Kathy Bensted President of the Australian Local Government Women’s Association (ALGWA) hosted the ALGWA National Annual Networking Breakfast, held on Monday the 17th of June in conjunction with the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) National General Assembly.
Delegates from across Australia, including ministers and senators of the Federal Government, presidents of allied organisations, mayors and councillors and those interested in Local Government attended as an opportunity to network with their colleagues.
Kathy Bensted, President of ALGWA commented that “The 20 percent of male delegates attending this morning’s breakfast, if taken as a proportion of women in senior management positions, would actually be more than is actually in the Local Government workforce. ALGWA continues to support and encourage women to achieve employment in senior positions in councils, which then creates a workplace that inspires women to seek leadership roles as elected members of their councils.”
President Kathy Bensted announced ALGWA’s unanimous support for the “Yes” vote for Local Government constitutional recognition. On acceptance of the cheque for $5,000, Mayor Felicity-ann Lewis, President of ALGA, suggested to the audience “Other key organisations should follow ALGWA’s lead and financially support this very important issue.”
The breakfast concluded with the guest speaker Professor David Headon, who enlightened the audience on the Centenary of Canberra history, including those key women who helped shape, our country’s capital city.