The beginning of a big year for Mums of the Hills
Image description: Woman wearing a dark blue dress, holding a glass trophy
On November 8th I was announced as the VIC State recipient of the 2023 Australian of the Year Local Hero award. It meant so much to just be nominated, to be further recognised as the 2023 recipient had me spinning. The award was given in recognition of the volunteer work I do in my local community of the Yarra and Dandenong Ranges. If you haven’t heard of the Dandenong Ranges, it is a stunningly beautiful mountainous community nestled amongst thick protected temperate rainforest on Melbourne’s eastern boundary. It is also considered a community at extreme bushfire risk and more recently heavily impacted by storms and floods.
As my story goes my family moved in 2015 and, shortly after this move, I fell off a ladder. I was ok, but the near miss highlighted my vulnerability in this beautiful but isolated location. I needed to find my village. I tried the traditional method of a flier in the mailboxes of my neighbours (4km of them) which resulted in limited success. It came down to me hitting create on an online group on Facebook, walking up to mums at the local swimming pool, advertising at the local maternal child health offices and childcare centres. Fast forward to now and we are an incorporated not for profit community group of over 5,200 local mums. I advocate strongly for the needs and wellbeing of our members and the entire community, creating events, workshops and social gatherings to help us to connect, support and feel empowered in our landscape.
Discussing the local issues with Member of the Victorian Legislative Council, Catherine Burnett-Wake at the Monbulk Storm Recovery Festival.
The 2023 VIC Local Hero award has provided an amazing opportunity to continue advocating at state and national levels. Our region’s topography and risk of natural disasters exacerbate the issues I advocate on. These issues are common to every community around Australia and so I hope that what I advocate on resonates with you. The key issues I wish to highlight are:
Telecommunications –elevating the nbn to essential service status
Housing in 3 ways:
Introduce policies that reduce discrimination against single mums in a competitive rental market
Provide more safe housing for women escaping toxic and abusive but not life-threatening living arrangements
Amend planning laws to enable residents whose homes have been impacted by natural disasters to remain living in temporary accommodation on their land while their home is being repaired or rebuilt.
Mental Health – healthy minds make healthy communities.
Re-evaluating childcare – we need a holistic approach. More childcare centres are important but not the only solution. Maternal /paternal care at home must be valued. Continued flexible working arrangements must also increase to allow parents the opportunity to nurture their children at home.
Domestic Violence – a greater recognition of post disaster partner violence in Australia
Bushfire Prevention – increased education around the causes of bushfire ignitions.
Creating strong, resilient communities is crucial in the face of climate change. The job of overcoming the impacts of climate change is made more difficult when our communities are without the mechanisms and support to respond to and recover quickly from disasters (storms, pandemics or otherwise). Over the next 12 months you will be hearing more from me on these issues regardless of the National Awards outcome on January 25th. I welcome the opportunity to have open and frank discussions on them to bring about lasting changes that improve lives of people right around Australia. My sleeves are rolled up, I’m ready for action. Join me on my quest to strengthen our communities.
Mums of the Hills members enjoying one of our wine tours in the Yarra Valley.