Mayor's message

By Bass Coast Shire Council Deputy Mayor Cr Rochelle Halstead

We all need to regularly find new sources of inspiration and last Friday, 4 August, I certainly found mine.

We are fortunate to have in our Bass Coast community so many fine people doing brave and courageous work – and that was on full display at the Go Girls South Gippsland Celebratory Graduation.

The Go Girls Foundation is all about empowerment of women, including helping women who are unemployed to gain employment, and helping women who have experienced domestic violence to move towards independence, or migrant women who have faced social isolation to engage in their community, as well as women in the workplace to take on leadership roles.

It is the dream of the Foundation to honour women, celebrate women and connect women to each other and their communities. 

They want to encourage women and girls of all ages to chase their dreams and achieve their full potential.

I had the privilege of meeting the 11 women graduating from the Go Girls Foundation program and I have no doubt they are all future leaders and their positive force for change will have a ripple effect to children, families and the community.

Empowering women in our local communities is paramount and aligns with the work we do in Bass Coast.

Traditionally, regional areas in Australia do not fare that well in terms of gender equality. We recognise that and in Bass Coast we are striving to nurture a continued community pride and driving positive change for women.

Women are also under-represented at local government level which is why Council supports programs such as Women Leading Locally, to share insights and experiences and discuss the benefits of having more women on Council.

Progress is being made: Councillors now have a compulsory induction program and access to organisations such as the Victorian Local Government Association and the Municipal Association of Victoria who are helpful. 

We also have Women Leading Locally Fellowships, an initiative of the Victorian Government delivered by the Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA) in partnership with Women for Election. 

But we still have a great deal more work to do to assist women in leadership.  To provide an even playing field, we are still fighting for equal pay, conditions and opportunities.

As women we can often question ourselves and what we could possibly have to contribute but I’m here to tell you, we have so much to offer and its chasing those dreams that keep us at our best.