Australian Multicultural Women's Alliance - AMWA

10/06/2026

🚺 Many women feel unprepared and uninformed about perimenopause and menopause and find it difficult to access evidence-based information on symptoms, treatments and support options.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 aims to increase awareness and reduce uncertainty around perimenopause and menopause by providing evidence-based information and resources.

Developed in consultation with experts and communities the campaign is informed by extensive research with a diverse group of women with lived experience of perimenopause and menopause.

Watch the short video below (https://youtu.be/ZS7G63piw14?si=A4hJPdaaUwhEAq-g) and find a range of resources, videos and personal stories on the website including 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗰, 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲, 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲, 𝗞𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗻, 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀𝗲 - health.gov.au/perimenopause

30 second video

08/06/2026

AMWA joined an event hosted by Fair Agenda to report back on Women Deliver 2026 - the world's largest feminist conference which brought together 6000 advocates from more than 180 countries.

AMWA's Executive Director Malini Raj joined Lisa Annese, CEO of Chief Executive Women (CEW), to reflect on some of the themes the conference surfaced and what it means for the work ahead.

A few things that stood out from the discussions were:

💡 The forces working against gender equality are organised - The anti-rights movement is funded and sophisticated. The manosphere is recruiting young men into economic and social grievance, offering them a villan (migrants, women) and a sense of belonging.

💡 First Nations justice is the foundation, not a footnote. - Systems that weren't designed with First Nations women in mind don't just fail them. They can actively work against them. For AMWA, this is not a parallel conversation. It is where we start.

💡 The organisations doing the most essential work are the least resourced. - Community-led, women-run and chronically underfunded yet they are closest to the problems and hence closest to the solutions. The sector needs sustained investment in the infrastructure that bears the load and holds movements together.

💡 The type of leadership we need already exists. - In communities, in grassroots organisations, amongst our youth, in women who have been navigating complexity and holding things together for years without a title. Recognition is the problem, not capability.

And hope was discussed, a concept hard to see in current times, but could be seen in the voices of young women at Women Deliver, leading with empathy, clarity, curiosity and conviction, not waiting for permission, and already making impact and change.

Malini also shared AMWA's Activate Her Skills report - national research on the skills recognition crisis facing migrant women in Australia.

AMWA will keep bringing multicultural women's voices into the centre of these conversations because they are not optional -they are essential.

A huge thank you to Renee Carr and Fair Agenda for hosting this event

05/06/2026

The AMWA team spent a couple of days in Perth recently - here's a snapshot of the week:

🤝 Community Consultation with the Ethnic Communities Council of WA (ECCWA)

We opened with a consultation hosted by the ECCWA hearing directly from community members across our five thematic areas. The themes were powerful and consistent: the weight of navigating complex systems without language support, qualifications that go unrecognised, cultural silence around gender-based violence, and the compounding disadvantage that comes when race, gender, and economic insecurity intersect. But equally strong were the solutions - peer workers from within communities, culturally safe health navigators, one-stop-shop hubs, and multilingual resources. This is exactly the kind of ground-up, lived-experience that must inform national policy. Thank you to Sadhana Bose, Aishwarya Nallan and team for your support.

🏛️ Growing Our National Network

AMWA also connected with Senator Fatima Payman's office and Member for Swan Zaneta Mascarenhas MP - two parliamentarians who understand first-hand what it means to bring a culturally diverse lived experience into leadership. We also met with the CEO of Ishar Multicultural Women's Health Services, Andrea Creado GAICD the Samira Husic from MercyCare, who generously brought together women Liza Beinart, Elizabeth Jones, Tharanga De Silva, Mishka Qlintang from across local organisations to share insights on engaging and supporting multicultural women.

🎤 National Children, Family & Leadership Summit

AMWA's Executive Director Malini Raj joined Sophi Bruce, Danielle Bradtke, and Andrea Musulin on a panel exploring how we move from fragmented systems to one connected, accountable system for safety. The message was clear: shared responsibility, meaningful data, and deep listening to community are not optional, they are the foundation. For AMWA, multicultural women and children must be visible in that system, not an afterthought.

AMWA would like to thank everyone who gave their time, stories and trust and we look forward to incorporating these valuable insights into our advocacy.

01/06/2026

We're excited to partner with the 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁, delivered in national partnership with UN Women Australia.

Our 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝗷, will be leading a session on leveraging your network in Sydney and joining Sisi Kun Ying, Amy Goldenberg, and Jacqui Loustau in Melbourne for a panel lifting the lid on what leadership really looks like now - and what the old playbook consistently got wrong.

Your ticket also directly contributes to UN Women's economic empowerment and leadership programs for women across Australia and the Asia-Pacific.

𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗠𝗪𝗔𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 $𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📅 1-3 September 2026
📍 Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Learn more: https://australia.womenleadersummit.com/?utm_source=partner&utm_medium=AMWA

27/05/2026

📢 Coming up next month: 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝟭𝟲 - 𝟭𝟳 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

This inaugural brings together regulators, industry leaders, and early adopters to answer a practical question: 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?

If you're a senior leader, customer advocate, policymaker or practitioner responsible for designing, governing or delivering customer-facing systems across government and regulated industries, including financial services, insurance, utilities, telecommunications, technology, legal, and property - you don't want to miss this event.

Join AMWA Executive Director, Malini Raj at 𝟵:𝟰𝟱𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟲 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 for the session titled: 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆, talking about:
- Designing for safety, inclusion, and access, and taking that theory into practice
- Demystifying the operational challenges
- Understanding harm deeply and embedding lived experience into your thinking
- Building momentum and creating blueprints for use cases internally

🔗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://the-hatchery.co/event/safety-by-design/

27/05/2026

AMWA Executive Director Malini Raj participated in a panel discussion titled "One System for Safety - Collaboration, Data and Shared Accountability" at the National Child and Family Leadership Summit in Perth last week.

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🟪 Here are some panel insights from - Dev Singh on LinkedIn:

Panel 5: One System for Safety - Collaboration, Data and Shared Accountability

Panel 5 brought us back to one of the most important questions of the day:
How do we move from separate systems working hard in isolation, to one connected system that is truly accountable for safety?

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible Panel 5 speakers:
- Sophi Bruce, CEO, Centre for Relational Care; Director, Adaptive Leadership Australia
- Danielle Bradtke, Lived Experience Expert, CEO and Founder of Foundations of Hope
- Malini Raj, Executive Director, Australian Multicultural Women’s Alliance (AMWA)
- Andrea Musulin, Founder, WA Child Protection Society and The Child Focused Safety Service WA; Director Safeguarding Program, Catholic Archdiocese of Perth and Safeguarding Lead Police and Community Youth Centres

This conversation explored the real work required to build a more connected, accountable and healing-focused national system, one where governments, community services, justice, health, child protection, housing and specialist sectors are not just aligned in language, but coordinated in practice.

The panel reminded us that safety is not created by one service, one policy, or one point of intervention. It is built through shared responsibility, better collaboration, meaningful data, strong safeguarding, workforce capability, and systems that listen deeply to lived experience and community knowledge.

What stood out most was the shared commitment to moving beyond fragmented responses and towards collective accountability, where every child, every family, and every victim-survivor is visible, heard and supported.
Thank you to Sophi, Danielle, Malini and Andrea for your leadership, insight and courage in helping shape this important national conversation.

21/05/2026

AMWA is joining Fair Agenda at their 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 in Sydney on 27 May to hear from advocates who were at Women Deliver 2026 and talk about what we do next!

There are also sister events happening in Melbourne (20 May), Adelaide (9 June), Brisbane (10 June) and Perth (17 June).

💜 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 (𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲) 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://www.fairagenda.org/events

18/05/2026

Later this week, we'll also be attending the 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 & 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 to participate in discussions on the pressing issues shaping child and family safety, including domestic violence, coercive control, child protection, and community wellbeing.

AMWA Executive Director, Malini Raj will be speaking and sharing insights about:
✅ Culturally inclusive child and family safety systems
✅ Multicultural community engagement & advocacy
✅ Equity in care ensuring no family is left behind
✅ Leadership grounded in lived experience
And lots more.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀:
📅 Friday, 22nd May 2026
⏰ 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
👩🏽‍💻 Attend in person or Join Online
📍State Reception Centre, Fraser's Kings Park, WA, OR Online LIVE Streaming

𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: https://forpurposeleaders.com.au/event/national-child-family-safety-leadership-summit-2026/

14/05/2026

🤩 AMWA is thrilled to be joining the Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) and SSI - Settlement Services International for - 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹: 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗦𝗪𝟳𝟬 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 - on Monday, 18 May.

Following the 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻(𝗖𝗦𝗪𝟳𝟬) in New York, and the 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 in Narrm (Melbourne), this national dialogue on gender equality, justice, and intersectionality will feature a panel of inspiring speakers including:
- Malini Raj, Executive Director - AMWA
- Juliana Nkrumah AM, A/Head, Women & Gender Equity - SSI
- Khayshie Tilak Ramesh, lawyer, storyteller, strategist and educator
- Padma Raman PSM, Executive Director of the Office for Women (OFW) at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Join us for the special event as we reflect, synthesise, and position the Australian settlement sector within a rapidly shifting global landscape.

👉 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: 6818ba6f-3c3d-45d0-85b7-23eb18ba2e66@b36f30a1-9114-485e-a12d-a069ff69f5a8" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/6818ba6f-3c3d-45d0-85b7-23eb18ba2e66@b36f30a1-9114-485e-a12d-a069ff69f5a8

14/05/2026

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 - 𝗥𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗮'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆:

Rabia arrived in Australia in late 2020 after completing a Master of Psychology and an Advanced Diploma in clinical psychology, and working as a clinical psychologist in Pakistan.

When she married and moved to Australia, she hoped for greater professional freedom and gender equality. Soon after arriving, however, her husband became abusive. The violence escalated, police became involved, and Rabia left the relationship, spending six and a half months in a domestic violence shelter.

Because her visa was dependent on her husband, she was not eligible for Centrelink support. Rabia began searching for work, trying to navigate Australia’s fragmented and confusing skills recognition and licensing systems on her own.

She needed certification from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), but to even apply for assessment she needed to pay $1,500. It took 15 months of farm work, cleaning, dishwashing and other physically demanding jobs to save up for the fee. Much of this work was underpaid and sometimes exploitative.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 to read more lived experience stories like Consuelo's: amwa.net.au/articles/activate-her-skills/

Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia - FECCA SSI - Settlement Services International