COME JOIN US
SUMMIT 9-11 MAY 2023
The First Nations Women and Girls National Summit will be held over 3 days from 9-11 May 2023, with an additional one-day Youth Forum on 8 May 2023. The Summit will bring together over 500 First Nations women and girl delegates from across Australia, for decision-making, innovation and celebration.
WHERE
Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country
National Convention Centre Canberra
31 Constitution Avenue, Canberra, ACT 2601
WHEN
Tuesday 9 May 2023 – Thursday 11 May 2023
(Youth Forum Monday 8 May 2023)
OVERVIEW
Wiyi Yani U Thangani—meaning women’s voices in Bunuba language—is a multiyear systemic change project set out to capture and respond to the strengths, aspirations and challenges of First Nations women and girls.
The vision is for First Nations gender justice and equality in Australia. We elevate the voices of First Nations women and girls, knowing that they hold the solutions to drive transformative change.
Women's Voices
Women are the social fabric of communities and the glue that holds everything together.
My true strength is my identity, where I’m from and whatever I use from my culture to keep me strong.
We [Australia] don’t own our history—Other colonised countries who have experienced genocide have had Truth Telling Commissions ... we want the truth told so you can understand ... We have a lot of healing to do as well ... if you’re faced with day to day struggle, you can’t heal— it needs to be collective healing.
What keeps me strong is my grandmothers—they didn’t have the power to have a voice and I am bloody determined to make sure my girls have a voice.
What makes me strong is six generations of strong women that taught us about country.
We put women and families at the centre and we talked about all those things you’ve already shared because if the women disappear from that centre— once you remove her, that mother, grandmother, the family structure starts to crumble.
Our identity is everything. Culture is everything. Our relationships with others, who are our elders, are everything, totems, Island dancing, traditional sacred dancing. Respect everyone where they live. Our law— no trespassing and obeying Laws. Family gathering and feasting together, sharing one another, helping each other in different times. When someone passes away, we help them grieve and get them together. Land and sea provides us with food, shelter and clothing.
Systems all exist within the Western framework. [We] fight for justice for our people within this system ... We have great political advocates for social justice, but our issues are continuously framed within the Western framework.
here is strength when we [women] get together, because we all feed off each other. We know that this is the times when ideas happen. When we go ‘yes! This is the solutions. This is how we can enact it.’ We want to see, you know, it promotes strength. It promotes healing, it promotes self-determination, it builds our self-esteem. It’s about solution driven, it’s empowering, it’s about cultural education and celebrating who we are.
Resources
Community of Supporters
