Women for Yes in your language
Since late last year, our team at the Victorian Women’s Trust has been reaching out to the community with our Yes campaign, Together, Yes. We are excited to join with Indigenous-led campaigners around Australia to achieve a positive referendum outcome.
Led by Mary Crooks AO (Executive Director, Victorian Women’s Trust) this campaign builds on VWT’s tried and tested methodology of community engagement, through “kitchen table conversations”. Since publicly launching in March 2023, thousands have signed up to become a Conversation Host, using materials designed by the Together, Yes to have important discussions about the upcoming referendum and the key moments across Australian history that have led to this vote.
In August 2023, we launched Women For Yes. Using our existing networks within the women’s sector and gender equality space, we seek to bring women and gender diverse people together behind a common cause: constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the establishment of a Voice to parliament.
The Women for Yes launch event featured the Hon. Linda Burney MP, Minister for Indigenous Australians; a panel discussion with a range of leading women including Belinda Duarte (Culture is Life), Prof Fiona Stanley AC (Epidemiologist), and more. Mary Crooks gave a searing take down of the no case. And we launched our Open Letter: Women For Yes.
At the time of writing, the Open Letter has been signed by almost 7,000 people, in a strong vote of support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. All Australians are invited to sign the letter and join with Women For Yes. Thanks to donor support, translation options have also been released. PDF versions of the Open Letter are available in the following languages:
العربية (Arabic)
简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
Ελληνικά (Greek)
हिंदी (Hindi)
Italiano (Italian)
한국어 (Korean)
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)
Српски (Serbian)
Español (Spanish)
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
We encourage you to print off these PDFs and share them with people you know.
We’ve also translated our video, What do you tell your grandchildren? (4 mins), which debuted at the launch of Women for Yes. Featuring interviews with Aboriginal leaders, Prof. Marcia Langton AO, Emily Carter, and Dr. Jackie Huggins AM, this short and powerful video quickly puts the referendum and the Voice into context. Translation options include: Arabic, Chinese (traditional and simplified), English, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Punjabi, Serbian, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
We are now calling on our community to share these translated resources far and wide. To help you get the message out, we’ve created a digital love pack. Head to the digital love pack for images, copy, Open Letter, video, and more. If you need something specific, get in touch with our team: women@vwt.org.au
With just a few weeks until we head to the polls, it’s crucial to keep talking and sharing info about the referendum, and why it’s so important to vote Yes on Oct 14.