Illustration
NSW Women’s Awards
2024
The NSW Women of the Year Awards celebrate the incredible and impactful women and girls improving the lives of people in New South Wales. Since 2012, these annual awards have recognised the women and girls whose determination, bravery, skill and passion have inspired their communities and others to achieve great things. The awards celebrate the role models who challenge inequality, innovate and inspire.
The team behind the NSW Women of the Year Awards reached out to the Yirra Miya team to create elements that reflect the importance behind their awards and encapsulate the true meaning behind the awards – to highlight the excellence of women and girls in NSW. Lauren was excited to collaborate with the team and create assets that were meaningful and impactful, to help drive the importance of nominating First Nations women for the awards and highlighting the award ‘NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year’ Award.
Through meaningful engagement with the team, Lauren was able to highlight the importance of communicating the following through the elements. Highlighting the impact of women across NSW especially our rural areas, emphasising and reflecting on the journey of the Women’s Awards since 2012, driving participation from women across NSW, highlighting the economic opportunity and advancement of women in NSW, promoting health and wellbeing, community impact and identifying the importance of culture when identifying Aboriginal Woman of the Year award.
This element represents the different women across New South Wales and is laid out in an abstract representation of the state of NSW. This element is made up of different community circles.
These community circles are surrounded by women symbols to represent the different women across the state and the important and vital roles that women play within NSW regional, rural and remote communities.
The knowledge sticks also surround these community circles represent the sharing of knowledge and wisdom that women hold. The journey lines connecting each community circle represent the impact that women have across the state and that it doesn’t go unnoticed.
This element represents the journey of the Women’s Awards. The yarning circle on the left represents the Women’s Awards in the present day. The symbols surrounding this yarning circle are women symbols and represent the strong women that are being recognised and celebrated through these awards.
The journey lines travelling through to the next two campsites represent growth, learning and celebration of the Women’s Awards and an evolution of the positive impact that the awards will have in community. This journey continues to the right yarning circle to represent the future of the Women’s Awards and the projected growth not only of the awards but the impact that it will have in community.
This element represents positivity, encouragement and is reflective of the celebration of First Nations women and all that they bring to the table.
This element represents a community circle with layers to represent Country.
In this community circle are women symbols to represent women in our communities and their participation and contributions to their community on multiple levels. The emu tracks working their way up starting and ending with the women symbols represent the journey that each woman embarks on throughout their lives and the importance of uplifting and empowering those around us. On the outside of the community circle are more women symbols to represent our strong female leaders and their role in protecting, engaging and guiding those around them. The emu tracks here also represent the journey of each woman and how important it is to have women in our worlds that are strong, fierce and can help guide those around them to be the best possible version of themselves.
This element represents the economic opportunity and advancement of women across New South Wales. This element shows a person with internal journey lines to represent each individual persons journey and acknowledges how it is different from the next person. The campsites surrounding this person represent their continued knowledge for independent economic growth. The knowledge sticks represent the knowledge shared and gained on how to obtain economic independence and support for women entering/re-entering the workforce as well as gaining knowledge to be financially stable.
The kangaroo tracks surrounding some of these campsites represents moving forward (as kangaroos cannot move backwards). This element is a reminder that providing opportunities to women to gain economic advancement is everyone’s role.
This element represents health and wellbeing. At the centre is a woman in a yarning circle.
Surrounding this woman in the centre are knowledge sticks representing a connection to culture and connection to Country.
On both sides of this woman are Country layers to represent the holistic approach that is needed to contribute to healthy self and overall wellbeing.
Within the middle section of the Country layers are yarning circles to represent connection to community, stars to represent guidance from Ancestors and watering holes to represent connection to land.
These aspects are important to the overall health and wellbeing of our First Nations women. This element represents the importance of having safe relationships and communities, understanding the health needs that women face and providing holistic health and wellbeing measures to keep our women healthy and strong.
This element represents three connected yarning circles to represent the different programs being implemented in the different communities across New South Wales. This elements represents the importance and represents the positive impact that these programs have in community.
This element represents that these programs endeavour to be culturally safe and hold space for First Nations women to engage and thrive.
The left yarning circle represents women and people coming together to create these safe spaces for First Nations women to engage with their programs. The journey to the next yarning circle represents these programs and their positive impact in community.
The third yarning circle represents knowledge seeking and the importance of continually up-skilling and learning to provide spaces that cultivate an atmosphere where women can grow and thrive.
This element represents the celebration of Women’s Week. At the centre is a woman who is a representation of all Women that we celebrate each and every Women’s Week.
This woman is fierce, she is strong and we embrace this woman to celebrate her, her achievements and note that is a reminder to reflect on the sacrifices of the women who have come before us.
We recognise the women who have paved the way for us, the ones who guide us and the ones who look over us.
Surrounding this circle are women and people, championing each other on, creating spaces for women to become successful and celebrate their achievements.
This element is designed like the sun to represent Grandmother Sun and acknowledge that women are constantly shining in the face of adversity.
This element represents the celebration of the NSW Women’s Awards and is a celebration of the Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award. This element shows a community circle to represent the celebration of the awards each year. Within the circle are women – those being celebrated and highly commended for their achievements through the awards. At the top of the circle are more women, to represent the woman who have won awards previously and those in the future. This element is a representation of the criteria of the Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award, representing a connection to Country through the eucalyptus leaves coming from the yarning circle. The women within this circle are only as strong as those around them – these women are fierce, staunch in their culture and provide a space to cultivate cultural knowledge. This element represents women who are pillars in their communities and a role model for those around them.
The connected watering holes at the bottom of the circle represent the sharing of knowledge and represent a deeper connection to Country and how this is an important connection for First Nations women – one that is recognised by the Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award.
Lauren loved creating and collaborating with team behind the NSW Women of the Year Awards and loved working on a project highlighting the important, multifaceted women across NSW and celebrating their achievements each year.
Lauren hopes that through the element created for the event that more First Nations women feel as though their impact in community is enough and that we need to see more First Nations women celebrated in events hosted by the NSW Government.
The colours of these elements are vibrant, engaging and bright – reflective of all the different women across this state.
The Yirra Miya team are excited and eager to see the growth of the awards in the future and look forward to any future collaborations to come in the future.
Reflect on the amazing winners this year:
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that the following website may contain images, video and voices of deceased persons.