Sharing ideas with other women

By Siobhan Callan

Federation Women's Conference will be held during term 1 on Saturday March 29.

The theme for Women's Conference 2008 will be "Getting Real" and the day will focus on women teacher unionists "getting real" in activism, on professional issues, on workload, on body image and issues for female students as well as on campaigns of importance for women. The invited speakers for 2008 include Catharine Lumby, who is the University of NSW Journalism and Media Professor at the Centre for Social Research in Journalism and Communications.

Each year the Conference focuses on industrial as well as professional issues of relevance to women members of the union.

Conference workshops will provide an opportunity for women members to contribute to the development of Federation policies as well as gain skills and advice on a range of professional and workplace issues including:

• work/life balance
• leave and working conditions
• young women and body image
• casual and temporary teachers
• sex-based harassment
• dignity and respect in the workplace
• campaigning and the use of technology
• bargaining for NSW women workers.

The Conference will be held in the Federation auditorium in Surry Hills, Sydney. About 300 women Federation members usually attend the Conference from across NSW. These members include women teachers from public primary and secondary schools as well as women teachers from TAFE colleges, AMES and Corrective Services.

The conference always provides an enjoyable and stimulating means of supporting and sharing ideas with other women teacher activists and all financial women Federation members are encouraged to attend.

There is no registration fee for the conference. Federation funds the cost of travel and accommodation for one delegate from each country association. Local associations usually also elect to fund further delegates from their own association funds. City associations will often also make a contribution towards the incidental costs of women delegates attending the Conference. Women are encouraged to contact their Association Secretary or Federation Organiser for further information about funding available to attend the Conference.

Federation also funds five women Aboriginal delegates from rural areas and five country delegates from TAFE. Aboriginal women members may wish to contact Charline Emzin-Boyd, Aboriginal Education Coordinator on (02) 9217 2100 for further details, and TAFE women members are welcome to contact Linda Simon, TAFE TA Secretary on (02) 9217 2311.

Registrations close on March 14 for country delegates and registrations for city delegates close in the week before the Conference. All women members are welcome to contact their Association Secretary for details on how to register or alternatively contact Siobhan Callan, Federation Women's Coordinator on (02) 9217 2152 or 1300 654 369. Information and registration forms will be sent to Women's Contacts in all workplaces.

The 2007 Women's Conference was a great success and Federation hopes to see as many women Federation members as possible, whether experienced activists or newly involved in their union, filling the Federation auditorium once again on Saturday March 29, 2008.

Siobhan Callan is the Women's Coordinator.

For further information

December 2007 contents