AustLII Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback

Indigenous Law Bulletin

Indigenous Law Bulletin
You are here:  AustLII >> Databases >> Indigenous Law Bulletin >> 2004 >> [2004] IndigLawB 22

Database Search | Name Search | Recent Articles | Noteup | LawCite | Help

Griffin, Denese; Houston, Jacqui --- "Our Strong Women - Indigenous Women, Law and Leadership" [2004] IndigLawB 22; (2004) 6(1) Indigenous Law Bulletin 8


Our Strong Women

Indigenous Women, Law and Leadership

Compiled by Denese Griffin and Jacqui Houston

This article is a compilation of pieces. Principally written by Denese Griffin, Coordinator of the National Network of Indigenous Women’s Legal Services Inc (NNIWLS), the article has been supplemented by the contributions of four Indigenous women participants of the Our Strong Women workshops. These women, Hazel Illin (Townsville, Queensland), Libby Carney (Bourke, NSW), Susan Dodd (Port Augusta, South Australia) and Maria Pedersen (Broome, Western Australia), kindly gave of their time to be interviewed on their experience of the workshop and gave an account of the impact the workshops have had on them, their participation in advocacy and their perspective on future opportunities for Indigenous women in regional, rural and remote Australia.

I believe that Indigenous women are already leaders because of their roles they play in family and community ... to have the opportunity because of this belief by others to develop further in another area such as the legal sector and particularly to be in a position to influence government policy and decisions is crucial to making change for our people. A lot of time it is a heavy burden but one that is supported by passion and wanting to do the best we can for our people and not to let them down ... It is made easier because we as Indigenous women know what the other is going through and we support each other.
Denese Griffin, Coordinator, NNIWLS

The Our Strong Women project is a National Training Project to promote Indigenous women’s community leadership. Launched in Darwin in August 2002, Our Strong Women was a joint project of NNIWLS and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). Funding for the project was provided by the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women under the National Women’s Development Program and additional funds came from the Pamela De Noon Trust, Canberra Community Foundation, and the Billabong Aboriginal Corporation.

The Our Strong Women workshop includes Work the System: An Introduction to Systems Advocacy, PIAC’s nationally accredited course. In general terms, PIAC’s course aims to:

provide community and consumer representatives with the knowledge and skills to be effective advocates and to be involved in and to influence society's governance.

PIAC Training Coordinator, Carolyn Grenville, noted the inclusion of the PIAC course meant that Indigenous women were given the opportunity to learn the theory and key principles behind identifying local issues, forming networks and working within legal and political systems.

Participants of the workshops are Indigenous women working within legal services or in a variety of roles in their communities, (government departments and community groups), who understand and have a desire to decrease the legal disadvantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Hazel Illin is from North Queensland Women’s Legal Service in Townsville, about 1500km north of Brisbane. In identifying the major barriers to training opportunities for many Indigenous women, Hazel pointed to the lack of availability of relevant courses, high workloads within the organisations many of these women are working with and limited organisational budgets which mean that organisations often cannot afford to send participants to training.

Maria Pedersen attended the Our Strong Women workshop in Broome, Western Australia. Prior to the workshop, Maria had limited training opportunities, not least because of the remoteness of Broome - the vast majority of courses on offer are held in Perth, some 2250km away. Maria felt that Indigenous women in her region “felt more alone” in the issues they were trying to deal with. In addition to the obvious geographical difficulties of attending training in Perth, Maria found that awareness of relevant training is low:

Beagle Bay, for example, is about 200km of dirt road [North of Broome]. How do those people get to town for training? And not only does the cost [of courses] mean that a lot of women can’t take part but if you’re at home, then you don’t know about [training opportunities].

The lack of a cohesive effort by government and community agencies means, according to Maria, that the women most in need of training are those least aware of the opportunities.

Eleven workshops; Two hundred Indigenous women

Eleven Our Strong Women workshops have been presented around Australia. Workshops have been held in Darwin (NT), Broome, Kalgoorlie, Geraldton (WA), Port Augusta (SA), Townsville, Brisbane (QLD), Hobart (TAS), Melbourne (Victoria), Richmond (NSW) and Canberra (ACT). Two hundred (200) Indigenous women have completed the training.

The two-day workshop aims to empower Indigenous women with the knowledge and skills to be effective advocates and leaders for their communities. The training aims to resource a key group of Indigenous women so they can:

For Susan Dodd of Warndu Wathilli-Carri Ngura Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service, the training allows Indigenous women to be heard in advocacy and lobbying arenas:

These women have always known about the systems... the project was really important so that women could advocate – so they are able to compete effectively.

Hazel found that the workshop has empowered her and other Indigenous women to “come forward and give an opinion” on issues. After having had the opportunity to meet and learn alongside other Indigenous women in the legal and related sectors, Hazel can see an improvement in the efficiency of referrals by and for Indigenous women in need of assistance.

Participants learn about systems of government, challenging government decisions, effective campaigning and community representation. In addition, they learn media, negotiation and lobbying skills.

Learning outcomes

The program has been designed to develop competency in systems advocacy. At the end of the course, participants should be able to:

Susan Dodd spoke of the high risk of burnout in the small number of Indigenous women currently participating in committees, on boards and in lobbying. She said that workshops such as Our Strong Women ensure “the necessary skills are taught so more women can take on these roles.” Susan pointed to the courses’ instruction in legal and political jargon – clarifying terms and teaching the structure and roles within advocacy. She said that the use of jargon is something that Indigenous women tend to shy away from, while the course “gave women the confidence to speak up” so that:

now they’re running meetings, learning about lobbying, how government works and how laws are made... Indigenous people need to be in control of their own lives and in their community.

Libby Carney was a Project Coordinator at the project’s launch in Darwin in 2002. She echoed Susan’s comments on the use of unfamiliar jargon and terminology adding this is “one of the greatest barriers to participating effectively [in legal and political systems]”. Empowerment was a word commonly used by all interview participants. According to Libby:

a lot of the women who do the course are already strong advocates and it’s these extra skills like getting the support of a minister or getting local government on your side which makes the difference for the Indigenous community.

Libby also found that over the course of the workshop the women found strength in each other and the personal approach to advocacy - how to prepare an action plan and how to get your voice heard - quickly moved to a more regional approach where the “women worked together to make greater change.”

In addition to developing confidence in themselves, their strength in working with each other and developing solutions, Maria found that:

One of the greatest benefits of the workshop has been the ability to put a name to a way of doing things and learning what each woman can do as an individual or as groups... Advocacy strategies are the most important [skill]; learning the notion of grabbing allies when you can; knowing yourself and your adversary and knowing which battles to fight and which battles you need to leave.

Methodology

The program uses a mix of information presentation, interactive discussions, exercises and case studies.

Assessment

This program is an accredited systems advocacy course. Participants who wish to receive accreditation are required to undertake a short assessment, consisting of an open book, short-answer and multiple choice questionnaire.

The workshops have built stronger support networks of Indigenous women around the nation who are working to promote the status and wellbeing of their communities.

Similar to the previous observations of Libby, Maria saw that as the workshop progressed, women formed groups to identify and tackle issues on a larger scale. Prior to the workshop, Maria believed these women felt a geographical and a personal isolation when dealing with significant legal and social issues. Meeting other Indigenous women in the region and learning the skills and knowledge of each other has ‘enhanced the cultural approach of Indigenous women to forming groups to deal with issues’.

Participants have reported that the workshops have made them feel empowered, have increased their knowledge across a range of activities and enabled them to use the new networks and skills to progress the important work that they do for their families and communities.

Our Strong Women has led the way and opened doors for even stronger Indigenous women to advocate in a very determined and informed way to address the disadvantage of Indigenous women in all areas. As a result of the workshops Indigenous women have been speaking up for themselves and their communities. The project has seen women representing their interests at higher levels on community committees. They have been working on plans to promote important community issues such as education, homelessness, safety and counselling for victims of violence, youth rights and the need for services to be provided by Indigenous people for Indigenous people.

The women who have completed the training have enjoyed learning new skills and ways of working. Young women have been learning from more experienced women. For some women it has led to workplace promotions. As a direct result of the training, one of the participants was elected to sit on an ATSIC Regional Council.

The course empowers women to understand and know their rights and to make a change.
Libby Carney

The Network is now calling for more training and workshops that bring Indigenous women together in this very practical and culturally appropriate way to promote the interests of Indigenous communities.

The future

NNIWLS and PIAC are working together to take the next step in the direction of Indigenous women becoming self-sufficient in running their own advocacy and leadership training.

Future and ‘follow-up’ workshops are essential according to Maria Pedersen. Indigenous women in rural and remote areas, with the training and skills to teach others in their community can help overcome the geographical and financial barriers which currently exist. Importantly, while teaching new skills and honing current methods and strategies, the workshops:

create positive energy and enthusiasm... Real life is not that positive so it’s inspiring to be able to work together, meet other women working for a common goal and find ways to combine [in advocacy].

Denese Griffin is a Nyikina woman, born in Derby, from the Kimberley, WA. She is the Network Coordinator of the National Network of Indigenous Women's Legal Services Inc.

Hazel Illin is from Ingham in North Queensland, a descendant of the Gugu Badhun and Ngadjonji traditional groups. Hazel is a Community Development Worker with the North Queensland Women's Legal Service Inc. She is Treasurer of NNIWLS and holds a Bachelor of Education in Adult Education, Master of Arts in Indigenous Social Policy, University of Technology Sydney.

Susan Dodd is from the Arabrana and Deri Groups, South Australia and is Coordinator of the Warndu Wathilli-Carri Ngura Aboriginal Family Violence Service in Port Augusta.

Libby Carney is a Murri woman from North Queensland. A former Project Coordinator of the Our Strong Women Project, Libby is now a Regional Violence Prevention Specialist with the NSW Attorney General's Department in Bourke NSW.

Maria Pedersen is a Kimberley Aboriginal woman from Broome, WA. She works in community governance with Kimberley College of TAFE and in research at Curtin University.


AustLII: Copyright Policy | Disclaimers | Privacy Policy | Feedback
URL: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IndigLawB/2004/22.html