The WomenSpeak Network is one of four non government National Women's Secretariats funded by the Commonwealth Office for Women to act as a conduit for the exchange of information between the Government and the women's sector and provide representative advice on policy issues affecting women.
The WomenSpeak Network provides the Federal Office for Women with significant input on issues affecting women in Australia, including childcare, women's health, women's leadership, young women, the role of men and boys in gender equity, and violence against women.
Background to the WomenSpeak Network
The WomenSpeak Network currently includes 37 mostly national women's organisations. We also include national organisations with a specific focus on the impacts on women of policy and service delivery and where there is no national organisation in an area state based organisations or expert individuals.
After a period of extensive consultation the WomenSpeak Network chose to form a network that did not speak as a unified voice, but reflected the diversity of women's organisations in Australia. The WomenSpeak Network has also adopted mechanisms that allow organisations and individuals to be involved in the projects and activities of the Network that support and enhance their own organisation's work.
We recognise that the current participants of the WomenSpeak Network do not reflect the full-diversity of women in Australia and are actively seeking to strengthen the voice of Indigenous women; women with disabilities and women from culturally and linguistically diverse groups both within our network and within the women's sector.
Priorities of WomenSpeak Network
The identified priorities of the WomenSpeak Network are:
- Human rights;
- Involvement of young women and ensuring a youth voice in policy work;
- Diversity;
- Networking; and
- Participation in federal policy issues as they arise.
Based on the identified priorities of Network, member organisations are working together to:
- Consult on the impact and benefit of women's organisations in local and national communities;
- Share information and resources on a range of women's issues;
- Support training for women around the use and application of human rights instruments especially the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women;
- Support WomenSpeak Network member organisations with small grants for forums and events on women's issues
WomenSpeak consultations
The WomenSpeak Network has undertaken consultations on childcare, young women's recruitment, retention and leadership in women's organisations, and the benefit of women's organisations in communities in Australia.
Consultations have included surveys and interviews with young women active in the social justice and women sectors, online surveys regarding childcare and community consultations discussing the impact of women's organisations in communities across Australia.
WomenSpeak has also supported a new national network to support trafficked women, the development of a national immigrant and refugee women's network, and participation of women in various workshops and forums on topics ranging from the future of health care in Australia, to the challenges facing young Indigenous women in Australia.
More Information
More information about the activities of the WomenSpeak Network is available from Kathy Richards on womenspeak@ywca.org.au or 02 6230 5150.