Women & Girls Breakfast celebrates first nations Women in sport

Published Wed 15 Mar 2023

We are excited to release the details of our 11^th edition of the Women & Girls Breakfast in partnership with Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA)

Held just before Mother’s Day, the breakfast will be on Friday, 12 May at the Leonda By The Yarra. The breakfast is situated in a brilliant space to network with the community and hear from our amazing guest speakers.

The focus for 2023 is ‘Celebrating First Nations Women in Sport’. For the first time, this year will see the introduction of an Indigenous Round for the HV Competitions, and the inclusion of Indigenous Jerseys at the JSC furthering our commitment to reconciliation., As a result celebrating our First Nations Women in Sport is an important and inspiring subject for all.

This year, we invite the Hockey Community to join us for a delicious breakfast and to hear from some inspiring speakers who will discuss their journeys, perspectives, and experiences. We look forward to seeing you there.

Focus: ‘Celebrating First Nations Women in Sport’

Date: Friday, 12 May 2023

Venue: Leonda by The Yarra; 2 Wallen Rd, Hawthorn VIC 3122

Time: 7:30am-9:30am (networking opportunity 7:00am-7:30am)

Book your tickets here today!

Note about table/ticket registration:

This year ticket registrations will be logged through the RevSPORT event above.

Individual tickets = $85.00
Table of 10 = $775.00

There is no upfront payment required for the tables of 10 at the point of registration. Instead, invoicing will be sent out post the event.

Individual tickets will not have to pay at the point of registration, however, invoices will be issued prior to the event.

If you are a club or association in which is purchasing a table of 10 or individual tickets, the invoice will be sent post event to the treasurer. However, please add in the booking contact details to ensure we can update you on any announcements prior to the event.

Cancellations: Hockey Victoria will allow cancellations of individual and table bookings up until Monday, 01 May 2023. If you submit a cancellation request post this date, the booking contact will be invoiced and required to pay the ticket price above.

2023 Master of Ceremonies & Guest Speakers

2023 Women & Girls Breakfast - Master of Ceremonies - Jaynaya Winmar

Jaynaya is a proud Noongar/Balladong woman from Quairading in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Her connection with Hockey comes in various forms as one of our First Nations Ambassadors who currently plays for La Trobe Uni HC and sits on the Hockey Australia Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group. She is a champion in embracing Gender Equity and has been a familiar face at the Women & Girls Breakfast since its inception.

After working with the AFL and Reconciliation Australia as the AFL’s Reconciliation Action Plan Program Manager, Jaynaya provided strategic guidance on the Meaningful Initiatives for sustainable reconciliation vision development. Jaynaya has a strong background across the Employment and Recruitment sectors through partnerships throughout the Education and Employment across regional and remote areas within Western Australia and Victoria. Having previously worked within the recruitment industry specialising in disadvantaged cohorts across wider Australia under the employment services framework Jaynaya has been able to assist in identifying the gaps in engagement deliveries and having the ability to effectively articulate throughout the partnerships on how to actively develop these.

Jaynaya would describe herself as an expert net-worker who is always looking to assist her large network with connecting to each other to strengthen the business connections for everyone. She is a proud member of the following:

Founder: Founder / CEO- Blakbone Sistahood
Founder: SheEO Activator
Coralus formally SheEo Activator and Global Indigenous Ambassador
Managing Director - Essential Services - Australia Group
First People Property Group (FPPG) Women in Board Leadership
Kinaway – Victorian Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce Member
Supply Nation – Member
Leadership Victoria Diversity Mentoring (Indigenous)
Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre Global Ambassador
Indigenous Women in Mining and Resources Australia (IWIMRA)- Corporate Ambassador
IWIMRA Board Member
Victorian Premier and Cabinet - Aboriginal Women’ s Leadership-Program Advisory Group member
Global Victoria /Aboriginal Economic Development – Trade Mission Ambassador
Wellah Women Board Member
National Indigenous Cultural Centre (NICC) – Board Member
Clothing the Gap Foundation- Board Member
Minderoo Foundation – Dream Ventures Program Ambassador
RMIT Activator - Program Ambassador

2023 Guest Speakers

2023 Women & Girls Breakfast - Guest Speaker #1 - Aunty Pam Pedersen OAM

As the youngest daughter of Aboriginal leaders Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls and 2008 Victorian Honour Roll of Women inductee Lady Gladys Nicholls, Aunty Pam follows in her parents’ footsteps as an advocate for the rights of Aboriginal people.

Aunty Pam has made a significant contribution to the lives of young people in the court system, offering counsel and sharing her own experience to promote cohesion in Aboriginal families and communities. She has been an Elder on the Koori Courts since 2005, a former community member of the Adult Parole Board, and has worked with young people coming into contact with the criminal justice system in roles with Jesuit Social Services and Berry Street Shepparton.

Aunty Pam has served on numerous boards and committees over her journey. At the age of 50, Aunty Pam became involved in sport to set an example for community members about the importance of exercise. She represented Victoria at the World Masters Games in swimming, and began competing in half marathons, triathlons, open water swimming and yachting. In 2005, she was named NAIDOC National Sportsperson of the Year. Her proudest sporting moment was representing her people in the opening ceremony and baton relay for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

Awards, Honours & Achievements

2005: Awarded the Australia Day Federal Award
1997, 2002 & 2004 ‘Koorie Women Mean Business’ Award Winner
2016: Inducted onto the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll
2018: Inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll for Women
2019: Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)

Her motto is, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it”.

2023 Women & Girls Breakfast - Guest Speaker #2 - Amanda Reid OAM

A proud Gurinagi & Wamba Wamba woman, Amanda became a National Hero at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games becoming the first indigenous woman to win a Paralympic Gold Medal in cycling. An accomplished Paralympic athlete, Amanda’s awards and honours are extraordinary:

2012: London Paralympic Games – Australian Team Member (Swimming)
2016: Rio Paralympic Games – Silver
2016: Para Track World Championships – 2 x Gold Medal Winner
2020: Tokyo Paralympics – Gold Medal Winner & broke World Record, Cycling
2022: Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
2023: World Para Snowboard Championships – Gold Medal Winner

In 2017, Amanda was named the NAIDOC Sportsperson of the year. Away from sport, Amanda enjoys living everyday by her mantra “dream it, believe it and you will be it”.

Artist - 2023 HV Indigenous Round and the Women & Girls Breakfast

Artist - Billy-Jay (BJ) O'Toole

Billy-Jay, or 'BJ', is a proud Wadawurrung man residing on Wadawurrung country in Mount Duneed. Born and raised on Wadawurrung country in Djilang (Geelong)., BJ is a recognized Traditional Owner and member of Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, where he works as a Cultural Heritage Representative.

BJ holds a Certificate 4 in Cultural Heritage Management, which has enabled him to strengthen his cultural commitment to his country and community whilst also strengthening his cultural connection to family and country. While working on his country, this reignited BJ's spirit for painting, walking country and learning from country through his Field Officer role, leading to the gift of storytelling through paint. The many stories of country that BJ has created from this gift have set him on a journey of learning language, which he connects to his paintings and stories of Wadawurrung Country.

The artwork that BJ creates is a contemporary style, always reflecting the stories and colours of Wadawurrung Country. With the use of bright and earthy colours and symbols, as well as the elements of country, water, mountains, sun and coast – all of which give us what we need to live.

BJ's social media page is called Papul Art (Facebook & Instagram). “Papul” is the Wadawurrung language name for Ochre, which is traditionally used for painting by Wadawurrung people.

For the 2023 HV Indigenous Round and the Women & Girls Breakfast BJ has prepared a fabulous piece titled “To Play”. This is seen the main image above for the Women & Girls Breakfast image. The meaning behind the piece is as follows:

To play means coming together, embracing the challenges that you may face, learning from mistakes that you may have made, but most importantly it is about playing and having fun.

The meeting place in the centre is shown to acknowledge everyone gathered and footprints leading in showcase participants that have travelled to be there. The emu footprints are about emus not being able to walk backwards. Playing today, engaging with friends, family and your sporting teams brings enjoyment and excitement. It provides an opportunity develop your skills, learn from your coaches and continue to grow. It is about always moving forward, playing the sport you all love so much.

BJ’s piece, “to play” has been used to develop the fabulous artwork for the 2023 Women & Girls Breakfast, as well as the medals for the 2023 Indigenous Round Medals. BJ has also developed a wonderful piece that will feature across the 2023 Grassports Junior State Championships uniforms, which will be launched soon.