International Women’s Day
Natalie HUTCHINS (Sydenham – Minister for Jobs and Industry, Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, Minister for Women) (09:39): Every year we come together to celebrate the role of women in every aspect of life for International Women’s Day. Today as the Minister for Women I would like to acknowledge the work of some incredible Victorian women that were inducted onto the 2023 honour roll for women: Kate Jenkins, author of the Jenkins report, who last year completed her seven-year term as Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, where she led numerous inquiries with a focus on workplaces, Parliament, education, sport and security organisations; Aunty Esme Bamblett, who is the CEO of the Aboriginal Advancement League and has been since 2008 and has made major contributions to the study of how to conduct research with Aboriginal communities ethically and thoroughly; and Shanleigh Meldrum, who has undertaken a variety of roles in her career as a sensory disability professional and as a volunteer with the Victoria State Emergency Service and whose advocacy has contributed to long-term community benefits for the deaf, the hard of hearing and deafblind youth in rural and regional Victoria – an amazing young woman. These women were inducted alongside excellent company, such as Catherine Barrett, Carmen Mendez, Anam Javed, Betul Tuna, Lalisha Thapa, Jana Katerinskaja, Anne Parton, Akuch Kuol Anyieth, Thenu Herath and Cindy Pham.