Latest News

Advocacy in action at Breakfast event

May 23, 2021By

The Zonta Club of Brisbane held a highly successful Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month breakfast at Queensland Parliament House on 12 May to bring to light key issues around steps being taken to stop domestic and family violence in Queensland, Australia.

The breakfast was attended by senior Queensland Government Ministers, Members of Parliament and other distinguished leaders – each of whom has dedicated part of their lives to understanding and addressing various aspects of this complex issue of domestic and family violence.

The Honourable Shannon Fentiman, MP, Attorney-General & Minister for Justice, Minister for Women, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Prevention was the keynote speaker at the event.

It was an opportunity for those present to ask questions and to seek information on the next important steps being taken to address this critical issue.

Attorney-General Fentiman is leading the Queensland Government’s extensive program which aims to end domestic and family violence. It includes the establishment of a Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, which is chaired by the Hon Margaret McMurdo AC and member of the Zonta Club of Brisbane. Following her address, Ms Fentiman took questions from the floor which included queries about the need for a register to track previous Domestic Violence Orders.

Significantly, after the event, the Attorney-General announced that the Queensland Government was considering a domestic violence register hotline. This would be raised through the work of the Taskforce and also potentially discussed at the Australian Women’s Safety Summit in Australia in June 2021 to form a national approach to women’s safety.

Zonta Club of Brisbane President Gwendolen Jull AC addressed the breakfast, which was also attended by the Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll, Zonta District 22 Governor Bridget Mather, and PIP Leneen Forde, AC, and member of the Zonta Club of Brisbane.

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Advocacy

We will not be silent

May 1, 2021By

Advocacy is about speaking up to be heard to make change.

So we have to feature the now landmark quote by Grace Tame, 2021 Australian of the Year, when she stood up at the  March4Justice event in Tasmania on 15 March and said:

“As often is the case when an issue that has been shrouded in darkness for such a long time is suddenly thrust into the light, there’s widespread shock and disbelief over how something so evil could happen and not just happen, but happens so ubiquitously and the answer is so plain and simple: silence.

Evil thrives in silence. Behaviour ignored is behaviour endorsed.”

Such an apt quote is so apt for advocacy!

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Advocacy

A Zonta Mantle

May 1, 2021By

For nearly a year, 10 Zonta clubs in South East Queensland have collaborated to distribute the Handy Guide for Older Women, written and published by the Lady Musgrave Trust. They form a mantle of willing delivery drivers who are notified of any new order for Handy Guides (community organisations contact The Trust, in the first instance) and jump into their trusty vehicles and deliver to the door. It has saved The Trust thousands in courier fees.

The project combines Zonta’s fierce interest in preventing homelessness, and a wide geographic spread. It is a logical and (deceptively) effortless use of our resources and our members’ commitment.

This Zonta coalition is being coordinated by Zonta Club of Brisbane – other participating clubs are:

  • Redcliffe
  • Paradise Point
  • Caloundra
  • Ipswich
  • Noosa
  • City Heart
  • Brisbane North
  • Pine Rivers
  • Beaudesert

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