The ACT Ministerial Advisory Council on Women provides strategic advice to the ACT Government on issues affecting women in the ACT. It also provides a link between the Minister for Women and women in the ACT community.
The work of the Council reflects the six objectives of the ACT Women's Plan. Through consultation with women, women's groups and community organisations in the ACT, the Council monitors progress of achievements towards the objectives of the Plan.
The Council welcomes input on issues affecting women and girls in the ACT Community.
Membership
Terms of Reference
2009 Meeting Schedule
Current Focus Areas
Publications
Media Releases
Contact
On 1 July 2008, the Minister for Women appointed a new 14 member Advisory Council on Women. The new Council brings together women with a diversity of experience and expertise to assist the Government develop and implement policies that are relevant to women in the ACT.
The Council represents a wide range of women's views and is a valuable link between ACT women and the ACT Government.
Veronica Wensing Chair
Louise Taylor Deputy Chair
Dianne Collins (representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women)
Sally D'Souza (representing women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds)
Katie Firster
Coral Fleming
Margaret Gillespie
Gwendolyn Gray
Kiki Korpinen
Lyndal Ryan
Melanie Stutsel
Manja Visschedijk
Veronica Wensing Chair Veronica is currently the Executive Officer at the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. She has a long history of working in community organisations such as ACTCOSS, Toora Women Inc, Beryl Women Inc, Lowana Young Women's Service and WESNET - the national peak body for services working with domestic and family violence. Veronica was a founding member of the Women's History Month Steering Committee, which promotes the role of Australian women in history.
She is currently a Board member of the National Association of Services against Sexual Violence. She has a strong commitment to the advancement of women and is a skilled and articulate advocate in raising issues facing disadvantaged members of our community and understanding issues experienced by community organisations.
Louise Taylor Deputy ChairLouise Taylor has a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Australian National University. Louise has worked primarily as a criminal lawyer in the ACT. During a significant portion of her 7 years with the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Louise performed the role of specialist Family Violence Prosecutor. Louise currently works for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions as a Principal Legal Officer.
Louise is a long time member of the Management Committee of the ACT Women’s Legal Centre and a member of the ACT Domestic Violence Prevention Council. Louise is also on the editorial board of the Indigenous Law Bulletin. Louise has a strong interest in access to justice for women, particularly for Indigenous and other marginalised women.
Dianne CollinsDianne Collins, originally from Condobolin, NSW has lived in Canberra for some 20 years. Dianne has been a member of several committees in the ACT Indigenous Community including ACT NAIDOC, Student Reconciliation Day, whISPers softball club, Indigenous Education Consultative Board and various other sporting teams. A highlight of Dianne's career was in 2006 when she won "Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Person of the Year" from ACT NAIDOC.
Dianne has recently been elected to the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, a three year term. Her connection and involvement in the ACT Indigenous Community is strong and she believes that the elected body appointment is a testament to her work and the respect she has from the ACT Indigenous Community.
Sally D'SouzaSally has always been passionate about her community and has been actively contributing to the local community since the age of thirteen. Currently, she acts an Adviser in Matters Relating in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) Women, in which she represents CaLD communities on the Ministerial Council for Women (MACW), the ACT Domestic Violence Preventative Council (DVCP) and is a community representative for the ACT Nursing and Midwifery Board. Sally was the national Secretary for the newly formed Network of Immigrant and Refugee Women Association (NIRWA) and a former President of the Multicultural Women’s Advocacy, a peak body representing CaLD women in the ACT. She is also the editor to CaLD Women Community News, a weekly e-Bulletin of over 100-pages that informs CaLD women in and around Canberra of events, resources, opportunities and jobs that relates to them.
Professionally, Sally is a creative arts & media consultant who has advised, facilitated, and assisted in creative arts events and multi-media projects and productions from independent artists, companies to government bodies in Sydney, Canberra and in Melbourne since 2001. Over the years, she has curated exhibitions, edited publications, and managed performances, launches, events and festivals. She has also produced television and audio productions, short films, commercials, music albums as well as working in new media, which includes interactive creative story and digital art storytelling. She has worked as a Curator for Artary Project Space, Senior Writer/Producer at WIN Television, Sub-editor for Multicultural Arts Victoria and Arts Writer for the Canberra Times. She is a reviewer for ArtsHub, the peak national website for creative and arts industries and the editor to her own weekly e-bulletin, Arts in the Media. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing and Graduate Diploma in Community Cultural Development.
Sally is passionate about community-based and cross-cultural creative performances that challenges and inspires its audience. Her most memorable career highlight was the production of a spoken word and music compilation of women whose lives have been affected by domestic violence, Healing Voices.
Katie FirsterKatie was born in Brisbane, and has lived in Canberra since 2000. She loves the Canberra community, although she and her partner Dean go back to Brisbane to visit her two favourite nephews, Oscar and Joseph, whenever they can.
Katie is the current chair of the Domestic Violence Prevention Council in the ACT. She has been a member of the management committee of the ACT Women's Legal Centre for eight years, serving as convenor, deputy convenor and secretary. more
She was a member of Rotary International for over ten years, serving as Club President and being awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Rotary Club of Canberra Sunrise. She's member of Amnesty International and the ACT Women Lawyer's Association and supports the Women's International Development Agency.
Katie currently works for the Australian Federal Police, providing legal advice to police officers. She has been practicing in the criminal law since 1995, spending most of this time working for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. Katie holds a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours). She also has a Master of Laws, focussing in the areas of criminology and feminist legal theory. She is a fellow of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship Leadership in Ethics Programme, run by the St James Ethics Centre in Sydney.
Coral FlemingA graduate in medical science from the University of Queensland in 1957 Coral has worked as a research biochemist, a secondary mathematics teacher and a distance education specialist before retiring from the workforce in 1987.
She became involved with voluntary women's organisations after joining the Pan Pacific and SE Asia Women's Association (PPSEAWA) in the ACT in 1988 and has represented Australia at four different International PPSEAWA Conferences since then. She was President of the ACT group from 1998-2000, a Vice-President of PPSEAWA (AUST) from 2001 to 2007 and is currently National President. She represents PPSEAWA on the Australian Women's Coalition, one of the four national women's secretariats.
She holds officer positions in other groups such as the National Council of Women of the ACT and UNIFEM (AUST).and has worked on the Canberra International Women's Day Breakfast Committee for ten years, fundraising for several overseas and national women's development projects. She is an Honorary Life Member of both the National Council of Women of the ACT and PPSEAWA (ACT).
Her special interests are healthy ageing, gender equality, women's participation in leadership roles particularly in peace building and improving the social and economic status of women in all countries.
Coral spent six years living in SE Asia before taking up a teaching career in Melbourne when her children had all started school and balanced her teaching career with raising five children during the 1970's in Canberra. She enjoys travel, walking, working out at the gym, movies, art, music, spending time with her husband Bill and family, taking an active part in St. John's Anglican community in Canberra, meeting with friends, and keeping up with her 11 grandchildren (aged between 8 and 23 years) all living in Canberra.
Margaret GillespieMs Gillespie is currently a trustee of the ARIA Superannuation Board which covers current and retired ACT and Commonwealth public sector workers. Ms Gillespie is a former Assistant National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) where she headed the union's Legal and Technical Unit and was responsible for the development of women's policy issues, the development of wage and conditions claims and heading a team of industrial advocates.
She also has extensive experience in parliamentary lobbying, submission writing and appearing before Parliamentary Committees. Margaret served two terms as a Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (2003-2007).
Gwendolyn GrayGwendolyn Gray has a PhD in political science and public policy from the Australian National University, where she is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Political Science. She has taught, researched and written on Australian and international health and welfare policies, with a special focus on the way policies affect women, for the last 25 years. She also researches and writes on federal systems of government.
Her publications include "Federalism and Health Policy", University of Toronto Press, 1991, a comparative study health policy development in Canada and Australia, and "The Politics of Medicare", University of New South Wales Press, 2004. She is currently working on a book chapter comparing the women's health movements in Australia and Canada and a book on the development and decline of the Australian National Women's Health Policy.
Articles in progress include the place of ethical values in health policy and problems with theories of federalism. Her most recent article is "Women, Federalism and Women Friendly Policies", published in the Australian Journal of Public Administration, volume 65, number 1, 2006.
She is an executive member of Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT and of Sexual Health and Family Planning Australia, a former Convenor of the Australian Women's Health Network and currently, Deputy Convener and a long-time member of the Women's Electoral Lobby.
Kiki KorpinenKirsi (Kiki) Korpinen has worked in the ACT Women's Sector for over 10 years, and has held a number of positions - both management and direct service delivery, in services focusing primarily on issues impacting on marginalised and disadvantaged women. Kiki has an in depth understanding of social determinants of women's health and issues impacting on ACT women. She has successfully expanded service provision and organisations to build capacity to better meet the needs of ACT women.
Kiki is currently employed by the Women's Centre for Health Matters Inc in the position of Executive Director. She is committed to working within a model of empowerment, and her work over the years has significantly impacted on and created opportunities for women in the ACT to make positive life changes. She is an advocate for social justice and is passionate and committed to women's health and wellbeing.
Kiki is an active community sector member and sits on a range of community and government committees, reference groups and networks. She is continuously keeping gender on the agenda and bringing forward voices of women to inform policy and legislation makers, with the aim to improve health and wellbeing issues of ACT women.
Kiki has a Grad Dip in Social Science from the University of Western Sydney and is currently completing a MBA at the University of Canberra.
Lyndal RyanLyndal Ryan is the ACT Branch Secretary of the LHMU. Lyndal has spent the past 20 years working with women, particularly migrant women, to improve conditions for workers in the areas covered by her union. Lyndal is a part of the national leadership team of her union and has held a number of leadership roles within the LHMU and broader union movement.
The LHMU covers many of the low paid service workers who work in Canberra's private sector. Lyndal has worked with her members to achieve an industrial award for family day care workers and portability of long service leave for the cleaning industry.
"I learnt about women's issues through my involvement with my Union and I believe Union's play an important role in providing workers with information and an opportunities to build collective power. My values are my Unions values - Fairness, Compassion and Equity."
Melanie StutselIn her role as Director - Environmental and Social Policy at the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), Melanie is responsible for the provision of policy and scientific advice on issues relating to the environmental and social management of the Australian minerals industry's operations both domestically and overseas.
In her role at the MCA, Melanie has been responsible for the establishment of a national program on Women and Mining. Focusing on the identification and implementation of strategies to address the structural and cultural impediments to women working in the minerals industry and engaging with its operations, the overall objective is to develop an industry agenda to substantially improve, over five years, the engagement of women in the minerals industry and the communities in which the industry operates.
Melanie has also progressed these activities internally within the MCA through the development of a paid maternity leave scheme for employees.
With qualifications in resource management and environmental science, Melanie worked as Senior Adviser - Environment and Heritage to the Federal Opposition, prior to joining the Minerals Council of Australia in April 2000. Melanie has also sat on the Board for the Australian Centre for Mining Environmental Research, is a member of the program advisory committee of the University of Queensland Graduate program on social competencies in the minerals industry, and represents the Minerals Council of Australia in a broad range of fora including technical working groups, government advisory groups and various task forces of the International Council on Mining and Metals.
"My particular areas of interest are countering the barriers and stereotypes of women working in non-traditional industries, and the gendered impacts of public policy. Balancing work and family issues is another area in which I am passionate, and with a small child and a hectic work life, is also a personal challenge".
Manja VisschedijkManja Visschedijk has worked in youth, women's and community services since 1977. Her roles and responsibilities have spanned those of direct service work through to senior management. Her commitment to the advancement of women has been a constant theme throughout her paid work history, in her membership of a range of committees, as well as in her family roles.
This history is both a reflection of, and a continuing inspiration for, a strong commitment to continue raising awareness within the broader community of the enormous value of women's contribution to the economic, social, and emotional wellbeing of our community, and to endeavour to ensure that this work is valued, both financially and socially, as well as more formally in public forums.
Her current role as Director of Community Services with the YWCA of Canberra provides her with oversight of Community Development, Youth, Housing and Family Support services, enabling her to stay in touch with current and emerging issues for women in the ACT, such as: Homelessness; Affordable housing; Affordable, accessible and quality childcare; Paid parental leave; Carers issues; Stopping violence against women; Women and Family court issues; Women and prisons issues; Health and Mental health issues. Manja was awarded an ACT government Women's Award in March 2008 in recognition of her efforts in making a difference for women in the ACT.
ACT Ministerial Advisory Council on Women - Terms of Reference
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Wednesday 9 June 2010
Wednesday 4 August 2010
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Wednesday 8 December 2010
The Council is keen to ensure that it maintains its strengths and is able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
An Action Plan for 2008 - 2009 has been developed with the key theme being to settle the Council into its role and to place it in a position to be an effective advocate for the women of the ACT community.
To this end the actions planned for 2008 - 2009 are (not in order of priority):
MACW - Key acheivements for 2008-09 
RTF 77kb | 
PDF 23kb
MACW - 2009-10 Budget Submission RTF 105kb | PDF 138kb
MACW - Submission to the Women's Plan (November 2009) RTF 248kb | PDF 314kb
On 30 August 2006, as part of the Government's commitment to ongoing consultation with women, the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women hosted the inaugural ACT Women's Summit.
The Summit was a roundtable meeting of twenty-five representatives from ACT community organisations and ACT Government agencies aimed at providing input into the Government's agenda and future policy directions for women in the ACT.
MACW Roundtable ACT Women's Health and Wellbeing Report PDF 156kb | 
Word 842kb
August 2006 ACT Women's Summit paper PDF 162kb | Word 109kb
Affordable Housing for Women 4 April 2007 PDF 79kb | Word 773kb
Preventing Violence against Women 7 February 2007 PDF 80kb | 67kb
November 2008
Have your say on paid parental leave
February 2007
Round Table on Violence against Women in the ACT
Secretariat
ACT Ministerial Advisory Council on Women
C/- ACT Office for Women
GPO Box 158
Canberra ACT 2601
Phone: 02 6207 2552
Email: women@act.gov.au
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Last Modified: 5 March, 2010
