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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-14 Daily Xml
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Working Women's Centre

The Hon. M. EL DANNAWI (15:17): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about this year's annual general meeting of the Working Women's Centre South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:17): I certainly will, and I thank the honourable member for her question—

An honourable member: First question.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —very first question in the chamber, and it's a very appropriate question for someone who has spent a lot of her life protecting and looking after the interests of working women in South Australia. It was a great pleasure to join this year's annual general meeting of the Working Women's Centre in South Australia to recap on some of its successes but some of the difficulties this year at the centre.

I was pleased to see quite a number of my colleagues from this parliament in attendance, like the Hon. Tammy Franks, the Hon. Nat Cook and Sarah Andrews MP (member for Gibson), amongst others, at the AGM. There were many representatives of the trade union movement; volunteers, past and present, from the centre; members of the centre's management committee; and many others who dedicate much time to support the centre's invaluable work in advocacy.

While the centre's annual report and AGM were full of highlights and remarkable achievements of the centre furthering the rights of working women, reflections on the year had a sombre tone as the centre lost long-term fierce advocate and friend, Michelle Hogan, who members in this chamber have talked about during the course of this year.

There were powerful reflections during the AGM on Michelle's work, dedicating some 25 years of her life to the centre, working tirelessly and fearlessly to ensure the centre expanded in a sustainable and purposeful manner. Michelle made countless phone calls, sent many emails and letters, drew on her extensive feminist networks and devised campaign strategies that ultimately increased the Working Women's Centre funding by more than 150 per cent by the end of 2023.

Staff at the centre who spoke at the AGM praised Michelle's steady and brilliant leadership, steering the centre over the last five years as board chair at such a critical time of change, growth and development. As many noted there, and as others have joined earlier this year, my condolences to Michelle's friends and her family. She was a very passionate colleague, supportive friend and a comrade to many.

Despite the immense loss and sadness felt across the entire centre and the broader community, much good work has been achieved in the past year with the Working Women's Centre. The centre's director, Abbey Kendall, reflected on how the past 12 months have seen the centre embark upon a journey marked by extraordinary growth, extensive travel and acting on innovative ideas, including the Working Women's Centre having achieved accreditation as a community legal centre.

The centre also made a point to acknowledge and thank the government for the funding that the centre has recently been provided—over $2.6 million—to provide frontline support to address workplace sexual harassment and discrimination. It was an opportunity to hear about how successful those newly implemented supports have been and the plans for continued future services.

Prior to her passing, Michelle led the board and centre in discussions and collaborations with the Northern Territory and Queensland working women's centres, advocating strongly for the adoption of a model of advocacy, legal service and education, a model which has been crucial to the success of the South Australian Working Women's Centre over a number of years. This advocacy ultimately ensured that the advocacy, legal service and education model was adopted by the commonwealth government, which is responsible for funding the Respect at Work recommendations.

A further highlight of the last year of the centre's operations was that the SA Working Women's Centre's board, chairs and director, together with the Queensland and Northern Territory centres, have all succeeded in ensuring that a direct tender will occur in relation to commonwealth funding for the Respect at Work recommendations across Australia. I commend everyone's advocacy in these endeavours.

With an ever-growing and strong vision to strengthen the rights and voices of working women, the board held a planning day earlier this year as an opportunity to review the strategy and operations of the centre. The board reaffirmed the need to consolidate their current and future directions, including sexual violence at work and the intersection of precarious employment; to continue to explore the benefits of focusing on small businesses; maintaining a focus on unrepresented workers, including Aboriginal and migrant women; and ensuring this work will be active in all these areas, including the legal advocacy and education teams and, crucially, working in partnerships with other like-minded organisations and groups.

It was pleasing to hear the centre had recently committed to their first reconciliation action plan. The Working Women's Centre has engaged Nik&Co. Consultancy, an Aboriginal consultancy organisation, to develop their RAP. I commend the centre for their work in this area. After a year of many ups and downs for the centre, I would like to acknowledge Abbey Kendall, the centre's director, Nikki Candy, deputy director, board chair Ann-Marie Hayes, and all the other members of the Working Women's Centre community who supported one another during the course of this year, and I am sure will do over years to come.

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