Today is International Women’s Day, and on behalf of UnitingSA, we’d like to recognise the talented women who form three quarters of our workforce and the incredible women we walk alongside daily.
UnitingSA is proud to have such a strong representation of women on our team, making up 74 per cent of employees. They come from all walks of life, of all ages, abilities and skillsets. They are our leaders, our carers, our nurses and our support workers.
They work in communications, administration, IT and recruitment. They care for our children and older people, and walk beside people facing adversity. They are on the frontline and they are behind the scenes.
As an organisation dedicated to helping South Australians in need, women are over-represented across our community support programs, representing close to 65 per cent of our client base.
Women also feature prominently across our services for older South Australians, with females accounting for almost 70 per cent of our residents and clients.
Our ParentsNext, Escaping Violence and Connected Families programs tackle some of the big issues facing women today, including escalating rates of homelessness among females aged 55 and over – Australia’s fastest growing homeless cohort, high rates of domestic violence, with 1 in 3 women impacted, and higher levels of financial stress than our male counterparts.
At UnitingSA, we’re committed to innovating and advocating for women, to address these shocking statistics and break down the barriers that thousands of women continue to face.
In January this year, UnitingSA launched Peppertree Place – a new family crisis housing service in Adelaide’s north – which is providing much-needed homes for women and their children.
This follows on from an award-winning community housing development in Adelaide’s west, catering specifically for older women facing homelessness – many of whom are fleeing domestic violence.
UnitingSA is a member of the State’s recently launched Housing Security for Older Women Taskforce, working hand in hand with government, state housing leaders and other organisations to affect much-needed change.
We support women through the powerful work we do as part of the national Escaping Violence Program, supporting women to find pathways away from abuse and helping them along the road to recovery.
We embrace women as leaders and decision-makers through our Women’s Leadership Group to support and develop female leaders across our organisation.
And, we are proud to lead from the top, proactively creating a culture that celebrates the achievements and unique strengths of women and encourages more women to take on leadership roles.
The theme for International Women’s Day in 2023 is ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future’. At UnitingSA, we’re committed to cracking social, economic and cultural codes faced by women, and supporting the women in our workforce to drive the change and eliminate gender inequality for good.