Fatima Halloum
Business women from across Wyndham sat together for a luncheon to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day.
Attendees heard from local business owners about their failures and successes during a Q&A panel and guest speaker Bernadette Schwerdt spoke about the importance of grasping opportunities and following your instincts.
Councillor Mia Shaw said in her opening speech that there is no limit to what women can achieve.
“The tenacity, hard work and resilience of women should not be underestimated. It is a real credit to local women in our city that we have so many talented and determined women with creative ideas helping to make our local community and economy stronger.”
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, women now account for more than a third of business owners in the country, an increase of 46 per cent over the past 20 years.
There are currently more than 22,200 GST registered businesses operating in Wyndham.
Cr Shaw said that although women have come a long way, there was still a distance to be travelled.
“More needs to be done to achieve equality, not only in an economic sense but also to achieve more parity in a work-life family responsibility.”
“I’m sure many of you are not only running a household and being a parent but are developing and working to achieve career goals and aspirations or just working hard to help provide for your families to try and give them the best starting life.”
