Aboriginal Matriarchs building strong Communities in the Kimberly
A powerful Aboriginal Women’s Council in the Kimberly is ensuring Aboriginal women are being heard and play a critical role in Community leadership and positive change.
More than 32 Aboriginal language groups make up the Kimberly in Western Australia, almost the same size as the state of Victoria. Such a vast area in land and diversity means every Community, town and family unit is unique. One size does not fit all, with place-based solutions needed to place-based issues.
The Kimberley Aboriginal Women’s Council (KAWC) was born from gatherings and consultation over eight years. Momentum grew from the North-West Aboriginal Women’s Leadership Conference, with Community engagement, government and corporate support leading to further planning, regional leadership roundtables and foundational work.
Kimberly Aboriginal women want their voices heard, from culturally safe service delivery to tackling high youth incarceration rates and removal of young people into state care.
The women particularly want to ensure children remain connected with family, Culture and Country.
KAWC Board Member Jodie Bell, spoke to 3cr radio ‘Women on the line’ about the launch of their Strategic Plan to make lasting change.
“Women are the backbone of the family, they are the ones holding the family together, they are the primary care givers of our children and grandchildren.”
“How do we as women take back the power to be able to control and make the decisions that are impacting on the lives of our kids and ourselves.”
“We help empower Aboriginal women to be the best versions of themselves and give them a voice to address and problem solve the issues that are facing their local communities.”
The Kimberley Aboriginal Women’s Council is not a service delivery organisation. Their work centres on empowering Aboriginal women and amplifying their voices to influence systems, policy and community outcomes.
“Empowering women from a family level unit, we want to create the resilience and tools to be the leader of their family group, through to their extended family group, which will then ripple out to the community, and the region, and even nationally and internationally.” Board Member Jodie Bell.
Key areas of their goals include:
Rise and Shine: Empowering young women at school, in their career, training and leadership path.
Community Leadership: Empowering women who are already leaders in the family, Community or workforce and give them more skills to get outcomes they want.
System reform: Working with service providers to ensure women are co-designing with Kimberly people to create culturally safe service for people to access and work in.
Data sovereignty: Ensuring the collection of the right data and keeping Community, funders and government informed about how change is happening.
Creating change
By empowering local women and community groups, the KAWC aims for their work to be replicated at Community level. Aboriginal women will be empowering Aboriginal women in their homes, family and Community, lifting their voices and leadership.
Measuring impact through data collection and evaluation is often done through harmful western systems, by outsiders who have little to no connection with the Community.
Jodie says people are being asked sometimes complex questions in English, which is not their first language, and often statistics are used against Community who are portrayed in deficit ways.
“We want the right questions asked and we want to use information in a way to make our Community stronger.”
Kowa is walking alongside KAWC to elevate the women’s work to be more impactful and powerful and create positive changes in the family and Community.
“Usually, it’s our women that are in government services and service providers. How do we use our leadership and our skills to change the way service delivery is rolled out to our mob, that create change for our people.” KAWC Board Member Jodie Bell.
Support KAWC
“Building our matriarchs, they will then be empowered to make the change that needs to happen in you. We're about building the strength of the women and then they do the good work that they do.”
To support the Kimberley Aboriginal Women’s Council contact info@kawc.org.au