We know women face unique challenges when holding the position of elected official, including sexual harassment and gender-based backlash on the campaign trail.

The Local Women Leading Change Handbook is an historic, innovative resource for women Councillors. The Victorian Local Governance Association (the VLGA) first developed this Handbook four years ago, to support women Councillors throughout their term. We are thrilled to relaunch the Handbook in 2024.

The VLGA’s Handbook guides women through the process of local government elections and builds their knowledge and skills, setting women up to truly succeed as elected representatives. We know women come back to the Handbook again and again over their term, so we are excited to announce the support of Gender Lens Australia in reviewing and updating our content for 2024. We have updated the content and case studies, to encapsulate the experiences of women Councillors and provide practical, real-world examples and solutions to common challenges. 

Joining us to celebrate the launch is an elite panel of women to discuss their knowledge and experiences, hosted by MC Tanja Kovac from Gender Lens Australia, including:

• Dr Niki Vincent, Commissioner, Commission for Gender Equality in the Public Sector
• Dr Meredith Martin, National Co-Convenor, Pathway to Politics for Women, University of Melbourne
• Emily Maguire, Family violence, violence against women and gender equality specialist
• Cr Tina Samardzija, City of Monash 
• Cr Li Zhang, Glen Eira City Council
• Cr Sahana Ramesh, Wyndham City Council 

This Handbook is representative of the VLGA’s deep commitment to achieving gender equality across Victorian councils. We know 1000 women need to stand for election this October, if we are to achieve the Victorian governments’ goal of gender parity by 2025.

Join us on Friday 19th July from 2:30pm - 4:30pm at the Richmond Town Hall as we come together to celebrate the genuine, empowered participation of women in local democracy.