‘Meeting women (black and strong) from all over Australia to network, creating friendships, sharing our good times and the sadness from our experiences. I want to create ‘CHANGE’ or make a difference in people’s lives and especially in our young leaders of the future by breaking down the social determinants of health in remote communities’ – Franchesca Hodges 

In February this year, Oxfam's Straight Talk Women’s Summit brought 88 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to Canberra to meet with women from all sides of politics to advance reconciliation, justice and equality in Australia. Participants were selected from 380 applications, and came from a broad range of locations, ages, backgrounds and experiences - the youngest participant was 17 and the oldest 80.  The women had travelled to Canberra from as far as Geraldton in WA to Bateman’s Bay in NSW, from the Torres Strait’s Badu Island to Launceston.

The summit provided these Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women with an opportunity to build relationships with women Federal parliamentarians and find ways to work together to bring positive change to their local communities. The women spent two days in workshops learned how the political system works and discussing strategies to bring about change, then met in small groups with female politicians at Parliament House. Already, parliamentarians and advisers have made follow-up contact with the Indigenous women they met during the summit, including plans to visit the women in their communities and advise them of upcoming opportunities to participate in the political process.