International Women’s Day

MEDIA RELEASE 21 February 2023

A joyous, community celebration has been planned in the Bathurst City Hall and Courtyard on Wednesday March 8 from 11am - 2pm and everyone is welcome to attend.

Mayor Robert Taylor said the event has been observed since the early 1900s - a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialised world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies.

“The significance of International Women's Day is increasing each year as is the respect, appreciation and care for women in our community and society,” he said.

Councillors Kirralee Burke and Margaret Hogan have been given the opportunity to create this year’s International Women’s Day event for Bathurst Regional Council.

“Our aim is to provide an opportunity for the wider community to connect and celebrate International Women’s Day at a relaxed and happy event. So far, we’ve had enthusiastic support from all sorts of groups and businesses wanting to be involved and if any other groups would like to take part, please don't hesitate to get in touch in with us,” said Councillor Burke.

This year’s theme is “Embrace Equity” which is something quite different to equality.

EQUALITY means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.

EQUITY recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.

“Our guest speaker this year is Julie Fairley, the Client Innovation Centre Leader at IBM in Bathurst. Julie’s story is incredibly inspiring. She has overcome adversity and made her way to a top role with IBM,” said Councillor Hogan.

Smith and Jones and Harriet Fahey will be performing. Local photographer Julia Strang and members of the Youth Council will be running a free photo booth. The CWA are taking care of the free sausage sizzle and purple cupcakes, there’ll be a free ice cream cart from Annies and good coffee on hand. All the businesses and community groups who have so far agreed to take part will be providing interactive art and craft activities.

“It was very important to both Kirralee and myself that we built an event that gave people a genuine opportunity to connect. If people come along and leave feeling a little more connected and uplifted that’ll be a great outcome.” said Councillor Hogan.

“We are extremely grateful to Charles Sturt University for their support and to all the businesses and community groups who have embraced the event.”

ENDS

Media contact: Media Officer