People with Purpose: Keeping the flame alive

Tell us a little bit about your background in the community and not-for-profit sector.

I founded the Women’s Spirit Project in 2018 to help women recovering from trauma and abuse, by empowering them and giving them opportunities into education and training.

I have lived experience of domestic and sexual abuse - and this has informed my life and my passion for social justice.

I worked for the Besen family, and in my spare time founded with friends a volunteer organisation supporting young adults with disability.

At the age of 25, I went to TAFE as a mature aged student to study youth work and community development.

I also worked at the Myer family office and the Premier’s Drug Prevention Council to fund and deliver initiatives for vulnerable people.

 I have a master’s degree in business leadership and have worked across government, the community sector, and the business community. Most important of all, I love our local community.

 What motivated you to run for federal parliament in the seat of Dunkley? 

 The late Peta Murphy (who died in December 2023 after a battle with breast cancer) was a strong and fierce advocate for the Dunkley community, even when she was gravely ill. She was an extraordinary woman, and we miss her dearly.

 We first met through my work with the Women’s Sprit Project, the not-for-profit that I founded and ran.

 In six years, we have raised $1.5 million to empower thousands of women to recover and heal from trauma.

 Peta backed me to back myself.

 Peta encouraged me to consider representing our local community one day and to think about public service.

She encouraged me to join the Labor Party, and here I am today as the Labor candidate for Dunkley at the upcoming by-election on 2nd March.

What are the key issues of concern for voters living in the electorate?

The cost of living is the number one issue being raised with me as I knock on doors across the community.

Many people are doing it tough, in terms of putting food on the table and paying the bills.

They are telling me they are looking for some sort of tax relief and help with energy bills.

Access to quality health care in our community is another major issue, and people are reassured to know a new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic has opened in Frankston.

Housing affordability is another hot topic, particularly for many single parents and older women who are starting out again with limited to no super or savings.

Based on your years of experience advocating for women, what do you think the secret is to achieving positive change?

To achieve positive change, you need access to support services, positive role models and an ability to work with different people to get things done. 

The service system currently provides much needed access to counselling and case management services to support women, men, and families through the crisis period. However, beyond crisis-level support, there is little help.

People who have experienced trauma require safe spaces to recover and heal. This helps to build resilience and a community of support that creates a sense of belonging.

Currently there are few if any programs or services that meet this need. That’s why I founded the Women’s Spirit Project with a group of women from the Frankston Mornington Peninsula area.

The Women’s Spirit Project provides free fitness, health and wellbeing programs to women recovering from trauma providing a safe space to park their past and catch their breath long enough to create a plan to bring about positive change in their lives.

I know what it takes to recover and heal from trauma and achieve positive change due to my own lived experience. It requires a commitment to peeling away the layers of grief to reclaim one’s life.

Who inspires you most in life and why?

The women that turn up to the Women’s Spirit Project and rise above their fear of joining a group because of their experience of trauma.

The courage these women show on the first day and every day as they step through the front door and overcome their anxiety continues to motivate me to keep doing the work I do with and for our community.

It demonstrates that it is possible to work together to create positive change.