The Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption & Innovation Hub is sponsoring the 2025 Women on Farms Gathering in Benalla next week.
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The gathering — themed ‘Stronger together, Shaping our future’ — will focus on healthy land, healthy women and healthy futures.
Women on Farms Gathering chair Louise Armstrong said the drought hub’s sponsorship had been critical to getting this gathering off the ground.
“It has allowed us to keep the registration cost for the event affordable at a time when it’s even harder for women to be seen to spend money ‘on themselves’,” she said.
“We know the critical role that women play in strengthening rural communities and industries, and assisting them in navigating changing times.
“The 2025 gathering presents an opportunity to celebrate past achievements and experiences of resilience, and contribute to a positive future.”
The program will showcase the progress and personal growth of rural and regional women from Benalla and surrounds, embracing diversity of experience across age, climate conditions and business enterprises.
“Our stories are a critical part of any gathering,” Ms Armstrong said.
“They provide an opportunity to celebrate and be inspired by others, to learn, take comfort, be encouraged and take strength from other women.”
Victorian drought hub director Sara Hely.
The Women on Farms Gathering is organised in Victoria each year by a dedicated band of women uniting to showcase and champion their local farm enterprises and the successes of their rural communities.
This year is the 35th Women on Farms Gathering and it has been 20 years since Benalla held its first gathering.
Drought hub director and keynote speaker Sara Hely emphasised the crucial role of women in regional communities.
“Women in regional communities are often the unsung heroes when times are uncertain in our farming communities,” Dr Hely said.
“But without them, community resilience and our ability to bounce back would be significantly impacted.
“As a woman who grew up in a farming community and saw the devastating impacts of drought and climate volatility, my own mother and the mothers of others were the ones I turned to.”
Dr Hely will share stories of community leaders in drought resilience and discuss individual contributions to this effort.
“At the Vic Hub, we recognise that resilience comes from within us and our ability to support others, make good decisions and be prepared,” she said.
“A lot of this comes from having vision, being audacious, looking after our own and others’ health, having the composure to reason well and to collaborate with others.”
The Vic Hub, headquartered at The University of Melbourne’s Dookie Campus, is supported by the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund.
Dr Hely said the hub’s involvement in the Women on Farms Gathering event aligned with its mission to enhance drought preparedness and resilience in Victoria’s agricultural industries, environment and regional communities.
“By facilitating connections between research and community needs, the Victoria Drought Resilience Hub aims to facilitate the adoption of innovations that improve economic, environmental and social resilience to drought.”
Other presenters at the gathering include AgriFutures chair Cathy McGowan and Benalla farmer and landscape architect Sue Campbell.
The gathering will be held at various locations around Benalla and there will also be tours. It starts at 5.30pm on Friday, March 14 and ends at noon on Sunday, March 16.
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