OVERVIEW
Wiyi Yani U Thangani—meaning women’s voices in Bunuba language—is a multiyear systemic change project set out to capture and respond to the strengths, aspirations and challenges of First Nations women and girls.
The vision is for First Nations gender justice and equality in Australia. We elevate the voices of First Nations women and girls, knowing that they hold the solutions to drive transformative change.
Change Agenda and First Nations Gender Justice Institute
Australia currently does not have a nationally consistent approach to responding to First Nations women, girls and gender-diverse mob, nor have national mechanisms to strategically invest in our initiatives to achieve the many dimensions of First Nations gender justice and equality.
Together we are changing this by developing the Change Agenda (formerly named the Framework for Action for First Nations Gender Justice and Equality) and First Nations Gender Justice Institute, housed at the Australian National University, to ensure there is a platform and approach for First Nations Gender Justice in Australia.
Ensuring that this work continues to be informed and driven by First Nations women, girls and gender-diverse mob, we are listening to your voices to ensure data, measurement and evaluation approaches used in and alongside the Agenda and Institute reflect your values, needs and priorities.
Summit
The Wiyi Yani U Thangani National Summit, held between 8-11 May 2023 was the first of its kind in Australia to bring First Nations women together (cis, trans women, and non-binary and gender diverse people) into an arena of decision-making with a diverse range of private and public stakeholders.
Alongside keynotes and showcases, the Summit was a space for women to raise their collective voice and put forward the significant structural reforms needed to recognise their unique rights and interests. These are reflected in the Summit Communique and Youth Statement.
First Nations women are calling for the development of a Framework for Action and the establishment of a First Nations Gender Justice Institute.
Read more about the SummitRead the Communique Read the Youth Statement
Resources
Women's Voices
Women are the social fabric of communities and the glue that holds everything together.
My true strength is my identity, where I’m from and whatever I use from my culture to keep me strong.
We [Australia] don’t own our history—Other colonised countries who have experienced genocide have had Truth Telling Commissions ... we want the truth told so you can understand ... We have a lot of healing to do as well ... if you’re faced with day to day struggle, you can’t heal— it needs to be collective healing.
What keeps me strong is my grandmothers—they didn’t have the power to have a voice and I am bloody determined to make sure my girls have a voice.
What makes me strong is six generations of strong women that taught us about country.
We put women and families at the centre and we talked about all those things you’ve already shared because if the women disappear from that centre— once you remove her, that mother, grandmother, the family structure starts to crumble.
Our identity is everything. Culture is everything. Our relationships with others, who are our elders, are everything, totems, Island dancing, traditional sacred dancing. Respect everyone where they live. Our law— no trespassing and obeying Laws. Family gathering and feasting together, sharing one another, helping each other in different times. When someone passes away, we help them grieve and get them together. Land and sea provides us with food, shelter and clothing.
Systems all exist within the Western framework. [We] fight for justice for our people within this system ... We have great political advocates for social justice, but our issues are continuously framed within the Western framework.
here is strength when we [women] get together, because we all feed off each other. We know that this is the times when ideas happen. When we go ‘yes! This is the solutions. This is how we can enact it.’ We want to see, you know, it promotes strength. It promotes healing, it promotes self-determination, it builds our self-esteem. It’s about solution driven, it’s empowering, it’s about cultural education and celebrating who we are.
