Women On The Land (WOTL) is a group of Northern NSW rural women focussed on preparedness for, resilience to, and recovery from natural disasters and other adverse events. Background
• The group was established in November 2018 to initially engage and inform rural women on personal and property resilience, health and wellbeing and to provide an environment in which women are supported to question, connect and learn.
• The group is comprised of community members who are supported by a core committee of staff from key industry and emergency response agencies who coordinate and deliver social events, workshops and skills training for WOTL members.
• In 2020 WOTL expanded its focus to encompass sustainable and holistic management of the farm and business to meet the demand from women on the land. Purpose:
The WOTL collaborative works together to build resilience, capacity and skill through awareness, planning, preparation, community consultation and collaboration on projects of interest and concern. Objectives:
Members of the WOTL Core Collaborative Committee will:
• Focus on increasing collaboration between agencies and the community to improve resilience, capacity, practical skills and safe work practises.
• Advocate to funding bodies, policymakers and other organisations that could help meet the needs of our community and the sustainability of WOTL.
• Build the community's capacity to understand health and wellbeing, promote help-seeking behaviours and improve access to services.
• Increase awareness and knowledge about services and resources that will assist the Northern NSW farming community to prepare and mitigate the detrimental effects of natural disasters and other adverse events
• Provide a comfortable and safe environment for rural women to build networks including across various primary industries and learn from each other.
• Empower rural women to sustainably manage their farms and rural businesses by building knowledge, skills and capabilities through access to training and education.
• Support women in recently impacted rural and remote communities to build resilience in recovery.
