Empowering women in all new ways

Fair Share is a workshop developed by SEED member Lee Day, which supports women in reassessing preconceived gender biases when it comes to household chores and duties.

Fair Share aims to guide women in redressing household imbalances, providing them with tools to use in order to promote a fairer division of household labour.

“In looking at the content of it, there’s lots of opportunities for women to say ‘this is my situation, but where do I go if I get the balance right at home and start looking for employment?’” SEED Project co-ordinator Samantha Hugill said.

Fair Share sets out also to ensure that women who are emerging into the workforce with a background of household labour duties are confident within themselves and their skills.

“They can look at those home duties as skills that can be transferable into the workforce,” SEED Project manager Penny Bohm said.

Alongside Fair Share, the HERbudget series will kick off in 2024 as an addition to the HERmoney workshops.

HERbudget will run as a bimonthly catch up over the year, wherein women are able to assess their financial progress in a group environment.

“It creates that group environment where they share tips and tricks amongst each other, and they support each other,” SEED Project co-ordinator Renae Constantini said.

Navigating Services Australia, created by Ms Hugill, will also run again this year in order to teach women what is available to them and how to access that.

“Its aim is also to break down the intimidation that a lot of women feel when dealing with Services Australia,” Ms Hugill said.

Last year was a busy one for the SEED Project — from Ms Constantini and Ms Bohm attending the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence event at Victorian parliament with state Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland, to organising all of the free workshops SEED offered in 2024, to hosting events for International Women’s Day.

Alongside all of this, the SEED Project was nurturing those involved in the Changemakers program.

Ms Bohm said Changemakers, which could only be undertaken once an individual has completed the five-week Stepping Stones to YOUR Pathway program, was all about finding your voice and advocating for yourself, for other women and for the community.

“Our ‘Changemakers’ have gone on to be volunteers, to go to Canberra and speak at parliament about their lived experiences, have been a part of the Services Australia advisory board,” Ms Bohm said.

The program runs for seven weeks, on top of the five-week prerequisite program, and ends in a final graduation ceremony, where the Changemakers can speak about their personal history and their journey with SEED.

With all that SEED does for the community, it is no wonder that those who work to keep the project running feel gratified seeing all of the progress that the women involved make.

“It’s a privilege to be able to be a part of such an amazing project,” Ms Bohm said.

“Because it’s such an individualised program, we can see the growth in lots of ways for different women.

“To see women flourish from day one through to the end of a program or the end of a year is just a privilege.“

The SEED Project operates within a 40km radius of Seymour, encompassing areas such as Wallan, Yea and Nagambie, and calls on women from all of these areas to get involved.

“It’s the collaboration with the women that’s been the success of the program,” Ms Bohm said.

“It’s theirs, it’s not our program, we are just lucky to be a part of it.

“Without them, it wouldn’t exist.“

For more information, visit the SEED Project website at bsl.org.au/services/saving-and-managing-money/the-seed-project/