UIA’S women’s forum

Government officials and speakers at the United India Association’s (UIA) Women’s Forum acknowledged the significant contribution of women in the Australian society and stressed the need for representation of Indian women in the Australian Parliament.

Women leaders, who spoke on the occasion of International Women’s Day, pointed out the role women play in juggling careers and personal lives.

Barbara Perry, Minister for Local Government, Minister Assisting the Minister for Planning, and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Mental Health), who was the chief guest at UIA, spoke of her role as a working mum, raising two children and working hard at her job. However, she conceded that despite the progress women had made, there was still a long way to go.

Amanda Fazio, President of the NSW Legislative Council, observed the lack of representation of both Indian women and men in the Parliament. “We haven’t been coming anywhere near having different ethnic groups in the Parliament. There are elected representatives from Lebanese, Armenian and Greek backgrounds. However, we do not have anyone from South East Asia,” she told Indian Link “The major parties should look at having more South East Asian candidates. However it does take time to have people on board and we are getting there. In ten years, we will have elected Indian representatives – both women and men in the Parliament,” said Fazio, observing that Australians of Indian and South Asian origin were already playing crucial roles in Australian politics.

She also observed that unlike Lebanese and other immigrants, South Asians could be seen as relatively new migrants.

Indian Consul Gautam Roy acknowledged UIA’s official point of contact for Indian women in distress or trouble, either due to domestic violence or visa issues that require them to stay away from their spouses. As an officially recognised body by the Indian government, he said the organisation’s work was important in tackling domestic violence, fraudulent marriages and other women-related issues among Indian women immigrants.

Aruna Chandrala, President of UIA, told Indian Link that the organisation was seeing a rise in domestic violence-related problems among Indian women in Australia.

“As a recognised organisation, we assist women in distress through counselling and directing them to legal counsel with visa-related issues. In the Indian culture, many women do not come out and speak about domestic violence and accept these problems,” she said.