Defence

Feature

Women winning the day in 2006

Green, white and violet, represented at the event by silk gerberas, are the colours of International Women's Day.
Photo by Kevin Piggott

On 8 March 2006, International Women's Day was recognised and celebrated in many different ways all over the world. Defence contributed to the celebration in its own unique way by hosting an official event and lunch at Russell Offices in Canberra. Katharina Chase reports ...

White flowers and the colours green, white and violet are symbols of International Women's Day. The colours specifically represent the 'give women the vote' sentiment, which was reflected at the recent Defence event by handing out silk gerberas to each of the attendees.

Di Harris, Acting Director-General of the new Fairness and Resolution Branch, welcomed attendees to the event and spoke about Defence's role in celebrating International Women's Day and recognising the input of women to Defence.

Ms Di Harris, Acting Director-General Fairness and Resolution Branch; Mr Ric Smith, Secretary of Defence; Ms Audrey Fagan, ACT Chief Police Officer; and Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, Vice Chief of the Defence Force.
Photo by Kevin Piggott

The day was formally recognised by the Secretary of Defence, Ric Smith. The Secretary spoke briefly about why he believes the day to be of great significance, and, as an aside, noted that he has no problems remembering the day because it just happens to coincide with his birthday!

International Women's Day has its origins in the days of the suffragettes. From 1911, a day was observed in a growing number of countries in Europe, with women—and men—joining forces demanding women's right to vote, to work, to hold public office, and to be free of discrimination at work. In 1917, with two million Russian soldiers dead in World War I, Russian women in St Petersburg marked International Women's Day by striking for "bread and peace". The date of this important event—8 March on the Gregorian calendar—subsequently became International Women's Day. Formal recognition of the day came in 1977, when the United Nations proclaimed a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace.

International Women's Day is now seen universally as a day that connects all women around the world and inspires them to reach their full potential. It's also about recognising the achievements of women and being reminded of the progress they've made in gaining equality. It must be acknowledged that men and women are inherently different; however, women should have an awareness of their ability to achieve and know that their rights are equal to those of men.

Participants at the International Women's Day event.
Photo by Kevin Piggott

Guest speaker at the event was Ms Audrey Fagan, ACT Chief Police Officer. Ms Fagan gave a most entertaining and inspirational speech, focusing on her career and the great achievement of rising to the position of ACT Chief Police Officer in a sphere traditionally dominated by men.

Ms Fagan, who has been head of ACT Policing since July 2005, joined the police force at the age of 18, when the average age of new recruits was 20. Her early experiences as a young officer were marked by confronting various barriers that existed for women in the field at the time. In the early 1980s, female police officers were forced to wear ill-fitting women's uniforms, which prevented them from being able to join both hands outstretched in front, as is required when operating a firearm. Instead of the standard equipment belt worn by all police officers, women carried a "handbag", containing firearm, radio and other necessary tools of the trade. Once called "lady policemen", Ms Fagan and many other women like her regularly faced these types of small but significant inequities. The police force has come a long way since then. In 1981, less than 10 per cent of the police force consisted of women. Now, there is a 30 per cent representation of women in the ACT police force.

The message of the day from Ms Fagan was: find a role model, a mentor, someone to look to for inspiration, and strive to reach your goals. Recognise your success and celebrate what is important to you.

Being traditionally male-dominated, Defence has a long way to go in terms of achieving equal representation of women in the organisation. In this month's issue of Defence magazine, the Secretary's column, Wordsmith, highlights some of the inequities in terms of female representation in Defence.

Defence's International Women's Day event was a tremendous success, coordinated by the new Fairness and Resolution Branch.

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