Echuca-Moama will host what could be regional Australia’s first major service dedicated to women in service – during war and times of peace.
Service which extends beyond those in the ranks of the military to acknowledge and thank the many women who served as contractors and volunteers – and who have largely been ignored by history.
The Women In Service event will be held at Moama RSL on Tuesday April 9, starting with a commemorative wreath laying ceremony in the Moama RSL Memorial Gardens at 11am.
It will be followed by a lunch and memorabilia display with two of Australia’s most accomplished military women as its keynote speakers and Abbey Holmes as the MC.
Retired Brigadier Bernadette Boss and Commander Helen Ward will discuss women in the military, from the front line to a rapidly changing future which is seeing more and more of them included in combat roles.
It is, Brigadier Boss (Retd) said, a recent and dramatic shift from the days, not all that long ago, when “both governments and military chiefs agreed the country would not cope with seeing women come home in body bags”.
She said the Australian Defence Forces circa 2024 have changed in step with the times and while the percentage of women in the military is still low, around 20 per cent, they can be found at every level of all three services – Navy, Army and Airforce.
The Brigadier will give her perspective on her role in East Timor, as national commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention, her time in the justice system as a ‘circle sentencing’ magistrate and her lifetime of experiences as an over-achieving woman in a man’s world.
Commander Ward, who has been deployed to global hotspots such as Baghdad as well as domestic crises including the 2019-2020 bushfires and the Covid Taskforce, is an Echuca-born and bred naval officer.
Who has always wanted to return home since her service in Iraq – and now she will.
And will talk about the current expansion of the Navy as its steers into a nuclear future with attack class submarines along with a major surface fleet review recently announced.
“The strategic situation in our geopolitical region puts services such as the Navy back on the public agenda,” Commander Ward said.
“Right now the Navy is a seriously growth business and being part of its growing role at home and regionally is an amazing opportunity for people whatever their skill level of interest.”
Tickets to the Women In Service tribute are $20 (for a two-course lunch) and bookings for the event at 12pm on April 9 are essential. They can be made online at moamarsl.com.au or call Moama RSL on 5482 6677 or email paula@moamarsl.com.au.
See Friday’s Riverine Herald for the first of two features on the Women In Service guest speakers.