Five Queensland women to watch in 2022

As we return to our busy lives after the holiday break, we’re looking to a very full 2022. Although there are many uncertainties about the coming year, one thing is for sure – the work of creating a gender equal world will need powerful advocates. Here are five changemakers to watch in 2022.

Jackie Huggins

Jackie Huggins is a Bidjara/Birri Gubba Juru woman from central and north Queensland. She was born in Ayr and grew up in Inala in Brisbane. After nearly four decades of writing, Jackie is releasing  Sister Girl: Reflections on Tiddaism, Identity and Reconciliation, which is an updated version of her seminal 1998 essay collection. These essays, speeches and interviews combine both the public and the personal in a bold trajectory tracing one Murri woman’s journey towards self-discovery and human understanding. As a widely respected cultural educator and analyst, Huggins offers an Aboriginal view of the history, values and struggles of Indigenous people.

Jackie has devoted her life to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues and the pursuit of a better life for her people. Throughout her career Jackie has been involved in reconciliation, the Stolen Generations, education, arts, leadership, prison reform, domestic and family violence, health, housing, literacy, disability, human rights, women’s issues and other social justice initiatives.

She describes her book as ‘Tiddaist’ – a new perspective on feminism embracing First Nations gender equality movements, including welcoming men in the movement.

Sister Girl reflects on many important and timely topics, including identity, activism, leadership and reconciliation. It challenges accepted notions of the appropriateness of mainstream feminism in Aboriginal society and of white historians writing Indigenous history. Jackie Huggins’ words, then and now, offer wisdom, urgency and hope. You can pick up a copy from WOW Australia partner Riverbend Books and hear from Jackie at WOW Logan in July.

Huda Fadlelmawla

Huda Fadlelmawla is a poet, educator, mental health advocate, dancer and workshop facilitator who says her long-term dream is to become a surgeon.

A WOW Australia fave performer, she has been working to write a book that encompasses poetry and self-care development. In the process, she has designed ‘reclaim your voice: an ecosystem of self’ which is series focused on building a safe space where individuals, professional, artists and organisation can work on creating a plan for mental health illnesses prevention and avoiding major burnout as a result of lack of self-care.

She was the Australian Poetry Slam winning Queensland Finalist in 2020, and winner of the Australian title in 2021. Huda speaks with a clear, powerful and magnetising voice, orating her story and the stories of women of colour with vivid beauty. Unearthing rare magic, to witness her is to step a bit closer to a new world.

Watch her winning performance here on Youtube. And continue to follow WOW Australia to hear more from Huda in 2022.

Elise Stephenson

Dr Elise Stephenson is an Australian strategist and researcher, who is driven to be an advocate for increasingly marginalised voices, particularly those of women and young people, in Australian international affairs.

For the last decade, she has diligently completed three bachelor degrees, immersed herself in remote and marginalised communities and has strived to created more inclusive, innovative and dynamic Australian and Indo-Pacific societies. Since 2016, Elise has travelled over 65,000 kms around Australia in a self-built, tiny home, for the purpose of working with rural and regional communities around inclusion, access and international-engagement. Elise has participated in WOW Australia projects over the past few years including WOW Charleville in 2021.

This year, she is moving from Griffith University to Canberra to join the Global Institute for Women's Leadership – ANU. She will be combining all things gender, sexuality, equality, leadership, Australia and Asia Pacific to continue working on research around diplomacy, national security, intelligence, entrepreneurship and international affairs. Not only will this be an amazing opportunity to work with the Founder and Chair, the Hon. Julia Gillard, but she'll be working with the brilliant Professor Michelle Ryan, Dr Blair Williams, Brittany Higgins, Dr Gosia Mikolajczak, Natalie Barr, and more.

Jade Collins & Alanna Bastin-Byrne

Alanna and Jade are co-founders of Femeconomy, where you can choose female led brands and help create gender equality.  Whether you are a female consumer, business owner or a woman in the workforce, you can create gender equality by choosing female led brands. It’s a unique, bottom-up strategy to progress gender equality, creating a better world for women and men.

Women make 75% of the worlds purchasing decisions, but are underrepresented at nearly all levels of business management and ownership. After stumbling across this  fact hidden in plain sight, Jade and Alanna felt compelled to do something about it.

Their social enterprise has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2016, and is making some huge strides into reshaping corporate and government procurement practices, highlighting and addressing gender parity on boards, and increasing visibility of aligned organisations such as Financy (tracks and measures the economic progress of Australian women) and Super-Rewards (a shopping rewards system that pays into your super fund).

In 2021, they met with every Australian State Government and the Federal Government to educate them on how women owned businesses impact women’s economic security and shared how they can implement Gender Equality Procurement Practices, and are now working in partnership with the Western Australian Government to pilot Gender Equality Procurement Principles through their supply chain.

They have won a slew of awards for their work, but the real winners are Australian women. Watch out for the impact of their advocacy in 2022 with policy announcements across the board including the launch of the Queensland Government Women’s Strategy.

Watch their TEDxTalk here and learn about their simple idea, and the ground-breaking change it is helping to create.   

Thelma Schwartz

Thelma Schwartz is the principal legal officer of the Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service (QIFVLS), an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisation providing legal and non-legal support services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims and survivors of family violence and sexual assault in Queensland. This work has seen Thelma gain a national voice and a position on the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce - now it has won her the 2021 Zonta Club of Brisbane Advancement of Women Award.

Thelma has more than 22 years post-admission experience and identifies as of Torres Strait Islander heritage alongside her German, Samoan and Papua New Guinean heritage.

Thelma has worked extensively with and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in regional and remote Queensland, in both capacities representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander defendants in the criminal justice system as well as advocating for victims and survivors of family violence and sexual assault.

In 2018, Thelma was awarded the Regional Woman Lawyer of the Year by the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland, before being recognised in 2021 as the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards - Indigenous Lawyer of the Year.

She has been very busy of late with the launch by Pathways to Safety - the case for a dedicated First Nations Women's Safety plan - written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women. This Change the Record and initiative calls for a genuinely self-determined National Plan to implement community-led responses to violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.

Follow along with this project and add your voice to call for dedicated National Safety Plan for First Nations women.