This International Women\u2019s Day the NSW Government is commemorating the military service of Australian women in conflict and peacekeeping, and as partners and spouses in military families, with a special commemoration at the Anzac Memorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commemoration, to be attended by the Minister for Veterans David Harris and Minister for Women Jodie Harrison, will include a star ceremony in the Hall of Memory paying tribute to the service and sacrifices of women who have served, defence spouses, family members and women in civilian organisations that support the defence and veteran communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout history women have long played a significant role in the Australian military, from serving as nurses in the Boer War in the 1890\u2019s, to the formation of the women\u2019s auxiliary forces during the Second World War and their current roles on the front lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NSW is home to 14,923 female veterans, according to the 2021 Census, which for the first time asked questions relating to military service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, 3,876 women from NSW serve in the regular Australian Defence Force and 1,183 in military reserves. Australian War Widows NSW estimate there are 14,000 war widows in NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The commemoration starts at 10.30am today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister for Veterans David Harris said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInternational Women\u2019s Day is an opportunity for us to honour every woman who has served this nation, in wartime and in peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWomen have played an important role assisting in the defence of our country for over a century. Wherever Australians served, women have been there alongside their comrades, beginning in 1899 when the NSW Army Nursing Service Reserve was formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWomen provided invaluable services as nurses and as part of the Volunteer Aid Detachments during and after the Great War, followed by the formation of additional women\u2019s specific services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the modern Australian Defence Force women have continued to play a crucial role, currently they make up over 20 percent of the serving defence force personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInternational Women\u2019s Day is about celebrating the achievements of women and girls, and how they\u2019ve overcome barriers to gender equality. Women have held vital roles in the Air Force, Army and Navy, demonstrating that women can fill \u2018traditionally\u2019 male posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWomen have always played a significant role in the defence of the nation. From carrying out nursing duties on frontlines and undertaking war work on the home front, to serving as members of the Australian Defence Force and making invaluable sacrifices as military spouses and family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would like to thank and acknowledge all women who have contributed to the defence of our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This International Women\u2019s Day the NSW Government is commemorating the military service of Australian women in conflict and peacekeeping, and as partners and spouses in military families, with a special commemoration at the Anzac Memorial. The commemoration, to be attended by the Minister for Veterans David Harris and Minister for Women Jodie Harrison, will include … Continue reading “Australia\u2019s military women honoured at the Anzac Memorial”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31769"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31770,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31769\/revisions\/31770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}