The Edna Ryan Awards celebrate women who contribute to improving the lives of womEn and girls
Women who persist, strive, advocate and fight to make a feminist difference.
Women who are often unsung and unrecognised.
The Edna Ryan Awards are named in honour of a woman who fought valiantly for equal pay and equal rights for women.
The fight continues and so do these awards.
Nominations are now open
Nominations close June 30, 2023
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“Only when a society values distributive justice and multi-vocality, will the voices of its entire people be free. Only then will it be safe for each of us to add our narrative to the dominant social and political discourse. Only then will our country be equipped to engage in a fair and diverse feminist debate which has the potential to empower all.”
“I have always known that as a woman I would need to work harder than my male counterparts to be seen as an equal, and I have made it my life’s work to do just that. It is important that we show the future generations of women that we can forge success in the face of oppression and sexism. We need to always remember that we are valuable, powerful, and we should never doubt ourselves.”
Erin Wen Ai Chew
Entrepeneur, social activist, founder of the Asian Australian Alliance
2022 AWARd recipients
On Friday the 18th of November 2022, 17 Edna Ryan Awards were presented across 6 categories for women making a feminist difference across NSW and the ACT. Read more ›
Chanel Contos | Grand Stirrer
Chanel Contos is an Australian student and sexual consent activist. She became known globally in 2021, following the responses to her request for young Australian women to report on their sexual assault experiences.
Amanda Rose | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Amanda Rose is the Founding Director of ‘Western Sydney Women’, the first and only organisation to advocate for ALL women from the Inner West, Greater West, North West and South West of Sydney.
Annie Crowe | For Making a Feminist Difference in Community Activism
Annie Crowe is a tireless advocate for neurodivergent women in Australia. She founded and is the Chair of the Board for the not-for-profit, Eating Disorders Neurodiversity Australia (EDNA).
Brenda Gaddi | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Brenda Vertudes Gaddi (she/her), is a first-generation migrant/settler from Manila, Philippines, who has been building women-focused communities and championing women’s voices for over a decade.
Janice Paulson | For Making a Feminist Difference in Mentoring
Janice Paulson is a proud 76 year old Worimi woman who has dedicated her working life and now her retirement years, to the empowerment of women and girls.
Jenny Leong | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Jenny Leong was first elected to the NSW Parliament in 2015 and was the first Chinese-Australian woman in Australia to secure a Lower House seat.
Julia Zemiro | For Making a Feminist Difference in Media Communication
Julia Zemiro has been an extraordinary role model and mentor for women across a wide variety of media roles, including stand-up comedy and improvisation, both of which are male dominated fields.
Licia Heath | For Making a Feminist Difference in Political Activism
Licia Heath is the CEO of ‘Women for Election’ Australia (WFE), a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation that has trained and supported thousands of women from various backgrounds and lived experiences to stand for public office.
Louise Hislop | For Making a Feminist Difference in Political Activism
Louise Hislop has worked to create a more representative, diverse, and feminist parliament.
Lorraine Usher | For Making a Feminist Difference in Mentoring
Lorraine Usher is a past President of the Mining & Energy union, and was a founding member of ‘Women in Male-Dominated Occupations and Industries’ (WiMDOI).
Maha Abdo | For Making a Feminist Difference in Community Activism
Maha Krayem Abdo is a passionate advocate for social justice. She serves as the CEO of ‘Muslim Women Australia'(MWA), a representative body for Muslim women advocating for equality and the rights of all women, through authentic leadership based on Islamic principles.
Malaika Mfula | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Malaika Mfula, alongside Rizina Yadav, cofounded ‘Her Future Her Decade’ a social impact organisation that aims to support and empower young women during the critical decade of 18 to 28 years old when young women make decisions that alter their career advancement, economic security, and happiness.
Rizina Yadav | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Rizina Yadav, alongside Malaika Mfula, cofounded ‘Her Future Her Decade’ a social impact organisation that aims to support and empower young women during the critical decade of 18 to 28 years old when young women make decisions that alter their career advancement, economic security, and happiness.
Melina Georgousakis | For Making a Feminist Difference in Mentoring
Melina Georgousakis is the founder of ‘Franklin Women’, a grassroots social enterprise on a mission to create a health and medical research sector where women can thrive.
Natalie Lang | For Making a Feminist Difference in Workforce
Natalie Lang is the Secretary of the Australian Services Union NSW and ACT (Services) Branch and led the ‘We Won’t Wait’ campaign arguing for 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave for all workers in Australia.
Renae Ryan | For Making a Feminist Difference in Workforce
Professor Renae Ryan is internationally recognized as a leader and advocate for gender equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Romy Listo | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Romy Listo is currently working as a Senior Health Promotion Officer at ‘Women’s Health Matters’, a women’s health service based in Canberra.
Rosie Herberte | For Making a Feminist Difference in Arts
Rosie Herberte’s adult life, both in paid and unpaid work has been dedicated to improving women’s place and how they are seen in the world.
Sue Edmonds | For Making a Feminist Difference in Arts
Sue Edmonds is a feminist singer, musician, songwriter, entertainer and social activist whose involvement in the arts speaks to and about Australian women.
Past AWARd recipients
Brittany Higgins | Grand Stirrer & For Making a Feminist Difference in Community Activism
Awardee, Brittany Higgins has become the figurehead and inspiration for a new force, an influence in reminding previously silenced women that they indeed have a voice.
Mentor Walks, Adina Jacobs | For Making a Feminist Difference in Mentoring
Awardees, Adina Jacobs and Bobbi Mahlab are co-founders of Mentor Walks, an organisation premised on the belief that good women help good women.
Ann Reynolds | Making a Feminist Difference in Community Activism
Awardee, Ann Reynolds is the convenor of the Women Write Wiki group which was inaugurated in March 2017 at The Women’s Library in Newtown.
Mentor Walks, Bobbi Mahlab | For Making a Feminist Difference in Mentoring
Awardees, Adina Jacobs and Bobbi Mahlab are co-founders of Mentor Walks, an organisation premised on the belief that good women help good women.
Catherine Gander | For Making a Feminist Difference in Leadership
Awardee, Catherine Gander is a feminist role model for many younger women, spending hours supporting and empowering individual women to find their voice and strength.
Charmaine Huisman | For Making a Feminist Difference in Community Activism
Awardee, Charmaine Huisman was a proud trade unionist and feminist. She was a passionate advocate for justice in the workplace and champion of women everywhere.
“Pinch me, it’s a miracle handed out on my birthday. It could have been decided years and years ago. We’d given up hope, and now, bang, here it is in writing,”
– Edna Ryan, aged 68, writing in her diary after the National Wage Case decision in 1972 that gave one and a half million women equal pay with men.
Quick Links
Reach Us
Older Women’s Network NSW
8-10 Victoria Street,
Newtown NSW 2042, Australia.
+61 – 2 – 9519 8044
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present.
We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Edna Ryan Awards supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the call for a First Nation's Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution and a Makarrata Commission to oversee agreement-making and truth-telling.