Candy Broad MP - Member for Northern Victoria Region

Four inspirational women from regional Victoria have been inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll for Women this evening.

Colonel Janice McCarthy from Seymour, Daylesford resident Lesley Hewitt, Bev Cook from Nandaly and Eleanor Bourke from Dadswells Bridge were among 20 women inducted onto the Honour Roll.

Announcing the inductees, Minister for Women's Affairs Maxine Morand said in the 10^th year of the Honour Roll there were some exceptional additions.

“This year we celebrate a remarkable group of women who have used their tenacity, vision, outstanding leadership, commitment and just plain hard work to succeed in their chosen field and have a lasting impact in our community,” Ms Morand said.

“These women have each had a unique and significant impact in their chosen field.”

Ms Morand said while women made up around half the population they were under represented in senior and leadership positions.

“The Brumby Labor Government is committed to increasing women’s leadership and I hope by promoting the stories of these women it will inspire others,” she said.

Ms Morand said decorated veteran and leader in military nursing Colonel Janice McCarthy has been an exemplary professional and community leader and has filled a wide variety of hospital roles since starting her nursing career in 1958.

“Colonel McCarthy’s service included being the sole theatre nurse in the 110-bed first Australian field hospital at Vung Tau, Vietnam,” she said.

“During this time she not only managed the hospital’s clinical team under horrific circumstances, but also counselled and mentored staff new to war and was a great comfort to wounded soldiers.”

Ms Morand said Chair of the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council Eleanor Bourke from Danswells Bridge is a respected elder and has been described as ‘a warrior for Aboriginal education’.

“Ms Bourke was a pioneering female Aboriginal activist in the 1960s.  For the past 40 years she has devoted herself to increasing awareness, appreciation and advancement of Aboriginal people and improving understanding between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals,” she said.

 “Mentor, leader and inspiration for women in the Mallee – Nandaly’s Bev Cook is a champion for rural health.

“In the early 1980s, when the Mallee was experiencing the first of a series of severe droughts, Ms Cook formed the Mallee Crisis Committee to aid farmers who were doing it tough.

“Ms Cook has also been a member of the Board of the Sea Lake and District Health Service since the 1980s and was responsible for establishing the Carinya Hostel to provide for the ageing population in the area.

“Lesley Hewitt from Daylesford is a staunch advocate for victims of sexual assault and the socially isolated.

“In the 1970s and 1980s, Ms Hewitt worked tirelessly to challenge stereotypical ideas around violence against women and children. She pioneered shifts in attitudes that led to sexual assault services becoming part of mainstream service delivery.

“Ms Hewitt was also one of the women responsible for opening Victoria’s first 24-hour hospital-based sexual assault service in 1979 at the Queen Victoria Medical Centre in Melbourne, providing counselling and medical services.

“Their generosity of spirit, ingenuity and dedication have marked these extroadinary Victorian women for special mention.

“More than 450 women have now been inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women – every one is a role model and their achievements stand as an inspiration to us all.”

Brief profiles of the 2010 Honour Roll inductees are available from www.women.vic.gov.au