The awards

Celebrating WOMEN WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Now open for nominations

The Ednas 2023 will be held Thursday, 16th November, online. Save the date and nominate a woman making a feminist difference in NSW or the ACT.

Nominate someone for the 2023 Edna Ryan Awards.

The EDNAs are awards for women who have made a feminist difference – the battlers and the unsung heroines who show commitment and determination.

These Awards recognise those whose activity advances the status of women.

Since 1998 the EDNAs have celebrated the contribution of Edna Ryan by acknowledging women in NSW and the ACT who have had a significant impact on the social, economic, and political status of women and girls across a range of fields.

The special Grand Stirrer Award is given each year to a woman who has boldly challenged the status quo. Past recipients include Chanel Contos, Britanny Higgins, Anne Summers, Tara Moss, Sally McManus, Karen Willis, Amanda Hill, Mehreen Faruqi and fEMPOWER.

Driving On Roads Is Not Enough: Why We Still Need To Make A Feminist Difference

The new EDAN RYAN AWARDS website was officially launched on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 2020. We held an insightful panel discussion on why we still need to make a feminist difference The webinar was held in memory of the late Susan Ryan, who steered the creation of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and the Affirmative Action (Equal Opportunities in Employment) Act 1986.

Budget 2020 was a major disappointment for women. Rather than policies which take gender into consideration, women were told instead that they could drive on the new roads which will be built.

COVID-19 was not gender neutral in the way women were impacted. Women came out bearing the brunt of the economic and social fallout from the virus. Women lost jobs, women were being subjected to more domestic and family violence, and more older women were retiring into poverty and homelessness.

Watch the video and the discussion on Edna and why we still need to make a feminist difference with the following panel who shared their perspectives and personal insights :

Natalie Lang, Branch Secretary of the Australian Services Union NSW & ACT
Saba Vasefi, Multi-award winning artist, filmmaker, poet
Barbara O’Neill, Aboriginal Support Worker, Junction Neighbourhood Centre (Maroubra)
Lyndall Ryan, Historian & Professor in Newcastle University’s Centre for the History of Violence

Caroline Baum, Writer & Journalist (Moderator)

Edna Ryan standing in front of an indigenous painting in graduation garb

EDNA SPEAKS

Listen to Edna interviewed about her life in activism. 

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