Stage 2 of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project
Responsible government
- Commonwealth
Fourth Action Plan actions
- Primary prevention is key
- 4 Address intergenerational trauma for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through primary prevention, including holistic healing strategies, and by strengthening connections to culture, language, knowledge and identity.
- Support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children
- 6 Value and engage the expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and men, communities and organisations to lead in the creation and implementation of community-led solutions to build and manage change.
- 9 Address both the immediate impacts and deep underlying drivers of family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through collective action with governments, service providers and communities.
What are we doing?
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Project has engaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls across the country through a strength-based consultation process to better understand the issues that have the potential to effect positive change in their personal security, socioeconomic security and cultural security.
The Commonwealth Government in partnership with the Australian Human Rights Commission commenced Stage One of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project in 2017, led by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Ms June Oscar AO (the Commissioner).
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report was tabled in the Australian Parliament on 9 December 2020 and marked the successful completion of Stage One.
Under the Fourth Action Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022, the Australian Government committed $1.7 million to Stage Two of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project which aims to develop additional tools and resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls to utilise in order to support them, and their efforts to drive local change.
What have we achieved so far?
Throughout 2018, the Commissioner led and completed a national consultation process with around 2,300 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls across 50 communities throughout Australia. The consultations explored all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls experiences, including their strengths, challenges and aspirations for the future.
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report was tabled on 9 December 2020 and marked the successful completion of Stage One. The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report delivered seven (7) Overarching Recommendations for Government consideration that identify actions for change across a wide range of topics including the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the child protection and justice systems, and potential opportunities for improvement in the housing, education and employment sectors.
Stage Two of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Project builds on the success of the national consultations held in Stage One in order to further empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls. This has included:
- building on Stage One’s national consultations to improve partnerships between communities, organisations and government;
- wide and accessible dissemination of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report, including translation in to a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and plain English;
- the production of addition resources that will build the capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls to use the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Report and its counterpart document The Community Guide as a tool to drive change in their own communities; and
- the development of additional dialogues papers with a focus on; culture and knowledge systems; healing and inter-generational trauma; and empowering women’s leadership on the ground; that will inform a implementation strategy to enhance community place-based development, decision-making and leadership.
What is next?
- The NIAA is continuing its support to the Commissioner to deliver Stage Two of the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) project.
- The Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP, is leading the Australian Government response.
What difference will we make?
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices) Project builds on the 1986 Women’s Business Report, and reflects the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls over the last 35 years, with the key objectives to:
- Capture the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls with respect to their cultural, socioeconomic and personal security, their key priorities, and the principles that they believe would contribute to long-lasting change.
- Elevate the voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls through a human-rights-based process which is accessible and relevant to their lived reality, and contributes to their empowerment.
- Provide credible evidence and set out clear guidance for governments to improve their capacity to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls as active citizens and positive change makers, and the best-practice considerations that need to be established throughout government policies and programs.