation in Redfern, Sydney. Also in our group was Sally Evans from Westpac, Margot Faraci from Macquarie Bank and Anne Cregan from Blake Dawson.  

June shared with us the successes of the recent changes to the take-away alcohol licensing and how she was building the case for extending the changes beyond the initial six month trial. For example, prior to the alcohol changes, the Royal Flying Doctor was evacuating people to Perth for crisis medical treatment twice a day. Since the changes, this has drastically reduced. Police call outs have also reduced, and people have reported being less frightened during the nights. The push to get the alcohol changes in place came from the recent Women’s Bush Camp, and the women remain determined to keep the restrictions in place.  

Raymattja has been developing wonderful cultural learning ideas with young people and their parents involved in sharing their stories using information technologies, including YouTube. She is also committed to developing a longer term community and business plan, building greater self-reliance for the community, including housing infrastructure and business opportunities. To find out more about Raymattja’s project click here.

Bronwyn also shared the many innovative ways in which her service is supporting women to lead lives free from violence and substance abuse. Projects including Virtual Sisters , where business and other women offer skills and resource to the service, Healthy Family Circles, where women come together to develop their skills and plans for the future, and Counselling on the Run, which provides women with basic skills to support others in their communities.

The gathering was a wonderful opportunity for a group of women to understand each others issues, and how they could work together to find solutions.  Indeed, some solutions are already progressing as a result of the meeting. The exciting opportunity for us is that from these small beginnings will emerge a greater dialogue between business and community to create a shared agenda for change.  

Liz