Rationale – Supporting Feminist Dialogues

The Brisbane International Feminist Conference 2008 aims to further feminist dialogues about the status of women and the continued violence against women and children as human rights violations. Conference organisers believe that the status of women in Australia and indeed globally, has been on the decline in the last decade.

Australian Indigenous Women

As the conference will be held in Brisbane, Australian Indigenous women will have a day and a session committed to their issues specifically. The 2nd of September will be an Indigenous women only forum, free to all Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women. We hope to bring a contingent of women elders and activists from around Australia, including from areas most affected by the Federal Government’s recent interventions into their communities. There will also be a session within the conference program where Indigenous women can yarn up with their feminist sisters.

Recommendations

Recommendations will be recorded from each session at the conference. All recommendations from the conference can then be tabled to relevant bodies, including for Australia, feeding recommendations into the Ministerial on the Status of Women that is scheduled for late September 2008.

Feminist Artists

The conference organisers also hope to engage feminist artists to entertain delegates throughout the 4 days, including a traditional welcome to country and performances for the opening ceremony on the night of the 2nd of September. Feminist Artists wanting to perform at the conference are asked to contact Women’s House on
07 3391 2970 or 0407 154 104 within Australia
+61 7 3391 2970 or +61 407 154 104 Internationally
or by email on womenshouse@pacific.net.au

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Deadline: May 31st, 2008

ABSTRACTS
We are calling all feminists who are interested in creating feminist dialogues within our key areas of interest to submit expressions of interest and abstracts before the 31st of May, 2008. We are interested in hearing from feminist academics, researchers, workers, grass roots activists and community women.

Any enquiries can be made to Desi Achilleos at Women’s House on
07 3391 2970 or 0407 154 104 within Australia
+61 7 3391 2970 or +61 407 154 104 Internationally
or by email on womenshouse@pacific.net.au

Please include with your abstract:
TITLE OF PAPER
All authors (if applicable)
Your name
Your credentials (if applicable)
Your current place of employment and/or area of activism
Your postal address
Your telephone number
Your email contact

Notification of Presenters/ Guest Speakers
The program and viability of the conference will be decided in June and all expression of interests will be notified. Those selected will be contacted with formal invitations to speak and conference arrangements. Keynote speakers, presenters and abstracts will be announced on the conference program website, launched in July.

The Conference Program

At the moment we have defined key areas. Topics and sessions will be more refined as we gather responses to the call for abstracts between April and May, 2008.

• Feminism
• Women’s Health
• Legal Issues
• Violence Against Women and children
• Women in Poverty/ Women in Work
• Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Women’s Issues
• Global Perspectives
• Women in Prison/ Criminalized Women’s Issues
• Sexuality

Venue

The Brisbane International Feminist Conference 2008 will be held at:

The Greek Convention Centre
29 Edmondstone Street,
South Brisbane.
Queensland. Australia. 4101.

The dates have been confirmed for the Tuesday the 2nd of September for the Indigenous women only day and Wednesday the 3rd of September, Thursday the 4th of September and Friday the 5th of September for the rest of the conference program.

Accommodation

Hotel Diana will provide the conference accommodation located at
12 Annerley Road, Woolloongabba. Brisbane. Queensland, 4102.

Budget accommodation lists will be made available when the official website is launched in July with the full program. Some billeting and camping may also be available.

Registration

Indigenous women are free to attend Indigenous women only session on Tuesday the 2nd of September, but must still register for room size and catering purposes.

First Early Bird Registration paid before the 31st of May
There is a sliding scale for conference registrations. The early bird registration costs are:

Women who can not afford these prices are asked to contact Women’s House and we can communicate volunteer, subsidy and resource support with you. The conference organisors do not want to exclude any women who live in poverty from contributing to feminist dialogues at this conference and those who pay for registrations will be helping to subsidize women who live in poverty. Women who pay for registrations decide which category best suits their wage incomes. Without the support from waged women, this conference will not be viable, so we appreciate your support.

There will be a Second Early Bird Registration that will close on the 31st of July and costs will be:

After the 1st of August, Registrations will cost:

Day Rates:

Registration Fee includes
Attendance at opening ceremony on the 2nd of September, 2008

• Entry to all sessions
• Conference Program
• Morning Tea, Lunch and Afternoon Tea
• Attendance at ATSi women only day on the 2nd of September for ATSI women only.

First Early Bird Registration must be paid by the 31st of May, 2008.
Conference organisers will assess the abstracts and registrations in June and decide on conference viability. If the conference does not go ahead, all early bird registrations will be fully refunded.

Please support this conference by registering early.

Registration for The Brisbane International Conference 2008 may be paid by cheque or money order made out to:
The Women’s Community Aid Association
and posted to:
15 Morrisey Street, Woolloongabba. Queensland. 4101.

REGISTRATION DETAILS
Please include the following registration details with your payments:
Registration Fee:
First name:
Surname:
Workplace/Activist Area or Community:
Position/Credentials:
Postal address street:
Suburb:
State:
Postcode:
Country:
Email:
Telephone:
Fax:
Address for Receipt:
How many on the registration:
(This is 1 if you are registering for yourself and up to 3 for different workers attending 3 different days)

Please indicate if your service will send different workers on different days and we will be in touch after the program is set to organise name badges for the relevant days of attendance.

Your payment is your confirmation of your participation in The Brisbane International Feminist Conference 2008. Upon payment a receipt will be sent to your indicated address.
 
We look forward to welcoming you!

Viability of Conference
There will be no registrations taken in June as program gets finalized and assessed for viability. If the conference is not viable all registrations will be fully refunded.

List of membership of the Brisbane Feminist Conference Organising Committee

The Organising Committee has had monthly meetings since September 2007 and consists of women workers from women’s services as well as women from the community.

The Organizing Committee consists of women workers from:

• The Women’s Community Aid Association
• Community Development Institute of Queensland
• Women’s House Shelta
  Domestic Violence Prevention Centre Gold Coast Inc.
• The Brisbane Rape and Incest Survivors Support Centre
• Murri Sisters
• The Brisbane Domestic Violence Advocacy Service
• Women’s Legal Service
• Zig Zag Young Women’s Service
• Sisters Inside
• Immigrant Women’s Support Service
• ISIS- Centre for Women's Action on Eating Issues
• Women’s Health Service
• Young Parents Program

Funding

The Brisbane Feminist Conference Organising Committee is seeking funding, sponsorship and support for this conference. At present there are no funds, aside from money that will be generated from registration to the conference.

Sponsorship Requests

The organisation for this conference is from a culmination of important women’s services in Brisbane and community women and we would appreciate the any in kind or financial support.

We are asking for sponsors to consider

• Money Donations
• Sponsoring of a keynote speaker. ie: their air fares and accommodation
• Donate products
• Sponsor a financially disadvantaged feminist activist
• Sponsor an Indigenous woman from a rural or remote area

In return Logo and support will be acknowledged on website, on conference paraphernalia and at the conference through verbal and visual acknowledgements.

BACK