NSW SES Celebrates Our Women Members
08/03/2018 09:53 AM
Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), and across the NSW SES it is being celebrated with a range of activities to thank our women members for their contribution and to discuss how we can achieve gender equity across the organisation.
Within the Service 34% of volunteers and 51% of staff are women, amongst the highest of any emergency service, with the proportion of women in leadership roles steadily increasing.
Today, the NSW SES is hosting its inaugural Women’s Forum at the Wollongong State Headquarters. This forum is designed to be an informative, interactive and empowering gathering with experienced guest speakers sharing their stories and insights into women’s leadership. All speeches and discussions will be centred around the IWD theme of #PressforProgress.
The forum will include key note guest speakers including Georgina Whelan - Chief Officer, ACT SES and Carlene York - Assistant Commissioner, NSW Police. In addition to this will be workshop sessions and a Q&A panel session.
At a local level, many SES Units have been working to address gender equity issues. A great example is the NSW SES Wingecarribee Unit who will be hosting a Get Ready Girl Workshop on the 27th of March. The workshop will include four stands targeted at empowering women within the local Southern Highlands community on how to be more resilient if faced with an emergency situation. The previous Get Ready Girl workshop gave forty local women of all ages and skills the knowhow to deal with emergency situations including basic first aid, protecting and preparing your home for severe weather, flood awareness, and available emergency apps. The NSW SES is looking to roll out this initiative state-wide.
NSW SES Commissioner Mark Smethurst is a member of the male Champions of Change group. Male Champions of Change use their individual and collective leadership to elevate gender equality as an issue of national and international social and economic importance. More information on this group is available here: www.malechampionsofchange.com
For more information on International Women’s Day go to https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
