“One third of Australian women live in rural, regional and remote areas, and they play a crucial role in strengthening rural communities.” – Kate Jenkins – The Australian Sex Discrimination Officer 

This is exactly what they do. Rural women are a powerful driver of progressive change in rural communities. These women act as the support network for rural, regional and remote places due to their geographic isolation which prevents access to quality support services, healthcare and leadership opportunities. Unfortunately, leading to higher rates of poor mental health, overuse of drugs and alcohol and an under representation in leadership positions, respectively. Nevertheless, change is here with rural women who are playing critical roles in driving vital change in rural communities. Around me, there are women who help create organisations to effectively support regional places. They allow students to thrive at school by supplying them with basic stationery, raise awareness of issues such as binge drinking and allow young regional women to thrive by paving a pathway for them through this competition. 

A local example of a woman playing a critical role in a rural community is displayed through one of our school captains – Sandra. After learning that education can alleviate poverty, she created a project called ‘SONDER’, which provides struggling families with school stationery for their school-aged children. She was able to positively drive change in the lives of Toowoomba’s school student’s in enabling them to have school supplies which also allows those children to thrive in school. Therefore, Sandra exemplifies how one rural young woman from Toowoomba can positively change the lives of many students. 

Another brave woman, Shanna Whan from northwestern New South Wales, shed light on the prevalent yet stigmatised toxic culture of alcohol misuse and abuse in rural Australia. She founded ‘Sober in the Country’ after being an alcoholic herself. ‘Sober in the Country’ is a transformative organisation created in 2015 to educate, support and advocate for over 100,000 Australians. This organisation also continues to drive home the message, OK2SAYNO to alcoholic drinks. It is clearly seen that through Shanna’s actions, she has played an imperative role in driving change in her community to recognise and support sufferers of alcohol misuse and abuse. 

Finally, the woman who allowed me to write this, Hannah Wandel, has played a critical role in driving change among rural young Australians. She founded Country to Canberra, an organisation that “empowers rural young women to reach their leadership potential” and strives to change the outlook for young women that come from rural places by allowing them to have the opportunity of expressing their viewpoints. Additionally, she has allowed many rural young women to experience leadership opportunities. Furthermore, she has won many awards such as the ACT Young Australian of the Year which further supports that she has had a critical role in driving positive and progressive change among rural young women.
It can now be concluded that rural women play a critical role in strengthening and driving change in their communities in a variety of areas ranging from supporting alcohol addiction sufferers to providing school stationery for children. Shanna Whan, Hannah Wandel and Sandra Miller, all rural women, who have all played pivotal roles in driving change in their community which displays that the future of change lies within the hands of rural women.