Blog: Advocacy

Celebrating the global YWCA movement
13 April 2022

Canberra is proud to be part of a global network of 25 million girls and women across 125 countries. Our movement passionately supports women to shape their communities and advance gender equality so we may all live safe and prosperous lives. This year, we are once again excited to be celebrating World Y Day on […]

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Image of a person holding a paper with the trans-inclusive gender equality symbol on it. Above, the text "YWCA Canberra stands with the LGBTQIA+ community" has a background of the trans pride flag.

Statement supporting the rights of gender-diverse people
9 February 2022

YWCA Canberra proudly stands with the LGBTQIA+ community and calls upon members of the Australian Parliament to exercise their vote in support of trans and gender-diverse people. In 2017 with a convincing majority, Australians voted to support same-sex marriage. A journey that had taken decades of lobbying and inconceivable trauma ended in a national celebration […]

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Recognising the realities of our lives in Canberra
7 December 2021

We were honoured to launch our second report into the reality of life in Canberra for women and non-binary people, Our lives: women in the ACT. This report, an update from our 2019 publication, was the result of surveying over 1200 respondents living in Canberra. It provides an insight into how life in Canberra has changed over those two years, including the impact of COVID-19 on women’s […]

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Mental Health Month 2021 speech by Frances Crimmins
18 October 2021

During Mental Health Month 2021, YWCA Canberra CEO Frances Crimmins was invited to present a virtual speech to employees of ActewAGL on the topic of Mental health awareness. Good morning and welcome everyone. I’m Frances Crimmins, and I’m proud to be the Chief Executive Officer of YWCA Canberra. I would like to begin by acknowledging […]

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Five quick questions with Matilda Webb
6 October 2021

Our She Leads High Conference is just around the corner and we couldn’t be more excited! Taking place on Friday 12 November, at the Kambri Cultural Centre, this year’s theme ‘Wild’, is all about harnessing personal adversity and using it to thrive as leaders in your personal and schooling life. In anticipation for the event, […]

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Men are still making the final calls on women’s safety
9 September 2021

Article originally published in The Canberra Times on 8 September 2021 This week, as large parts of the country continue to battle coronavirus, decision-makers at all levels and across numerous sectors are turning their heads to another significant epidemic taking lives in Australia: violence against women. As politicians, service providers, policymakers and advocates attend the […]

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What’s been happening in advocacy!
3 September 2021

Canberra currently in lock-down we wanted to take a minute to update you on some of the key issues we have been engaging with recently. Since the surfacing of reports of sexual harassment and assault involving Australian parliamentary offices and the #March4Justice rallies, YWCA Canberra has been making substantial policy and advocacy contributions to ACT […]

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Equal Pay Day 2021
31 August 2021

Today is Equal Pay Day 2021. But it is not a time to celebrate. Equal Pay Day is on 31 August this year to mark the 61 additional days from the end of last financial year that women must work, on average, to earn the same amount as men earned in that year. Unfortunately, as […]

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2021 She Leads Conference – Taking control and redefining power!
30 July 2021

On Friday 23 July 2021, YWCA Canberra hosted our seventh annual She Leads Conference at the Kambri Cultural Centre at the ANU. After a long-anticipated wait following last year’s break due to COVID-19, the 2021 Conference was set to be even bigger and better than ever, with an incredible lineup of keynotes, panels and seminar […]

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5QQ with Tarla Lambert – 2021 She Leads Conference
1 July 2021

The She Leads Conference is back! This time it’s being held at Kambri at the ANU on Friday 23 July.  The She Lead Conference is our biggest leadership event of the year, providing emerging and established women and non-binary leaders with the opportunity to develop their practical skills, knowledge and networks to accelerate their leadership journey. This year’s Conference theme is POWER! What it’s like to have it, […]

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