The National Rural Women’s Summit was held over three days in Canberra from
27 to 28 June 2008.
Leadership and Management
The Summit was initiated by the Hon Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Status of Women, with the support of the Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government and the Hon Kate Ellis MP, Minister for Youth and Sport. The Summit applauds the leadership shown with this initiative.
An Advisory Committee of representatives from key regional, rural and remote organisations made up an advisory committee to the event, including Indigenous representation, National Rural Women’s Coalition, Australian Women in Agriculture, Women With Disabilities Australia and Regional Women’s Advisory Council. The Summit was unanimous in its thanks to this group for their leadership.
The event and its administration were superbly managed by the Office for Women in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The participants would like to thank staff of the Office who worked tirelessly to make this event a significant occasion.
The advisory committee was also supported by staff from relevant Government departments who gave critical input to the process. The advisory committee acknowledges that the success of the event and the potential to implement recommendations is dependent on close intergovernmental cooperation, and sincerely thanks the representatives for their interest and commitment in pursuing this topic. These representatives came from the Office for Women; the Regional Policy Unit in the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (Youth Bureau). Details of the Advisory Committee and staff members can be found in Appendix 1.
The Summit was facilitated by Anne Dunn (MIME) who is currently Chair of the Regional Women’s Advisory Committee.
Welcome to Country
The Welcome to Country was given by Mrs Agnes Shea, Ngunnawal Elder. The participants expressed their gratitude to Auntie Agnes for her welcome and heartfelt speech which set the tone for open and committed discussion throughout the Summit.
Trade Show
The Summit was preceded by a Trade Fair where sixteen women engaged in businesses in regional, rural and remote Australia displayed their products. The items showcased were, in the main, produced by women from their local areas.
The full list of exhibitors is presented in Appendix 2.
Participants
An expression of interest call was circulated through women’s networks, and resulted in around one hundred and fifty women indicating an interest in attending. From these submissions, eighty two women were selected from across all States and Territories, with a range of interests including commercial, government, agriculture, small business, education, health, arts and the environment. The process looked for diversity in background, age, interests and perspective. In particular the process encouraged participation from often marginalised groups including Indigenous women, women with disabilities and women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The eighty two women who attended provide a vast array of experience and wide range of views on each topic. That consensus was achieved on all recommendations is both a miracle and a tribute to the thoughtful and respectful process engaged in by all participants.
The descriptive list of the organisations from which participants came is available at Appendix 3.
Summit Program
The program was a combination of three main activities:
- Presentations, including:
- The Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, Minister for the Status of Women
- The Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
- Ms Libby Lloyd AM, Chair, National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children
- Senator Claire Moore, Senator for Queensland
- Ms Kirsten Livermore MP, Member for Capricornia
- Workshops on the following topics:
- Health
- Education
- Climate change – environment and water
- Young people, girls and teenagers
- Infrastructure, transport and telecommunications
- Representation of women in decision making
- Community building, reconciliation and new arrivals
- Training and skill development
- Employment and business development
- Families and children
- Plenary sessions to reach agreement on all recommendations and the wording of the communiqué.
A full program is presented at Appendix 4.