International Women’s Day: the women inspiring Indigenous leadership

Many of Australia’s Indigenous cultures are matriarchal in structure. Women are the central figures in decision making and community shaping. They guide and motivate their communities, encouraging them to work towards common goals that benefit society as a whole. 

This year Trinity College has invited a panel of inspiring Indigenous women to speak about their experiences as leaders. The speakers are from a range of fields: academia, health, education and social change. Each woman will offer her perspectives on the way her leadership has impacted upon both herself and the community at large. 

The panel will be facilitated be constitutional lawyer Dr Shireen Morris, who is an Academic Fellow at Trinity College and a McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow at Melbourne Law School. Dr Morris has worked in the area of Indigenous constitutional recognition for the past nine years. Her PhD thesis presented the argument that First Nations people should have a voice in our country’s constitution.

‘Leadership positions in society should reflect our society,’ says Shireen. ‘Indigenous people in general should be playing a strong and decisive part in their own affairs.’ Shireen believes that Australia has a way to go until the positions of power and leadership are held by people who reflect the diversity of the nation. ‘It’s really important that Indigenous people, including Indigenous women, are empowered to lead and have a fair say in the decision making that the government makes about their affairs,’ she says.

Rona Glynn-McDonald, a proud Kaytetye woman and Trinity alumni, is a social changemaker who is very familiar with inspiring Indigenous women in leadership positions. Her grandmother, Freda Glynn, was the founder of CAAMA, the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. Freda played a pivotal role in leading social change for First Nations communities in Australia, particularly through media and storytelling, and CAAMA was the birthing place for much of Australian film and television led by First Nations people. Rona is following in her grandmother’s footsteps with her organisation, Common Ground, which, so far, has supported 160,000 Australians to learn more about First Nations people and cultures. For her efforts, Rona was this year awarded Trinity’s Bill Cowan Alum of the Year award. 

Other panelists for this event are: 

• Dr Sana Nakata, senior lecturer in political science and co-director of the Indigenous-Settler Relations Collaboration at the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne, and Trinity board member.  
• Belinda Duarte, who is a proud Wotjobaluk, Dja Dja descendant. She is the CEO of the Culture is Life organisation, which embraces Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led solutions to prevent youth suicide, and to support young people to have deeper connections with their country and their culture.
• Janine Mohamed, a proud Narrunga Kaurna woman from South Australia with expertise in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health sector. She has worked at state, national and international levels to advocate for Indigenous issues concerning health and wellbeing.

The panel will offer insights into just a few of the many areas in which inspiring Indigenous women lead and better our society.

Register now for Trinity College’s International Women’s Day breakfast on 6 March 2020 by following this link. This is a public event – all are welcome. Tickets $30.