Events

ALP President Linda Burney presenting at the VLWN 2009 Conference

VLWN 2009 Conference

VLWN held its annual conference on 21st March 2009 on the topic of Affirmative Action and the Victorian ALP. The annual conference provides a forum for women Party members to come together to share diverse perspectives from across the State.

Discussion groups at the 2009 conference included ALP101, grass roots campaigning, Affirmative Action into the future, ballot counting and participating in policy committees.
Affirmative Action is becoming increasingly important as the 2012 target approaches for 40% representation by women in all held seats, 40% by men and 20% by either gender.

Guest speakers included Minister Maxine Morand, MP, the Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, Women's Affairs, Jaala Pulford, Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations and ALP President Linda Burney.

Attendees and guest speakers alike were able to take part in a lively discussion about the current Affirmative Action situation in Victoria  and a  number of action items were generated for consideration by the VLWN Executive.

VLWN Survey

The VLWN year is commencing 2009 with a survey of the VLWN membership, which comprises of all women members of the Victorian ALP.  The survey will seek to understand what are the drivers and barriers to women actively participating in the ALP.  The executive of the VLWN will use these finding to help shape its forward agenda, with an overarching aim of seeking to enhance the participation of women within the ALP.

You can complete the survey here.

VLWN celebrates the centenary of Women’s Suffrage

ALP women commemorated the centenary of Women’s Suffrage at a function organised by the Victorian Labor Women’s Network at Parliament House on the 12th of November. More than 80 women joined the Minister for Women’s Affairs, Maxine Morand, to reflect on the journey that women have taken through the Parliament over the last 100 years, and to look forward to the next 100 years of women’s participation in political life.

2008 marks 100 years since women obtained the right to vote. The Brumby Labor Government has funded over 50 city and country projects to commemorate the event.

One such project was a sculpture erected near Parliament to celebrate the Monster petition of 1891, a petition signed by over 30,000 women seeking the right to vote.

Signatures were collected in acknowledgment of the achievement of the original ‘monster’ petition and were sewn together for display at the Centenary of Suffrage Finale and Parliament House Open Day on Sunday 23 November.

The event at Parliament House was organised by the VLWN Executive in conjunction with the Labor Women's Caucus,in the first of what is hoped to be an annual event.