07 Feb 2023 | Member Number: {#party.PartyId} | {#party.Name} | To all Adult Members, Trefoil, Junior Leaders, YAC |
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- Region Managers Weekend
- International Women's Day 2023: Volunteer Call Out
- Become a UN Women Advocate!
- Naming conventions
- Use of the term 'Brownies'
- Signatories on Financial Accounts
- Australian Government: Youth Advisory Groups
- WAITT this Saturday!
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This week I am looking forward to seeing so many of you at our virtual Members conference ‘We Are All In This Together’. Come along if you haven’t yet signed up to connect, engage and hear more about what’s on! This weekend our Board will also meet, and we have a full strategy day planned on the Sunday.
February is always full on the Guiding calendar as we all get back into the swing of things and welcome all that 2023 will bring.
Some of the questions I am asking myself include: |
- What will I do differently this year? What will my teams do differently? How might I support them?
- How will I grow and how will I help grow my teams – to reach and to learn? How might I enable others to take on new opportunities to develop?
- What do I want to do more of? What brings me joy and makes me happy? What else do I need or want to better prioritise?
- What will I let go of? What is not serving me or what will I say ‘thanks, but no’ to?
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What questions are you asking or what is on your mind as we settle into February, Guiding and beyond?
One of the great things about Guiding being Girl Led is the diversity and breadth of program activity it enables. Our magic comes from the sum total of this. We’re not just leadership, citizenship, and outdoor education, or cooking and creativity and adventures. We’re all these things. And more…
February 11 Is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGIS). STEM areas get great attention in the program throughout our Districts and many of you, our Adult Volunteers, have built or are building amazing careers in these fields. The Day focuses on the importance of gender equality in science as vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Girl Guides has a rich history of Science, Technology, and Innovation, whether building gadgets or learning to fly, or applying creativity to problem-solve and create solutions. Our engagement in this area continues to fuel our relevancy, and our commitment to innovating remains part of our DNA. Have you seen our cinema ad which features girls exploring STEM activities in Canberra? View it here!
With our focus on raising awareness and taking action to realise the SDGs, Girl Guides can and do make a crucial contribution to changing the world. We would love to hear your stories and see photos/videos of Members in action! Please get in touch.
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Region Managers Weekend: Wrap Up |
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THANK YOU! To all the Region and Assistant Region Managers who dedicated last weekend at our Region Managers Conference. An incredible opportunity to re-orient for a huge year of Guiding in 2023!
Region Managers and their Assistants meet regularly across the year through different means, this includes virtual meetings on weekday evenings, extended virtual meetings on weekend days, and face-to-face through a series of conferences and events.
This time at our first F2F of the year, we had several staff members join in on the fun for Saturday where we talked all things membership, brand and social media, property, database and administration, as well as finance and insurance. Lots of planning achieved which you’ll hear more about at the All In and in further communications!
Are you interested in stepping up to support your Region Team? Get in contact with your Region Manager today! |
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UN Women Australia and International Women's Day (IWD) 2023 – Volunteer Call Out |
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IWD is the key fundraiser for UN Women Australia and supports women and girls in the Asia Pacific Region. Girl Guides are invited to volunteer with UN Women Australia today for IWD!
UN Women Australia will be holding five live and concurrent events in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth on Friday 3 March, which will also be live-streamed. Check out the IWD website for more details. |
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Date: Friday 3 March
Theme: Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future
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- Sydney: Grand Ballroom, Level 5, International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour
- Canberra: Exhibition Hall, National Convention Centre, Canberra
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Time: At both locations Volunteers arrive at 9.30am and finish around 4pm (event is 12pm – 3pm) |
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Check out the position description below and if you are interested and available, please email [email protected] by Monday 13 February 2023. Please note that the number of volunteers is capped this year, so you will be chosen on a first in basis. |
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View Position Description |
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Become a part of the UN Women Sydney community of advocates! |
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The Sydney Chapter of UN Women Australia are looking to hold events throughout the year, not only on IWD. The focus will be on fundraising for and raising awareness of UN Women Australia, as well as building a community of passionate people across Sydney.
If you would like to stay informed about events and opportunities to advocate for UN Women Australia, please sign up to the mailing list here. |
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Unit/District Naming Conventions |
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‘Bravo’, ‘do your best’, and ‘look wide’ are all special parts of the Guiding vernacular are widely used. But naturally, some parts of Guiding vernacular and naming conventions don’t reflect where we currently operate or our Sections.
When girls and families are searching for activities in their area, it can be difficult to identify Girl Guide Unit options and help them to come along and try Guides! Clear naming goes a long way for discoverability, especially when online searching! We often hear about how this is a barrier to recruitment.
The agreed position for a long time now is that the names of Units/Districts must reflect the suburb in which they operate (primarily where they meet). Any distinctions not in line with our Sections should also be removed.
For example, Shell Beach Girl Guides which meets in a hall at Carrington Croft will update its name to Carrington Croft Girl Guides. Unit Names like Blossom Junior Guides or Wallaby Rangers will also need to be updated (nb. not real places or names). Designations such as Brownies or Rangers were ceased when the AGP was adopted in 1996, but some Units continued to refer to themselves as such while a transition occurred.
We are all Girl Guides and using a shared language, with consistency, helps improve our profile and public knowledge of the communities in which Girl Guiding is available.
This reminder is focussed on our public-facing/outward image but includes other administration such as bank accounts. We encourage you to reflect and celebrate on your Unit’s heritage while also adopting the consistent naming conventions to help elevate our brand.
I understand this is a sensitive matter for some, so please reach out to your Region Manager or Kerrey Williams, Deputy State Commissioner via email to discuss any concerns you have. |
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Use of the term 'Brownie' |
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While Girl Guides Australia formally made the decision to transition away from the use of the term Brownies as the name for a section in 1996, the term has remained to some extent, in use ever since.
While the term ‘Brownie’ has positive associations for Members with Guiding traditions (in folk lore a brownie is a household spirit who would perform chores overnight) the implications of its use in modern society are considered by some to be harmful and racially insensitive.
Following Girl Guides Canada’s decision to cease the use of the name, and the lingering use of the name in Guiding in Australia, a GGA Board meeting in December 2022 reaffirmed a commitment to transition away from the name due to the harmful impacts we know cultural appropriation and racialised language has on communities.
To our Leaders, I encourage you to take this as an opportunity to reflect with girls on the use of terminology generally, taking into account both tradition and modern concerns around cultural appropriation. Please, if your Unit still uses the term ‘Brownies’, it’s important to now consider the implications of this and using a girl-led process, transition away from the term. |
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Signatories on Financial Accounts |
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Please note it is now required that all Unit/District financial accounts must have a member of the Region Team listed as a signatory (in practice, the Region Manager, or Assistant Region Manager or Treasurer). Well done to all the Regions who already manage this with their Districts/Units.
This requirement is now consistent across our SGGO, with Regions now implementing it if not already a feature of how they are managed. |
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Australian Government Youth Advisory |
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Applications are open for all young people, and particularly our Senior Guides and Olaves, to join the Australian Government’s new Youth Advisory Groups. There are five which all cover incredibly important issues: |
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- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Promotion of STEM
- Climate Change and Conference of the Parties (COP)
- First Nations
- Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–31
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8 people will be appointed to each group and will be paid an honorarium to recognise contributions made over the advisory group term. The first meeting will occur in Canberra from Wednesday 29 March to Friday 31 March, with costs of travel, accommodation and food covered by the Office for Youth.
You MUST be available for this meeting to apply. Applications are open until Sunday 12 February. Please contact Trish Manten, GGA CEO, if you require further information!
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We're All In This Together – This Saturday! |
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This Saturday is our inaugural We’re All In This Together Conference! This All-In has so much to offer you, no matter what your role in Girl Guiding entails. Please, come along with an open-mind and a willingness to collaborate! There will be opportunities to share ideas, listen to others, and connect on all things Guiding. |
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Yours in Guiding,
Emily Milton Smith (She/Her)
State Commissioner
Girl Guides NSW, ACT & NT
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