Blog: Gender Equality

Studying ECEC with YWCA Canberra: Vila’s story
30 March 2022

At YWCA Canberra, we are dedicated to building a pipeline of qualified and confident early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals as part of our work to address gender inequality. That’s why our registered training organisation (RTO1373) offers the latest Certificate III and Diploma qualifications in ECEC.  We believe the quality of our training is demonstrated […]

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Why we need gender parity on boards
8 March 2022

At YWCA Canberra, we care deeply about gender equality and empowering women to feel confident and equipped to take on leadership roles in their communities. We understand the unique strengths that women bring to the table, and support gender parity across all workplaces.   One way to achieve this is by ensuring that organisations have women […]

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Connecting women with housing and community
7 March 2022

At YWCA Canberra, we believe that safe, affordable and secure housing is a fundamental human right. That’s why we have been providing housing services to women and families in need in the ACT for 80 years.   We know our services have improved many lives, but rather than us talking about them, we want our client’s […]

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Building joyful businesses through small grants
21 February 2022

In 2021, YWCA Canberra and the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) were pleased to award a Great Ydeas Small Grant to Serina Bird to start a new sustainable fashion website, The Joyful Fashionista. We’ve loved watching Serina’s business grow from concept to reality, and were pleasantly surprised when Serina offered to give back to the Great […]

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Small grants empowering innovative partnerships
15 February 2022

YWCA Canberra has been pleased to have the Canberra Innovation Network (CBRIN) as a partner for our Great Ydeas Small Grants Program since 2017. Every year, CBRIN has returned with enthusiasm to see what local women and girls are coming up with, so we took a moment to speak to Sharyn Smith, Chief Operating Officer […]

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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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FREE training – Preventing gender based violence: your role in the community
9 November 2021

Gender-based violence is a complex issue, but we want to empower you to contribute to the solution.   Bystander approaches are the interventions that support individuals to intervene in violence, harassment or other anti-social behaviour to prevent and reduce harm to others.   Research shows that bystander approaches can help prevent violence against women, including domestic and family violence, sexual violence and other forms of interpersonal […]

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Developing the educators of our next generation
1 November 2021

Access to quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential to achieving gender equality. (If you want to know more about why, check out our recent ENews on the topic.) And demand for ECEC services is growing. According to Australian Government labour market projections, the childhood education and care sector needs a 20 per […]

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Launching a Great Ydea with the Phoenix Sisters
26 October 2021

YWCA Canberra’s Great Ydeas Small Grants Program provides grants up to $2500 to support women, girls and non-binary people in the ACT to pursue their passions and improve our community.  Since launching in 2019, the program has helped more than 60 local women and girls to progress projects including establishing a podcast, launching a public awareness campaign, running empowering programs […]

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