Date Tuesday, 26 September 2023

Her Place hosted a lively discussion between ground-breaking economist and activist, Professor Dame Marilyn Waring and three leading Australian Financial experts as we tackled how  the world would change if Women were counted.

Dame Marilyn Joy Waring DNZM is a New Zealand public policy scholar, international development consultant, former politician, environmentalist, feminist and a principal founder of feminist economics. Her book If Women Counted (1988) is regarded as the “founding document” of the discipline of feminist economics.

The conversation and panel discussion with Professor Waring was facilitated by Her Place’s Chair, The Hon. Mary Delahunty, g.a.i.c.d.

Joining Professor Waring were:

• Amy Auster, Chief Economist & Insights – Officer at Scyne
• Amanda Young, Executive Director at Pollination
• Dr Angela Jackson, Lead Economist at Impact Economics and Policy

 

Date Friday 8 September 2023

Book Launch and Panel Discussion – A Her Place and Together YES event.

Fighting with our Tongues: Remembering Aunty Rita and the Battle for Self Determination.

As part of the Together YES campaign Her Place hosted  Dr. Jackie Huggins AM, Author, Activist and The Drum Commentator for the celebration of the 30 year Anniversary Reprint of her Award winning book, Aunty Rita, a historic account of the extraordinary life of her mother.

Jackie was the first Author to officially gift her award winning books to the new Her Place Feminist Reading Room.

This event included a moving panel discussion with First Nations Leaders

• Amelia Telford – Progress Australia
• Belinda Duarte – CEO Culture is Life
• Banok Rind, Director First Nations Futures and FYA

The event was moderated by Tanja Kovac, Director Her Place Women’s Museum and Maria Dimopolous  AM – Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth and Justice.

This event was presented by Federation University, Her Place Women’s Museum, the Victorian Women’s Trust and Together Yes

Catered by Pawa Catering

 

 

On March 28, 2023 Her Place Women’s Museum hosted  the launch of the Australia's first statewide digital interactive map commemorating Women and Gender Diverse People www.findingher.org.au

This ground-breaking digital map is dedicated to making the stories, lives and achievements of women and gender-diverse people more visible in public spaces. It includes important stories of First Nations women and recognises their contributions to our state and nation.

Finding Her was officially launched by The Hon. The Hon. Sonya Kilkenny - Victorian Minister of Transport and Planning.

Speakers included  The Hon. Natalie Hutchins - Victorian Minister of Women and Education,   Aunty Pam Pedersen daughter of Lady Gladys Nichols , Barbara and Darryl Burns - grand children of Margaret Tucker MBE and Julie Kun - Chair of Gender Equity Victoria.

The event was hosted by Her Place Chair - The Hon. Mary Delahunty g.a.i.c.d

Guests included women of honour, valued partners,  families and descendants, authors, researchers, advocates and organisations working together to Honour Victorian Women and gender diverse Stories.

Finding Her is a collaboration between Her Place Women’s Museum, Gender Equity Victoria, Just Gold and the Victorian Government’s Geographic Names Victoria. It has also been supported with dedicated funding and commitment to gender equity and commemorative justice by Geographic Names Victoria and the Victorian Government.

This work is part of a wider program #puthernameonit which aims to promote greater diversity and equity in place naming.

We invite you to scroll through some gorgeous moments from the Finding Her Launch captured by Damien Vincenzi

 

 

Left to Right – Barbara Burns, The Hon. Sonya Kilkenny, The Hon. Mary Delahunty G.A.I.C.D Her Place Chair

 

 

 

Date Sun 11 December 2022

 

As part of the 16 Days of Activism to end Violence Against Women and Children Her Place Women’s Museum  invited guests to join us to acknowledge, listen to and support survivors of violence and families of victims of violence.

Hosted by Jacinta Parsons – ABC Radio Melbourne Afternoon host and writer - Speakers included: Dans Bain – Activist and Artist of The Lost Petition, Sherele Moody – Award-winning journalist and Femicide researcher, survivors of gendered violence and families of those lost to gendered violence.

 

Guests at this event were also invited to view the powerful Lost Petition exhibition,  which comprises a 30-metre-list of the names of women and children lost to violence since 2008, the heartbreaking stories of women and children lost to violence;  audio interviews with family members of victims lost; and current Australian femicide and child death research examining how violence impacts women and children across our nation.

 

We also provided a respectful space to leave candles, letters and red hearts as tribute to those lost to violence.

 

 

 

 

June 22, 2022

This forum brought together an expert panel to learn about the journey to establish affirmative action, why it’s critical to achieving gender equality, and the difference between targets, quotas, and merit. 

Moderated by ELA CEO, Pamela Anderson with Tanja Kovac, CEO Gender Equity Victoria and former Executive Officer and National Convenor of EMILY’s List Australia, Candy Broad, Former Member of the Victorian Legislative Council, and Jenny Beacham, a former Labor state secretary and pioneer of ELA. 

 

Listen to the program here.

June 18, 2022

This forum explored what makes a good leader and the importance of women's voices at all decision-making tables. Moderated by ELA CEO, Pamela Anderson with ELA Founder Leonie Morgan AM, Hutch Hussein, a former ELA National Co-Convenor, and Claire Moore, a former Senator Australian for the Australian Labor Party.

Listen to the program here.

OPEN HOUSE Digital Program

23 July - 27 July

Focusing on the central theme, Reconnect, this year Open House Melbourne asked us to reconsider the way we will occupy our city and to envisage new ways of designing and adapting our buildings and infrastructure as we continue be grapple with the impact of COVID-19.

Dispatches from the Frontline: Geraldine Cook-Dafner

Her Place Women’s Museum Australia

Thursday 18 March 2021, 6pm

Dispatches from the Frontline is a performed reading by Geraldine Cook-Dafner of excerpts from the diary of Australian Sister Nan Reay, a Victorian World War 1 nurse who served on the “frontline”. These “dispatches” celebrate this nurse’s personal resilience, courage and persistence and are used to reference contemporary issues of care, duty, resilience and courage embodied daily by “front line workers” during the COVID pandemic

To watch the performance, view here

Curator’s Talk: Madonna Grehan 

Her Place Women’s Museum Australia

Saturday 13 March and May 8 2021

Through the Looking Glass is a lecture about using material culture to illustrate a realistic, nuanced, and diverse history while avoiding the nostalgia usually applied to nursing and midwifery’s past.

Dr Madonna Grehan is an independent historian. She worked as a general nurse and midwife before moving into women’s health research. She completed a PhD in nursing and midwifery history at the University of Melbourne.

Madonna is an interviewer for the National Library of Australia’s Oral History and Folklore Collection and immediate Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine.

 

To watch the lecture, view here

International Women’s Day #ChooseToChallenge: Women’s history beyond stereotypes

Public Records of Victoria

Friday 5 March 2021, 2pm 

The video is now live on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/lk8LBuPumzk

This year, the focus is on nursing and midwifery, an acknowledgement of the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife in 2020, delayed by COVID-19. Penelope Lee, Her Place Board Director and co-curator of Unmasked will be joined by curator Dr Madonna Grehan from The University of Melbourne, a nurse, midwife, and historian, and contributor Professor Odette Best from the University of Southern Queensland, a nurse and historian. They will discuss the surprising breadth and depth of this complex field of women’s history and work, reflected in the exhibition Unmasked: Celebrating nursing and midwifery in Victoria and beyond, and how new interpretations can challenge stereotypical narratives of history.

Associate Professor Odette Best BHlthSc Sydney, MPhil Griffith, PhD USQ, FAAN

Odette Best is a woman of the Wakun clan of the Gorreng Gorreng, Boonthamurra, and Yugameh Nation. She is Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Southern QLD. After training as a general nurse at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Odette undertook clinical practice, then policy work and later moved into academia. One of Odette’s main research areas is Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who completed recognised training in nursing and/or midwifery before 1950.

Dr Madonna Grehan is an independent historian. She worked as a general nurse and midwife before moving into women’s health research. She completed a PhD in nursing and midwifery history at the University of Melbourne.

Madonna is an interviewer for the National Library of Australia’s Oral History and Folklore Collection and immediate Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of the History of Medicine.

Penelope Lee (facilitator)

March 2020: International Women’s Day

Celebrating the Life of Mary De Garis 

Her Place partnered with Barwon Health to present a talk by historian, Dr Ruth Lee at St Mary’s Library and Research Centre, Geelong on the life and legacy of Geelong WW1 doctor, Dr Mary De Garis.

Mary’s story has been largely unknown until recently. As women were unable to enlist in the Australian armed forces as doctors when World War I broke out, Mary’s war service was not officially recognised. What Courage Such a Thing Takes: The Life of Mary De Garis was created in the hope that it would help to make her extraordinary life better known. Attended by over 70 people, the talk was met with great enthusiasm by Mary’s local community.

What Courage Such a Thing Takes: The Life of Mary De Garis talk was supported by the Victorian Government and the Victorian Veterans Council. 

Re-imagining the Women's Mural – a virtual tour

Another popular event celebrating IWD, 2020 was a panel discussion at the Public Record Office. Stronger Together: Museums, Archives and The Women's Mural featured Danielle Hakim and Sally Northfield from The Women's Mural Documentation Project (WMDP), Penelope Lee, Her Place, and Dr Nikki Henningham from the Australian Women's Archives Project, and discussed how organisations can work together to ensure women's voices are remembered and celebrated. It focused on the recent Local History Grant project undertaken by the WMDP and Her Place, Re-imagining the Women's Mural – a virtual tour.

The project was supported by the Victorian Government and the Public Records Office, Victoria

 

Re-imagining the Women's Mural – a virtual tour

On Wednesday 2nd October Iola Mathews and Mary Stuart conversation with Mary Delahunty took place at Clarendon Terrace as they discussed Iola's new book, Winning for Women and their important contributions to the working lives of women. Both Iola Mathews and Mary Stuart are passionate advocates for women and instrumental in bringing major reforms in areas such as affirmative action, equal pay, superannuation and childcare. Both have lots to say about the ongoing battles facing working women and the future of the union movement in Australia, as well as its role in improving the lives of women.

Presenters on the night were:

Iola Mathews is an author, co-founder of the Women’s Electoral Lobby, and a former journalist at The Age. Later she worked at the ACTU as an industrial officer and advocate, specialising in women’s employment, for which she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal. She was the advocate in the parental leave case and equal pay cases for child care workers and clerical workers. More recently, she established writers’ studios in the National Trust property ‘Glenfern’ in East St Kilda..

Mary Stuart is the Chairperson of Her Place Women's Museum Australia and Director and CEO of Luna Park Melbourne, a position she has held for 13 years. Mary is also a Director on a number of companies/bodies. She has worked in traditionally male dominated industries since the mid 1980’s including metalliferous mining, coal mining, building and construction, timber and pulp and paper industries. Mary has been involved in high profile national campaigns to establish superannuation as a right for all workers and matters relating to equal pay and gender equity issues for women in the workforce.

Mary Delahunty is a Gold Walkley Award winning journalist and presenter with ABC TV and commercial networks. She served for 7 years as a Victorian state government minister in senior portfolios and has seen the tensions from both sides. She is currently working as a consultant in government, media and the non-for profit sector where she heads numerous boards.

On Sunday 28 July, 2019 Her Place Women's Museum Australia threw open the doors of historic Clarendon Terrace to participate in Open House Melbourne. Visitors were invited to participate in a self-guided tour of the building and viewed an exhibition telling the stories of women from across Victoria who have made significant contributions to Australian society. We also had on display a small selection of Australian women’s pottery, as well as a display of interesting market research data about Australian women from the archives of Roy Morgan.

We had over 420 visitors through the building and we couldn't be happier with the money raised and the engagement of a very interested and enthusiastic public.  We'd also like to thank our outstanding volunteers who helped create such a joyful and happy event.

On Tuesday 30^th April, 2019, Her Place Women’s Museum Australia held a very special event to launch the video, What Courage Such a Thing Takes: the Life of Mary De Garis and an accompanying education resource. If you would like to view the video or download the education resource please go here:   https://herplacemuseum.com/biographies/mary-de-garis/ The event was the culmination of many months work and we were delighted that Minister for Veterans Affair the Hon Robin Scott, as well consultant historian, Dr Ruth Lee were there to help us launch the film. It was also a fabulous opportunity for an enthusiastic audience to visit our new home at Clarendon Terrace and be a part of this exciting project. What Courage Such a Thing Takes: The Life of Mary De Garis is supported by the Victorian Government and the Victorian Veterans Council.   

On Thursday 9 May, 2019, Dr Liz Rushen, Chair, History Council Victoria, an SLV Creative Fellow 2019 and former RHSV Director, gave a talk at Her Place about the pioneer women who comprised early Melbourne society.

When the heritage-listed architectural gem Clarendon Terrace was built in 1857, there were only nine other houses in Clarendon Street, 21,000 adult males in all of Melbourne, and 16,000 women.

This event was part of the 2019 National Heritage Festival. 

On Thursday 21 March 2019 Her Place Women’s Museum Australia opened the doors at our new home at Clarendon Terrace in East Melbourne for a special donor and partnerships evening. This was an opportunity for us to share our vision and aspirations for what Her Place Women’s Museum Australia can become.

We were delighted that both the Victorian Minister of Creative Industries, Martin Foley and the Victorian Minister for Women, Gabrielle Williams, attended, supporting the event, and thrilled that Minister Williams spoke so enthusiastically about Her Place and what it will mean to have a national museum for women located in Victoria.

We were also honoured that Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs, former President of the Human Rights Commission, in a passionate and inspiring address, spoke of the importance of a place to record the accomplishments of women. She reminded us that we stand on the shoulders of others who have challenged the role assigned to women and drew our attention to the fact that Australian women were slipping in all international indicators for gender parity. She spoke of the need for a federal legislated Charter of Rights and the importance of women standing up against inappropriate behaviour and challenging conventional ideas in order to achieve a fairer and more just society. You can read Professor Trigg’s speech in its entirety here: Gillian Triggs speech at CT 21 March 2019

Finally, we were thrilled that Chloe Shorten and Senator Hanson Young could attend and show their support as well.

If you would like to support Her Place and help it grow to become one of Australia’s pre-eminent cultural institution, please become a Friend of Her Place. 

LINK:  https://herplacemuseum.com/education/united-nations/

WHEN: Thursday 11 October, 2018, 2-4pm

WHERE: Melbourne Immigration Museum

Her Place hosted nearly 100 year 9 and 10 students from disadvantaged schools across Melbourne as they had a chance to represent 24 Countries at a UN Model General Assembly on International Day of the Girl. The UN Association ran an inspiring day and the Immigration Museum was a fabulous venue and home for the UN.

Girls worked in teams of four to research their country's stance on gender equity. A leader from each team then presented these views to the Model UN Assembly of Nations. Two presenters from Her Place Women's Museum Australia addressed the Assembly and outlined the United Nations binding conventions that guarantee human rights and prevent discrimination against women. Delegates were then challenged to decide how these rights sat alongside religion, tradition and customs.

The economic success of Rwanda was also presented to the delegates. Rwanda is a nation with a difficult past but its redevelopment has been based on the central tenet of gender equality and is one of the success stories of Africa, with growing prosperity and the highest number of female members of parliament in the world. Delegates were also shown that war and conflict disproportionately affect women and girls and were reminded of the importance of involving women in any peace process. If women are involved in the peace process, the likelihood of its success increases by 35% and can last 15 years longer if women are part of decisions about the future.

In the afternoon, countries caucused to move and amend Gender Equity Resolutions. Students were able to experience negotiation, lobbying and the use of power as they tried to prevail. Discussions were animated and strong - the energy in the room was inspirational. The Model United Nations Conference finished with countries voting on amended resolutions.

Her Place received sponsorship for the attendees from Ethical Investment Services, Victorian Women's Trust, the Women's Electoral Lobby, Sheila Byard OAM and Women in Super.

LINK: https://herplacemuseum.com/youth-space-for-her-place/

WHEN: Saturday 21 July, 2018, 2-4pm

WHERE: Melbourne Immigration Museum

Her Place: Honouring Indigenous Women This event was launched on the evening of 9 July 2018 - See LaTrobe event HERE

Professional Development Workshop

Monday 9 July 2018 @ La Trobe University, Shepparton Campus

This workshop was delivered by Briony O’Keeffe, Her Place Education Committee member, founder of the Fitzroy High School Feminist Collective and an international expert on curriculum designed to build gender equality in the classroom. It focussed on:

• Building a Feminist Collective at your school
• Respectful Relationships Education
• Integration of Gender Equity strategies into your classroom and curriculum

The workshop acknowledged the experience of Indigenous women and focussed on practical ideas that teachers can transfer and apply to their own schools. It aimed to provide local teachers with the skills to promote and implement gender equality initiatives within a whole school framework.  

Once Women Won the Vote / Warrnambool Art Gallery (WAG) / Saturday, 5 May 2018 to Sunday, 30 September 2018

Teachers' Professional Development

The Women’s Mural – Free Onsite Talk 

(Sunday 22 April 2018, 11am at the Women’s Mural, Fitzroy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2016 one of Australia's most significant feminist murals was defaced. The Women's Mural: Bomboniere to Barbed Wire, in Smith Street, Fitzroy, was painted in 1986 by Megan Evans and Eve Glenn. Measuring 50m x 12m, it celebrates the diversity of women living and working in the communities of Northcote and Preston. Its 'capping' (covering over) by notorious graffiti tagger Nost in February 2016 roused community action, emphasising the need to preserve the history of women's voices and stories in the public realm.

In this free onsite talk, co-artist Eve Glenn with Sally Northfield and the Women’s Mural Documentation Project team discussed the origins, ideas and impact of the Women’s Mural and stories of some of the women depicted.

This talk was presented as a collaboration between the Women’s Mural Documentation Project and Her Place Women’s Museum Australia as part of the Australian Heritage Festival.

 

Find out more about:

The Women's Mural Documentation Project 

The Australian Heritage Festival

• Free Public Discussion – The Round Table: Do we need a Women’s Museum?

  (4 March 2018, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art)

During the ACCA's major exhibition on feminist art practice, Unfinished Business: Perspectives on art and feminism, various artists, educators and groups were invited to host events at a specially constructed ‘Round Table’ positioned at the heart of the exhibition. The table played on the idea of the kitchen table as ‘a place around which women, artists and activists gather to discuss, debate, create, form allegiances and plan for a more equal future’.

In the lead-up to International Women’s Day 2018, Her Place hosted a Round Table discussion asking: Do we need a Women’s Museum?

The conversation was convened by Her Place manager Penelope Lee and curator Clare Williamson, and the speakers included Stella Bridie, Dr Natalie Kon-yu and Kate MacNeill.

• Free Public Event – Everyday Documents and Australian Women’s History: a discussion about the challenges of collecting and why archives matter 

  (9 November 2017, Melbourne Museum)

Members of the team working on the Invisible Farmer Project, the biggest national study of Australian women on the land, alongside other research and archive experts discussing how and why collecting, documenting, digitising, cataloguing, curating and exhibiting women's archives and stories are important. Audience members were invited to bring along their own stories, documents, images and objects that pay tribute to the extraordinary women of the land in their lives.

Helen Morgan, Her Place Deputy Chair, Archivist and Research Fellow at the eScholarship Research Centre, University of Melbourne, lead a discussion with Museums Victoria’s Invisible Farmer Curator, Catherine Forge; University of Melbourne Researcher and Executive Officer of the Australian Women's Archives Project, Dr Nikki Henningham; Ashley Robertson, Manager, Victorian Collections, Museums Australia (Victoria) and Ellie Wallace, postgraduate student who has conducted research into the distributed archival collection of Australian Women in Agriculture.

• Women's Histories and Archives: Why They Matter

A discussion on current initiatives around collecting, preserving and sharing of women's contributions and records, and the value of doing this for the wider community. Heather Mutimer and Cr Kate Redwood AM told the story behind the Heather Mutimer Women's Honour Roll and its importance to women and the local Hepburn Shire community. Helen Morgan, of the Australian Women's Archives Project and the Australian Women's Register, articulated the case for keeping women's records and why she became involved with Her Place Women's Museum Australia initiative.

• Local Stories, Remarkable Women

Anne E. Stewart shared stories that celebrate the strength, courage and contribution of women from the region, tales of our extraordinary women and their deeds. Anne is a Daylesford-based, intentionally renowned storyteller with the passion, energy and voice to engage any audience. For forty years she has been telling stories and developing a repertoire that celebrates women through story as well as the shared narratives of Australia that honour Indigenous, Celtic, Asian and world stories.

• New Histories of Australian Rural and Regional Women: The Australian Women’s Register and the Invisible Farmer Project Workshop

The Invisible Farmer Project is the largest ever study of Australian women on the land. Funded for three years (2017-2019), the project involves a nation-wide partnership between rural communities, academics, government and cultural organisations. Feedback about the amazing women, past and present, who have made a difference to their communities is vital to the success of the project. You can find out more about the project here: www.invisiblefarmer.net.au.

This workshop aimed to reveal the ‘hidden histories’ and write tributes to women who should be recognised. Participants shared stories and gave public recognition to the extraordinary, creative and vital roles that women have played in agriculture and farm communities across Australia. Participants also gave the project team the opportunity to potentially profile women’s stories via future research and in-depth studies.

• Women’s Network and Victorian Honour Roll of Women Event

The Victorian Honour Roll of Women aligns closely with the vision of Her Place Women’s Museum. Established in 2001, the Honour Roll pays tribute to women who have been pioneers in their fields and who have improved the lives of women and the broader Victorian community.

This event aimed to link in and engage with local women’s organisations and individual women in order to discuss the plans for a vibrant physical space and online resource that will educate audiences and celebrate women’s valuable and distinctive contributions, past, present and future.

• Everyday Documents and Australian Women’s History: Why Archives Matter

A panel discussion about the role of serendipity, family stories and fragments of paper in the writing of history, including so-called ‘big picture’ academic history. Panellists included Dr Rosemary Francis and Helen Morgan, and was convened by Dr Nikki Henningham, Research Fellow – Australian Women’s Archives Project.

• In-conversation with Women in the West

An informal lunchtime conversation with the women featured in the exhibition including Halima Mohamed, Paola Balla and Ruth Crow researcher Claire Collie.

• Loving Feminist Literature: Decolonising Feminism, Building Solidarity

A night of live readings of bold and irresistible feminist texts by a selection of diverse feminist educators, students and practitioners, including Clare Land, who read from her book ‘Decolonizing Solidarity’.

• Her Place: Women in the West – Walking Tour

A guided walk through Footscray focusing on the lives of women who have made a difference and contributed to the West. Through spoken word and recounted experiences, walkers heard stories about women of tenacity – leaders, advocates, storytellers and speakers of injustices. Produced by Chantal Wynter.

• Building Feminist Communities

This event brought together academics, activist groups and philanthropic organisations to showcase their work and share their aspirations for 2017. Feminists across all sectors had the opportunity to get together, meet others and build partnerships. Hosted by the Victoria University Feminist Research Network, a community of feminist scholars from Victoria University in conjunction with Her Place.

Date Sun 11 December 2022

 

As part of the 16 Days of Activism to end Violence Against Women and Children Her Place Women’s Museum  invited guests to join us to acknowledge, listen to and support survivors of violence and families of victims of violence.

Hosted by Jacinta Parsons – ABC Radio Melbourne Afternoon host and writer - Speakers included: Dans Bain – Activist and Artist of The Lost Petition, Sherele Moody – Award-winning journalist and Femicide researcher, survivors of gendered violence and families of those lost to gendered violence.

 

Guests at this event were also invited to view the powerful Lost Petition exhibition,  which comprises a 30-metre-list of the names of women and children lost to violence since 2008, the heartbreaking stories of women and children lost to violence;  audio interviews with family members of victims lost; and current Australian femicide and child death research examining how violence impacts women and children across our nation.

 

We also provided a respectful space to leave candles, letters and red hearts as tribute to those lost to violence.

 

 

 

 

OPEN HOUSE Digital Program

23 July - 27 July

Focusing on the central theme, Reconnect, this year Open House Melbourne asked us to reconsider the way we will occupy our city and to envisage new ways of designing and adapting our buildings and infrastructure as we continue be grapple with the impact of COVID-19.