Volunteers - Let’s hear it for us

National Volunteer Week 2016 is 9-15 May gives us a chance to congratulate ourselves for our voluntary work and to thank others who willingly donate ‘time and talents’, service and skills, for the benefit of others, without being paid.

For National Councils of Women across Australia, and for our affiliated organizations, volunteering is what makes our work possible.  However staff in some enterprises seem rather dismissive of volunteers, and people from other countries seem to find our willingness to volunteer a strange thing to do.

One way or another, volunteering still seems a very Australian thing to do. From the 2010 Census, it appeared that 38% of women aged 18 years and over were volunteers compared to 34% of men. And Regional Australians (41%) were more likely to volunteer than Australians who lived in major cities (34%). While all capital cities have high volunteering rates compared to other parts of the world, Darwin shows the greatest percentage of volunteers (43%).

Willingly giving time to do work for an organisation or community group, on an unpaid basis, can be rewarding for individuals, young or old.

However care needs to be taken that the relationship between the volunteers and those they help, especially the organisations where they make their contribution, is based on mutual respect and common understandings about the work that is to be shared.

In this issue of NCW Victoria News we are featuring material from the Volunteering Victoria a great resource both for organisations looking to encourage volunteers, and for individuals considering becoming volunteers together with some fresh volunteering opportunity for you with NCW Victoria.

Ending Violence

The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence has completed its task in a year and a month. The documents in eight volumes, total about 2,000 pages, and the RCFV website warns not to attempt to print the report using home office equipment.

Not surprisingly a number of our affiliates were at the read over provided to stakeholders on Wednesday 30 March. We were pleased to have secured a place at the briefing and that our Gauri Kapoor was able to be our representative.

We understand that the Victorian Government is bringing forward the State Budget to avoid a clash with the Federal Budget, and that a specific Women’s section will be part of the Budget, with elements to begin to address the recommendations of the Royal Commission. We also know that Rosie Batty has accepted the role of Chair of the Victorian Advisory Committee to oversee the roll out of Victoria’s response to the Royal Commission’s recommendations.

The report is a very big read, and we are thankful that Grandparents Victoria has been kind enough to provide for us their two page summary of the matters addressed in the recommendations, and gives one some confidence that the recommendations might go some distance to resolving the complex problem that is Family Violence. The submission made by NCW Victoria, while recognizing that this type of violence can occur right across the community, stressed our awareness of the difficulties faced by women and children of diverse background, and the RCFV report appears to propose approaches and timeframes to address these issues.

The most hopeful sign is found in the 30 March media release from Georgie Crozier MP, Shadow Minister for Prevention of Family Violence & Shadow Minister for Women - Implementing these recommendations will clearly require significant additional funding. We cannot afford to waste another year. No Victorian should have to live in fear or grow up in an abusive home. The Liberal Nationals Coalition and Labor have a bipartisan approach to dealing with family violence and supporting victims and we are confident that the proper implementation of key recommendations will see improved outcomes.

Students Awards at Parliament House

On Monday 29 February 2016, students, guests and NCW Vic members came to the Legislative Council Committee Room, Parliament of Victoria, to present awards from the 2015 program and to talk about the 2016 My Vote My Voice theme.

Our host the Hon. Bruce Atkinson, President of Legislative Council, spoke to open the event and spoke about struggle for recognition of the right to vote and to stand for local government in Victoria. It was and it is challenging for women standing for local council. However, we can see now that there are more women elected to council and there will be even more in the future.

NCW Victoria Youth Adviser, Sarah Morgan, introduced students who were there to receive NCWV Civic and Citizenship Awards as individuals and school teams. Victoria Waid (Academy of Mary Immaculate), Diya John (St Monica’s College in 2015, now at Mac.Robertson Girls High School) and Rachel Rockman from Methodist Ladies College were individual awardees; and University High School, Melbourne Girls’ Grammar School and Ruyton Girls’ College were school awardees.

It was also exciting to hear from a young MP Joshua Bull, Member for Sunbury. He congratulated the 2015 Awardees and presented the Civic and Citizenship Award certificates and envelopes to the students and schools. Victoria Waid now a law student responded on behalf of the Award recipients.

After refreshments Diya John was part of the panel and talked about how she became a more confident speaker. Diya was a lead speaker at the 2015 ‘My Vote My Voice’ Beijing +20 event. She is now heading to New York for a week for this year's meeting of the UN Commission on Status of Women thanks to the assistance of NCW.

Other speakers on the panel were Cr Coral Ross, President of Australia Local Government Women’s Association, Dr Deborah Towns, University of Melbourne, and Pam Hammond, NCW Victoria. The 2016 theme is Women in Local Government: Past, present, future.

Report supplied by YoungNCWVic member and media intern, Yvette Wang.

Photographer: Sophie Nowicka

55th Annual Women’s Australia Day Ceremony

On Thursday 21 January, the National Council of Women of Victoria held their 55^th Annual Women’s Australia Day Ceremony at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden. This was a free event, honouring women pioneers or ‘firsts and forerunners’.

This year’s speaker was Dr Liz Rushen of the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University, speaking on Frances Perry ’s legacy at the Royal Women’s Hospital. Frances Perry 1814-1892

Have you visited the Garden? Not far from the Myer Music Bowl, this cool space was created in 1935 by public donation as part of Melbourne's centenary celebrations, to commemorate women’s contribution to the city and the state. (Melway map reference 2G B5)

Over the years, many high achieving women have spoken at this annual Women’s Australia Day event, from Dame Margaret Blackwood and Dame Phyllis Frost through to May Hu, Senior Producer, Mandarin Program, SBS Radio (2011), Tania Chapman, 2012 RIRDC Victorian Rural Woman of the Year, Mildura citrus grower and Chair of Citrus Australia (2013) and Professor Kim Rubenstein on trailblazing women and the law (2014).

Download Dr Liz Rushen's Paper which was delivered at the the Australia Day Women's Ceremony

‘Respectable Radicals’ the history of National Council of Women of Australia

‘Respectable Radicals’ the history of National Council of Women of Australia is now on sale in all good bookshops. RRP $39.95.

We congratulate authors  Marian Quarterly and Judith Smart, and History Committee led by Leonie Christopherson AM, on the birth of Respectable Radicals: A History of the National Council of Women of Australia, 1896-2006. We hope to see coverage of our story in mainstream media, newspapers and relevant radio programs.  The book has its own webpage.

For much of the twentieth century, the National Council of Women of Australia was the peak body representing women to government in Australia, and through the International Council of Women, to the world. This history of NCWA tells the story of mainstream feminism in Australia, of the long struggle for equality at home and at work which is still far from achieved. In these days when women can no longer be imagined as speaking with one voice, and women as a group have no ready access to government, we still need something of the optimistic vision of the leaders of NCWA. Respectable in hat and gloves to the 1970s and beyond, they politely persisted with the truly radical idea that women the world over should be equal with men .Respectable Radicalsis being launched by Professor Marilyn Lake on 11 October as part of the NCWA Triennial Conference.

My Vote My Voice – Beijing + 20 event at the Parliament of Victoria: How are we progressing towards gender equality?

Message received from Natasha Stott Despoja AM
Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls

Twenty y ears ago at the landmark Beijing World Conference on Women, 189 countries unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for gender equality. 1995 was a highpoint in international cooperation to secure commitments to women’s rights; we have not seen such an unequivocal statement of support for women and girls since.

However, in no area of women’s participation in economic or public life have we achieved what we aspired to in 1995. In no area of women’s and girls’ safety - at home, in places of work, or learning, or in situations of conflict - can we say our work is done.

We are marking this 20th anniversary in a spirit of both celebration and sober reflection. While we applaud the many gains made in 1995, and since, we also realise that we have a long way to go. 

Throughout this year, Australia has been working hard with other countries to ensure the progress we have achieved is not rolled back. I am encouraged that Australia’s efforts on the international stage are reflected in national programs of action, too, like “My Voice, My Vote” at the Parliament of Victoria. 

It is great to see young women reviewing progress made towards gender equality over the past twenty years and charting the path ahead. I can’t think of a more promising, untapped resource than the world’s young women. And there is no one better equipped to shape the future than the young leaders of today.

I commend you, and your schools, on participating in this important event; and I congratulate the National Council of Women of Victoria and the event sponsors for arranging this program.

The world cannot afford to wait another twenty years to achieve the goals we set in Beijing, and we look to our young women to take up this challenge, to build momentum to make the Beijing Platform for Action a reality.

I hope today’s event inspires you all to continue the work you are doing in your communities, your schools and beyond, to achieve gender equality.

Change, it’s a strong word. Change makers even stronger

This is an extract from an article written by Victoria Waid, a Year 12student. She is one of the brilliant young speakers at the NCWV student event My Vote My Voice 2015 at the Parliament of Victoria on Monday Aug. 10.

My name is Victoria Waid, and I am a change maker. My vision is to live in a world where all children can realise their full potential in societies that respect people’s rights and dignity. Change does not come to those that wait. Change happens when you put your heart and soul into everything you do, and everything you're passionate for. It happens when you go out into the world and bring about change.

On 30 September 2014, I had the privilege of representing Girl Guides Victoria and Plan International in Canberra, for the ‘Because I am a Girl’ campaign that aims at unleashing the incredible potential of women’s empowerment. To celebrate the 2014 International Day of the Girl, I travelled to Canberra to highlight the importance of leadership for young women and girls and supporting their active participation in political, social, and economic spaces.

Educating and empowering girls to become leaders and change makers in their communities is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty and securing a better world for all. With the Millennium Development Goals finishing and a new set of goals being decided, right now we have a once in a generation opportunity to tell our leaders to put girls front and centre in our development priorities for the next decade and beyond. To do this, Plan Australia supported 25 young female advocates from around Australia, and from Pakistan, to stage a major parliamentary event in Canberra where we presented our call to action. Here, in Canberra, we presented to some of Australia’s top politicians, a book titled ‘Our Book of Ambitions’. This book is the heart and soul of our project. Contained in this book, is our declaration to include children's and women’s rights on the post 2015 agenda. Enclosed in this book, is the voice of Australia, and what they want to see change in the world.

Image courtesy Victoria Waid (centre) with friends, at the Because I am a Girl launch in Canberra, September 2014. Source: http://www.academy.vic.edu.au/_uploads/rsfil/00989.pdf, Victoria’s story is also in the Girls Guides Victoria publication GGV Guiding stories: https://www.guidesvic.org.au/Documents/GuidingCommunity/GGVGuidingStories.pdf