National gathering of First Nations women aims to bring ‘gender justice’ to Indigenous issues

Conference will help to design institute to ensure Indigenous women and girls have input into policies that govern their lives

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First Nations women have the right to move beyond “holding society together, healing, reducing harms and violence, and guaranteeing cohesion and healthy environments for everyone” and be free to imagine “gender justice”, the social justice commissioner June Oscar says.

More than 900 First Nations women are meeting in Canberra this week, the first national gathering of its kind, to bring “a necessary First Nations gender lens” to everything from housing to education, healing and economic development.

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