NSW TEACHERS FEDERATION WOMEN’S
CONFERENCE
Where to Next? Celebrating the Centenary of International Women’s Day
The NSW Teachers Federation Women’s Conference provided a wonderful opportunity for AEU women to get more involved in the union, hear inspiring speakers, attend worthwhile workshops and meet women from across the ACT and New South Wales. The ACT Branch sent 4 delegates to Sydney on the weekend of 2 and 3 April and all accommodation and meals were generously funded by Teachers Credit Union. The delegates were Lieta Sauiluma-Duggan (North Ainslie School), Mary Murphy (Turner School), Sue Amundsen (AEU Schools Organiser) and Cathy Smith (ACT Branch Women’s Officer). Participants heard fantastic speakers such as the key note speaker Eva Cox, a highly respected feminist, academic, and activist, whose work has informed and inspired a generation of women. Eva had the task of challenging us to think about what the future of feminism might look like. Nina Funnell, an inspirational young woman and a passionate feminist also spoke to the conference. Nina is currently studying for her PhD, lecturing at the University of NSW, is a freelance journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, an Anti-Violence campaigner, NSW Young Australian of the year, a board member NSW Rape Crisis Centre. Sue, Lieta and Mary report on the highlights of the conference.
What does feminism mean to women today? By Sue Amundsen According to Eva Cox, women have become complacent because many now think that they have what they set out to achieve. They no longer relate to the term ‘feminism’ and see it as challenging the household structures but not the society structure. The connection isn’t being adequately made for feminism as a cause for the better change in society and the way society perceives women. Eva emphasised the need to put society back on the agenda. The focus on what society we want to live in has disappeared and been replaced with a focus on what sort of economy we want to live in. A good society has social policies, quality of care and collective risk sharing. Nina Funnell discussed the young women of today and their lack of knowledge on the positive changes that have come through the feminist movement. This, combined with social networking, is placing young women at risk. Women in particular now need social awareness skilling to deal with the use of social networking devices such as Facebook and mobile phones. Nina believes the Education syllabus should not only include feminism but also include the teaching of ethics to support this. Plenary Session Passes 16 Recommendations. By Mary Murphy At the woman’s conference we attended a Plenary session, a term often used in conferences to define the part of the day when all members come together to debate recommendations. Not being NSW unionists we were unable to vote but I was very interested in the proposed amendments and struggles to achieve
working conditions which we in the ACT may take for granted. Two differences that stood out for me were that School Leader C’s do not have any more release time than their level one counterparts and carry full teaching loads. In NSW teachers who are breastfeeding do not have designated breast feeding areas as well as conditions that support mothers by giving them time to breast feed. In total, sixteen recommendations were successfully passed, which reflected the high participation rate of delegates. A new experience for a new AEU member. By Lieta Sauiluma-Duggan The Women’s Conference was a great experience for me. Being a new member of the AEU, there are many issues that I am unaware of and also curious to find out information about. It was interesting to share ideas and experiences, hear guest speakers and learn of wonderful work by alot of women for developing countries. I found Nina Funnell’s talk on women and violence particularly interesting because of my cultural background and experiences. I had a brief talk with her during a break, where I suggested the possibility of having her work translated into different languages to ensure it is accessed by many more women. She has since emailed me about her interest in the idea and she will keep me posted on the progress of her work so we can work out how to further target an effective outcome for translation. I found one of the workshops was particularly interesting as I found out important information regarding different conditions that I did not know existed for contract, relief and casual teaching.
PAGE 14 • Official Journal of the AEU - ACT Branch • Public Education Voice