A message from the Mayor this International Women’s Day (IWD)

On behalf of everyone at Waverley Council and my fellow Councillors, I would like to wish our community a happy International Women’s Day (IWD).

IWD is a very important day in the international calendar where we pause to celebrate the achievements of women and girls around the world and to raise awareness of the challenges that we continue to face.

^{Mayor Paula Masselos is Waverley's sixth female Mayor.}

Waverley Council lives the core values of equality and fairness, but also empowers our community to do the same. While we celebrate and acknowledge all the advancements made, there is still much to do.

Locally, an example of this is the work our Community Programs team do with Family and Domestic Violence organisations, our focus on the need for affordable housing for older women, and nationally, issues such as disparity in superannuation for women.

I’m proud of the fact that our Council supports the advancement of our women and that our organisation is lead by a female general manager- Emily Scott- who began her career at Council 23 years ago as a volunteer waste auditor and worked her way through the ranks. We also have a majority female Executive team.

Waverley has also had five female Mayors, I’m the sixth, and I’m also the first woman of Greek heritage to hold the position at Waverley.

I truly believe that an equal world is an enabled world, and what International Women’s Day does is help raise awareness against female bias, puts equality in the spotlight and gives us a space to celebrate the achievements of women in our community as a collective.

Watch the Mayor's IWD video message on our Facebook page.

Tonight, I am delighted to present the Waverley Council International Women’s Day Award to economic sociologist and researcher, Associate Professor Diana Olsberg of Bondi.

Diana is a member of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research and a passionate campaigner against social isolation.

Some of you may know Diana from her appearance on the International Emmy award-winning ABC television program Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds, a program that explored intergenerational activities, an area in which Diana is still highly active.

Diana is a leading expert in financial equity and superannuation and has helped empower women in Waverley and beyond to achieve financial equality, life-long economic empowerment and positive social outcomes.

As we prepare to honour Diana, today I encourage you all to acknowledge a woman who is making a difference. Through acknowledgment, support, respect and advocacy, we can all make a difference.

Paula Masselos,

Mayor of Waverley