The role of rural women in driving change in their community is for them to alter the ways of these small towns. Many rural communities in Australia were formed after settlers came to Australia and began starting up farms, stores and other businesses in order to provide money for their families. In these times, women were only thought of as cleaners, cooks and carers for their children and as these communities continued to grow, old traditions stayed the same. These small communities haven’t changed greatly in terms of thoughts and expectations. Many company boards and community groups have had the same families on them for generations. Traditions like these are outdated and need to be removed and converted in all societies. To overcome these gender roles, it is vital for women to be on every board, committee and decision making group in their community.

To be able to create change, women must be represented and respected. If every committee in each rural town had women on it, the stigma of women being in higher, more important roles would slowly be worn away and future generations would not be subjected to the same gender inequality and self-doubt that there is today. With representation, younger women and girls will see no reason for them to not apply to be a part of these groups. Younger women are constantly being taught and told about how they are competent and able to create change in their communities yet they don’t often see this happening and then doubt their own capability. If other women begin putting themselves out there and joining groups and committees, it will pave the way for younger women. This will create equal paths for all young people and diminish the stigma that prevents women from being in decision-making positions.

The role of women in driving change in rural communities is to not only influence decisions so that they are made to support and cater to everyone in the community, but also to show that they are highly capable of creating change. They must take the steps to influence communities and overcome old traditions based on gender roles. This will assist communities to be more inclusive in future generations and guide younger women to also put themselves forward and make these decisions. Younger women are not looking for women to always make the perfect decisions or the best decisions, they are purely wanting to see that a woman is just as able to make these decisions as anyone else.