News & Events
National Team Report
December 2015
Susan Campbell Robinette Emonson Miranda Cummings
Reflecting on the year that was makes us feel very privileged to be a part of Girl Guiding in Australia. Across our vast country, in many and varied ways, we know our volunteers are providing inspiring and relevant programs for girls and young woman in leadership and personal development. Our member organisations, the State associations, play a vital role in supporting, managing, growing and leading Guiding and together we are doing all that we can to “empower girls and young woman to grow into confident, self-respecting, responsible community members.”
We take this opportunity to personally thank each one of you for your significant commitment to Girl Guiding throughout 2015. In whatever capacity you choose to make your contribution, we want you to know we appreciate your efforts and the part you have played. While great Guiding happens every day, 2015 can also be defined by the highlights which include Great Bunya Gathering, Guiding at the House, Spark! Re-igniting the Olave Program, Thinking Day, the ANZAC Centenary Challenge and Girl Guides Western Australia 100th Birthday, to name just a few.
A hallmark of a vibrant and forward looking organisation is that from time to time it steps back to look in depth at what it is doing to guarantee the relevance, quality and outcomes of its work. This year GGA has undertaken a number of reviews including Adult Awards, Australian Guide Program, Olave Program, Risk Management and Policy and Procedures. We have been delighted by the engagement of members across Australia who have given so willingly of their time to answer surveys, attend feedback sessions and caravans, as well as working with girls to add their voices to the conversations to ensure the research we are doing is robust, thorough and informative.
GGA is proud of the partnerships it is developing and International Day of the Girl Child provided an opportunity to strengthen our ties with UN Woman by celebrating the day together in Canberra. The theme of the event “The Power of the Adolescent Girl,” gave us a perfect platform to highlight the amazing work Girl Guiding is doing in empowering girls and young woman and addressing issues of violence. We were delighted to be joined by the Minister for Woman, Senator Michaelia Cash, along with other interested parliamentarians and a number of young women including local Girl Guides.
GGA CEO Kit McMahon has recently returned from London where she was both a participant and guest speaker at “A Movement of Ideas for Growth Results”. This WAGGGS Roundtable event with representative from 52 countries was an opportunity to empower Member Organizations with knowledge and tools for membership growth and for them to engage with each other, external experts and speakers. Additionally it was an invaluable opportunity to make and strengthen existing connections for further collaboration.
We have also welcomed back from overseas our four representatives to a WAGGGS forum held in Oman entitled "Friends, Fun, Freedom, Future". This was a joint project between WAGGGS’ global programme team and the Arab Region, and was an exciting opportunity for our delegates to explore new ideas and work collaboratively with other leaders from around the world.
We believe 2016 is going to be amazing for Girl Guiding and we look forward to it with great excitement. We wish you, your families and your Guiding communities the very best for the festive/holiday season and again thank you for being a part of Girl Guiding.
Susan, Miranda, Robinette
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