Women's Electoral Lobby is a feminist non-party political lobby group. For more information about WEL CLICK on "About WEL" on the top taskbar, and learn "How to Lobby".
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Women's Electoral Lobby Victoria congratulates Quentin Bryce on her appointment as Australia's Governor General. This is the first time that a woman has filled this highly respected post and we wish her all the best for success. We hope that women's issues will see an improvement in the future.
Women's Electoral Lobby Victoria also congratulates Australia's first female Deputy Prime Minister who took her special place in history on 11 December 2007. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has WEL's best wishes for that historic occasion and her future in the leadership of the nation.
CLICK HERE to see the WEL Form Guide policy analysis of all political parties. For details on how they were scored, CLICK HERE. Go to Election 2007 on the top and find out the progress made by the Rudd Government in the past 5 months.
Find the latest information on "Issues" of importance. The latest happenings will be found in "News & Events" as well as the Discussion Forum where we will post your ideas and some book reviews. Paid Maternity Leave and Abortion are the immediate issues. Child Care is always an issue and we will concentrate on this later this year.
To join these campaigns click ON Issues THEN Abortion, Child Care, Paid Maternity Leave, Industrial Relations or Violence then scroll to the bottom and CLICK on "Send an email to your Member of Parliament". You can automatically send an email to your local member. WEL Victoria has drafted messages you may wish to send on Abortion, Child Care, Industrial Relations, Paid Maternity Leave and Violence. You may of course send your own messages - see the list of politicians' email addresses under "Links".
Click on the Issues/Abortion page for very important current information about removing abortion from the Victorian Crimes Act. This is an issue that WEL has been backing for some time. Lobby with an email to support the campaign. Dont let abortion be recriminalised in the Health Act!
We had a big event at Brunswick Town Hall on 12 April 2008 to celebrate 100 years of the vote for Victorian women! "Conversation: Launch". This event spoke of women's social and political engagement through the insights of artist, composers, League of Women Voters, RMIT University students and Women's Electoral Lobby Victoria. The 'conversation' spoke of communication tools that women have utilized to evoke awareness of women's suffrage and persistent struggle for equity in Victoria. The event was welcomed by Councillor Andrea Sharam and opened by The Honourable Christine Campbell MP. The students have interviewed prominent women such as Mary Owen, Beatrice Faust, Elleni Bereded-Samuel, Angela Clarke, Professor Patricia Grimshaw, Associate Professor Jenny Strauss, Professor Marian Quartly, Gracia Baylor AM, Eleanor Sumner, Ursula Dutkiewicz, Ellen Chandler and Patricia Goble, and presented these women with hand-made limited edition books of the interviews.
You can make a difference.
Our recent lobbying includes:-
In 2008, we are lobbying to remove abortion from the Victorian Crimes Act.
We are now lobbying for Paid Maternity Leave. Send an email to your Federal politician (see Issues) or to the Productivity Commission at parentalsupport@pc.gov.au with your opinions.
We will also lobby for accessible, affordable quality child care, and to deal with violence against women wherever it occurs.
WEL Victoria Inc. will post information and actions on this website so that web visitors can lobby to improve the situation for women in the areas of social, legal, political, economic, educational, environmental and sexual equality.
Send us an email on any matter important for women at welvic@alphalink.com.au.
Congratulations: Our Convenor, Kerry Lovering, received an Order of Australia Medal in the 2008 Australia Day Honours and we congratulate her for this award and for her life of service to women. See our Go Girl page in the News Section for her achievements and CLICK here to read The Age article about it all.
Obituary: An early and very active member of WEL Victoria, Shirley Sampson, died recently and we mourn the passing of one of our WEL pioneers.